Tubes feel grainy

A friend of mine recommended Carmex and, after only 2 days wearing it, I gotta say that I already love it!!! Great results! I'm finally able to stop wasting my money in stuff that doesn't work.
The only thing bugging me, though, is the grainy texture. That's how I ended up in this website. I'm glad to know that this does not alterates the formula but next time I'll purchase the Carmex Stick to avoid the annoying sensation.

Hi Alessandra.

Your message caught me at home checking my email on a nice Saturday afternoon. We are located in Wisconsin and spring is finally starting to arrive. Thanks very much for giving Carmex a try and know that we genuinely appreciate your being a customer.

Having read a few of the email exchanges I'm sure that you've noticed a few other people have experienced this same problem and that we believe that we figured out the cause of it. If we have - the occasional gritty texture problem should be solved. That said, you paid for a perfect tube, not one that falls short of your expectations. If you send me a note with your address and remind me of this exchange I will send a replacement along with a couple other versions of Carmex for you to try. My address is:

Carma Labs.
Attn: Paul
5801 West Airways Avenue
Franklin, WI 53132

If you ever have any other problems, compliments or suggestions for things that you’d like to see in a lip balm please feel to contact me and let me know anytime.

Best wishes,

Paul Woelbing, President
Carma Laboratories, Inc.

I live off of carmex, it's the only lip balm I will purchase. I have been a lover of it for years now, and I have noticed in the last few months that I have been buying it from Target that the tubes are grainy too. I have given it a benefit of the doubt it was a bad batch. But it's been 4 months of this since I got the first tube that was grainy, so I was wondering if there was a solution to the problem?

Thanks!

Hi Heather.

I sincerely apologize for the problem. At the top of this list KJ wrote with the same problem and right below that you'll see my reply which explains what we now believe to be the source of this problem. We are working to absolutely prevent this from happening in future productions. If you would please, send me a brief note reminding me of this problem along with your address so that I can send you a couple of replacements from our most recent production along with a couple of other things to try. My address is:

Carma Labs.
attn: Paul
5801 West Airways Avenue
Franklin, WI 53132

We hope that you will continue to be a valued Carmex customer.

Sincerely,

Paul Woelbing, President
Carma Laboratories, Inc.

I've never had the grainy problem in the tubes or sticks before, however, I tried the new Moisture Plus product and about half way down the stick, it became grainy. I kind of ignored the problem because I love Carmex so much =) then I went to buy a new one. I really like the new Moisture Plus product as well, the scent of it, alone, makes me want to spend my paychecks on Carmex! Thank you for making such awesome products and providing me with happy lips!

E pomaika'i i luna o kakou,
(Translation, Hawaiian to English: "Blessings upon all of you!")

Lii N.

Hi Lii.

First, thank very much for the kind words about Carmex. I believe that we have gotten to the bottom of the grainy problem with our tubes. Your message is the first time that I’ve ever heard of it occurring in any other version of Carmex. If it isn’t too much trouble, could you please send me the stick in question so that I can have our chemist take a look at it. I will reimburse you for your postage etc. I also would like to send you some replacements if you provide me with an address to where they can be sent. My address is:

Carma Labs.
Attn: Paul
5801 West Airways Avenue
Franklin, WI 53132

Best wishes,

Paul Woelbing, President
Carma Laboratories, inc.

I have been using Carmex for over 25 years and it seems to me that when the product gets old, then it has a tendency to get grainy. But everyone knows in my right front pocket there is always a tube! I'm a total addict!

Hi Michelle.

First, thanks very much for being a Carmex customer. We are still entirely family owned (by me and my brother) after 72 years. There are several reasons that we continue to own and run the company; Carmex is our family legacy and want to maintain the quality the people expect from Carma Laboratories products, we have superb employees and if we sold the company certainly a new owner would change things and finally... it's always interesting here. We like working with our customers, employees and suppliers.

To address your specific question, if you go to the top of this list you can see my reply to KJ's original problem with graininess. This has been an occasional problem with our tubes over the years that we were not able to solve. While subtle and only noticed by people who have used Carmex for years, it's annoying because it's not the exact same creamy smooth texture that one expects from our tubes. Claudio, Regina and Mark in our lab made getting to the bottom of this their #1 priority earlier this year and believe that they have finally solved it. It relates to the grainy texture of the salicylic acid (similar to aspirin) and the fact that this one ingredient does not melt well in Carmex's ointment base. The found a way to first pre-dissolve the salicylic acid with two other ingredients prior to adding it to the batch. So... from this point forward we believe that we have solved the grittiness.

I do sincerely apologize for the problem that you experienced and thank you for sticking with Carmex. We also want you to know that we take every customer concern seriously. If you would, please send me a brief note reminding me of this exchange along with your address so that I can send you a couple replacements along with a sample of our new Moisture Plus stick. (The same certainly goes for anybody else who has had had a similar problem). My address is:

Carma Labs.
Attn: Paul
5801 West Airways Avenue
Franklin, WI 53132

Best wishes,

Paul Woelbing, President
Carma Labs.