Random Post #2
Have you ever tasted something and had flashbacks to specific memories? A lot of people experience this, from a soup that brings you back to your mom’s cooking to a pasta dish that triggers memories of food poisoning. Research shows that taste is directly linked to both positive and negative experiences, which helped our distant ancestors determine what foods were fundamental to their survival. Even though these memories are usually associated with food, in my case, the different flavors of chapstick take me back to various points in my life.
I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with chapstick. When I was younger, I had really dry lips, so naturally, I bought some Chapstick-brand chapstick. That was my biggest mistake. Instead of making my lips better, the chapstick caused my lips to dry out even more. After this, there was a period of 3-5 years where I tried random types of chapstick to see which one worked for me. Finally, in my junior year of high school, I ended up with Burt’s Bees, the brand I’ve been using ever since.
Over the years, I’ve come to associate certain flavors of Burt’s Bees with my life experiences. Because I have used too many tubes of Burt’s Bees to count, I’ll just talk about a few notable flavors and the memories that come with them.
Coconut Pear
- Summertime
Vampire Weekend
Half Moon Bay
I started this tube of chapstick in the summer of 2021 when COVID restrictions were being lifted. The main memory I have of this flavor was when my friends and I were driving down Highway 1 to go to Half Moon Bay. I remember sitting on the sand, eating food from Trader Joe’s, and applying this chapstick to lips that were dry from dehydration.
Pomegranate
Heater
Quarantine
Staying in Bed
Honey
Freshman year
Skating
Rain and wet leaves
I have the most bittersweet memories relating to this flavor. My freshman fall was in 2019, right before the pandemic hit. I remember skating around campus at night, trying to avoid the fallen leaves. Even though I feel nostalgic for that semester, I know that the experiences that came after shaped me into the person I am today. I try not to use this flavor too much.
Chapstick will probably remain a big part of my life–unless technology comes out with a different way of hydrating your lips. Even now, every time I step into Target, I look at the Burt’s Bees section to see if there are any new flavors. It’s always fun to find a new flavor, knowing that it is a blank slate for me to tie memories to.
Hi Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI also have an obsession with chapstick. At one point I think that I had ten tubes. Bert's Bees is pretty good, especially the cucumber flavor. However, the best chapstick is Forever Living Aloe Lips. A little off-brand but when I shared it with my family, they were instantly hooked. You should try it and see how much your life will change for the better.
- Ellie
Hi Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this! It's so cool that chapstick is able to help you recall certain moments in your life. Specific songs do the same thing to me; I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I listen to them. Anyways, Burt's Bees is such a moisturizing lip balm, and they seem to have so many cool flavors. The "Coconut & Pear" one you mentioned seems like it smells really nice. I'm going to be on the lookout for that one!
Angelica
Hi Bryan!
ReplyDeleteThis is probably the most relatable post I have seen. I was addicted to chapstick as a kid and could not go 5 minutes without putting it on. And there are two chapsticks that bring me very strong memories. Blistex Raspberry Lemonade makes me feel like I'm in sixth grade whenever I use it. I also have a strong reaction to Pomegranate Burts Bees because it reminds me of being in a cabin in the mountains in the eighth grade.
-Samantha
Hi Bryan,
ReplyDeleteYou were so right when you said your taste can bring you back to certain times because that's so true for me. Also, I never knew that our ancestors used their recollection of taste to determine what foods were fundamental to their survival. I thought that was really interesting. Thanks for sharing!
Elan
Great post Bryan. I too am a big fan of chapstick. I've carried a tube in my left pocket with me everyday for years. I honestly don’t even really remember the last time I left home without my chapstick. I think it's cool that you can relate your chapstick flavors with memories like those. I've definitely had an experience like that with food but I can't say it's ever happened with chapstick before. Maybe I need to follow your lead and switch up my flavors next time I go to the store as Ive been using the same flavor I have now since high school.
ReplyDeleteHello Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI really like this post a lot. For me, the nostalgic sense that comes with some tastes, smells, and sounds has always been bittersweet, even for really positive associations. I love that you have associations of all the flavors of something so commonplace but important to your daily life.
Ethan
Hey Bryan,
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post! It was really nicely written, and almost poetic. I like that something as simple as Burt's Bees can carry with it so many memories, both positive and negative. For me its often smells that carry the memories with me. Those moments when one of these feelings can catch you off guard can be so disarming, and sometimes comfortable.
Kevin
Hello Bryan,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, Burt's Bees is super fire. I can't go a day without it because my lips are always super chapped so its cool that you wrote a blog post about it. I like that Burt's Bees has so many natural flavors. Like you, I do associate some of the flavors with past memories and I am a loyal fan to this specific brand. Thanks for sharing.
-Etienne