Students of PHS recently began a debate of how many chapsticks you should own. This includes backups and spares in every little nook and cranny you might need one, while also accommodating for any lost or borrowed lip balms. Whether they’re placed in cars, rooms, backpacks, purses, pockets, drawers, the list goes on. 

Many people believe in collecting numerous types of chapsticks, and others simply use none at all. So the question is, what is the right number of chapsticks to have?

“I think you need chapstick everywhere and in every place,” junior Maddie Hedges said. “Whenever I only have one chapstick, I always end up bringing it somewhere and it gets lost.”

Most people end up losing their chapstick before ever finishing it. Whether it’s from letting someone borrow it, dropping it or simply misplacing it, the chapstick is typically never used to its full extent by the original owner. 

“I would say at least 10, like you got to have one for every bag and coat you have,” sophomore Bella Bertagnole said. “Plus different flavors and scents. So actually more like 20 to be honest.”

Other people invest in chapstick for its different flavors. If you’re looking to go as far as tasting those flavors, the classic Lip Smackers brand has roughly 176 different manufactured flavors for you to choose from on its website.

“Americans spend over 200 million dollars each year on lip balm alone,” said All Good Products, “with nearly 66 percent of people using lip balm daily.”

Americans already spend a good chunk of their money on such a small, everyday product, it’s no wonder there’s so many flavors. 

“I don’t use chapstick; I just drink water,” freshman Cody Seifert said. “And if I do, I just borrow it from my mom.”

Some may call this freshman psychotic for his lack of chapstick, but that may just be the obsession speaking for them. Whether or not people truly need it, they seem to obsess over it all the same. It’s up to them to find the happy medium of their own preferable number of chapsticks.