Lip balm’s ancient origin storyThe origins of lip balm are hard to pin down, says Alicia Schult, the archival researcher and ancient remedy expert behind LBCC Historical Apothecary. Communities across the globe probably independently fiddled their way towards the invention of proto lip balms over and over. Other late 18th century lip balms came as a spreadable mash or paste, sold in little pots and jars. Inventors also started mixing in soothing or medicinal compounds into lip balms and marketing multi-use balms—for, say, cold sores or acne pain. In Hamburg, Germany, Nivea lip balm tubes move down a large factory production line, a far cry from earwax and homemade lip salves of prior centuries.