Mountain Ocean: Lip Trip

Well, its been a while since I've posted... However, my lip balm addiction hasn't shown any signs of slowing down, so I've got a lot of catching up to do!

Look/First Impressions: Bad-ass black tube with big white letters. The package promises this balm lasts three times longer, and has been tested in extreme mountain and tropical environments. Rugged! SPF 15, too.

Smell/Taste: The label said vanilla and peppermint, but this smelled more like cough syrup to me. Blech.

Feel: This balm is so extreme, I could barely get it on my lips! I was using this stick back in February when I went boarding, so I thought maybe it would be better if it was warm. I left it in a heated condo, and even after some time in my pocket, the consistency hadn't improved. After muscling it onto my lips, it felt sticky. When I rubbed my lips together, they actually stuck! Extreme mountain snowboarders don't need to eat...

Overall: Meh, I lost this on the slopes and wasn't sad enough to buy a replacement. 1 out of 5 Stars.

Tilvee: Pomegranate Lip Conditioner

This brand was a lucky find! In addition to being a lip balm addict, I'm also a soap junkie. I found Tilvee while I was browsing online for soaps, to my delight, they also make lip balms!

Look/First Impressions: All Tilvee products are wonderfully photographed, and accompanied by fruit. The site is clean, and just makes me want to buy up the whole line, BUT they are expensive! This tube was six bucks. You can't really tell from the photo, but this is a fat stick (.25 oz).

Smell/Taste: Amazing! Smells like raspberry chocolate, and tastes like it too. Makes me want to try all the flavors.

Feel: I'm finding that I'm extremely partial to balms containing cocoa butter. They apply easily, don't feel greasy, and are the perfect consistency.

Overall: I've been carrying this with me since it arrived, and don't plan on rotating it out of my purse stash for a while. I'll definitely buy another when it runs out. 4.9 out of 5 stars! (website)

Burt's Bees: Replenishing Pomegranate

I've been a long time user of Burt's Bees. While I'm not much of a fan of their body care products, they keep feeding my lip balm addiction!

Look/First Impressions: I love the Burt's Bees packaging. The yellow and red color scheme, plus the style of artwork makes the products easily recognizable. Old man Burt makes me feel like I'm using something grandpa formulated especially for me. I was especially lured by the verb "replenishing", since it gives me the impression of soft, full lips.

Smell/Taste: Wow! Its got a strong, tart smell, that reminds me of sour-patch kids. Luckily, it doesn't taste like them or I'd have thrown it out. The balm itself is a deep red color, like the cap, which comes from the addition of carmine.

Feel: After using the very thin Eco Lips for a week, this feels wonderfully thick. I find that Burt's Bees can sometimes be a little hard, and it takes a few swipes for a good coating. Sometimes, I just scrape some off the top with my fingernail (as if it were a tin), and rub it into my lips. This seems to soak in right away and make my lips very soft. I need fewer re-applications to maintain nice feeling lips.

Overall: Keep up the good work, Burt! 4.5 out of 5 Stars. (website)

Softlips: PURE Pomegranate

I have to say, organic is in. Softlips has a new PURE line, with two new flavors; Pomegranate and Honeydew. I scooped this up a few months ago in Target.

Look/First Impressions: The first thing I noticed was the USDA certified organic stamp. I'm impressed with anyone who goes to the trouble to get certified organic, or use certified organic ingredients. Speaking of ingredients, this only contains a few vegetable oils, shea butter, bees wax and vitamin E. I subscribe to the philosophy that simple is better, so I'm on board with this lip balm. Of course it comes in the signature Softlips skinny tube (.07 OZ), which is about half of a regular-sized tube. Unfortuantely its not half the price.

Smell/Taste: This balm doesn't really have a distinct smell. It has a very minimal sweet scent, and no flavor at all.

Feel: As neat as the skinny tube looks, its performance is an utter failure. It takes forever to get my lips coated with this stuff! When I apply this balm, I feel like a little kid with a crayon, "scribbling" on my lips. However, its nice once applied. The formula is a good consistency, not too thick or thin, and feels silky when I press my lips together. Even after the balm begins to soak in, the silky feeling remains. I kinda missed the cool menthol feeling of other Softlips products.

Overall: This was a good buy, and I was happy enough with it to buy the Honeydew Flavor as well. Yet, I really dislike the size of the stick. Its too skinny to be practical, and sometimes the "roll down" feature doesn't work. 4.1 out of 5 Stars. (website)

Kiss My Face: Sugar & Spice

The holiday season is in full swing and what better way to celebrate than with special edition lip balms! I picked this up at the local Whole Foods for about seven bucks, which I think is a little steep. Even for two. I also have to say that this brand name gets me giggling. How do you say it? Is it playful like "Don't kiss my ___, kiss my face!" Or is it full of attitude like "Kiss my ass"? Either way, here we go.

Look/First Impressions: Sparkle-y packaging with a Christmas theme. The flavors are Vanilla Sugar and Cranberry Spice. There's even a little poem on the back that says "Whether you choose sweet or spice, your lips will feel oh so nice!" Hehe, very cute. Most of the ingredients are also certified organic by Quality Assurance International.

Smell/Taste: The smell is subtle. I was curious what Cranberry Spice would smell like, and I immediately thought of chai tea when I took a whiff. There's some cinnamon in there, too. Vanilla Sugar is what I expected; just like a sugar cookie, with a slight hint of coconut. Combined, these two smell like Christmas at mom's house.

Feel: This is a bees wax based lip balm, so its pretty soft and applies smoothly to the lips without being too thick. That being said, it does absorb quickly into my skin. I needed another round after about an hour. I don't mind re-applying, since it feels so nice.

Rating: The formula is nice and makes my lips soft, but the smell isn't something I'd normally choose for myself. Overall, I'd give this 4.25 out of 5 stars. (website)

Ingredient Education: Wax

If you're a lip balm junkie like me, you might have noticed that there are several different types of wax used to make lip balm. I was curious to learn more about them, and share my discoveries.

Wax is a substance found naturally in plants. Bees wax is the genuine article, but wax comes from other plants and can be artificially produced as well. Worker bees collect nectar from plants which is used to make honey. When the bee eats the honey, he secrets wax from wax producing glands on his abdomen. The wax is then chewed by the bee to construct the combs where honey is stored, and the young are raised. (source)

Cera Flava (Yellow Bees Wax): This is the wax taken directly from the hive. The honey is extracted, and the wax is boiled, strained, and poured into molds for cooling. The color is yellowish brown, and it should smell like honey. Cera Flava has a melting point of approximately 146*F, and becomes pliable just by the warmth of your body. It is readily dissolved in oils. (source)

Cera Alba (White Bees Wax): This is the same thing as Cera Flava, but has been exposed to the sun to remove color and smell. Cera Alba has a slightly higher melting point than Cera Flava, and also easily dissolved in oils. (source)

Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla Wax): This wax is produced by the Candelilla plant which grows in the Chihuahua Desert. (Northern Mexico, Southwestern Texas) Plants in the hottest and driest areas produce a hard wax to help the plant retain moisture. It has a melting point af approximately 157*F. It is a common ingredient used in chewing gum. (source)

Copernica Cerifera (Carnauba Wax): This wax comes from the Brazilian Palm Tree, or "Tree of Life". Like the Candelilla plant, the palm tree produces wax to retain moisture. During harvesting, only 20 leaves may be removed from the tree, to ensure the tree is not endangered. Although the tree grows elsewhere, the rainy seasons inhibit wax production. Carnauba wax is often used as a vegan alternative to bees wax. However, Carnauba wax is harder than bees wax and requires a temperature of approximately 185*F to melt. (source)

Plum Pure: Soothing Vanilla

I stopped in Harris Teeter (not my usual grocery store) last week to pick up some pumpkin bread ingredients for Thanksgiving and couldn't resist a stroll through the oral care aisle. Surprisingly, I found a lip balm I'd never heard of before, Plum Pure!

Look/First Impressions: So, I was in the aisle debating on which flavor I should choose; Soothing Vanilla or Vitalizing Peppermint? (why not plum?) Well, my boyfriend hates mint, so vanilla won out. I figured if I liked it, I could come back later for Peppermint. The balm was packaged in a paper hanging box, which I must admit I am no fan of, but I do understand that some retailers will not purchase products if they are not packaged according to a certain standard. The balm is in a creme-colored tube with cute, purple plums and a juicy looking font which seems to call out "Try me, and I'll make your lips incredible". There's also one of those twist off safety seals, which takes me about 10 minutes of wrestling to finally get the darn thing open! Delay of lip balm sampling is never a good thing. Soothing Vanilla is already not living up to its name.

Smell/Taste: After getting the cap off, I take a whiff. There's a subtle smell I can't quite make out, so I inhale a little deeper. It doesn't really smell like vanilla, but more like cardboard. Disappointing to say the least, and leaves me wondering if the mint would have been a better choice after all. There is no taste to this balm.

Feel: I never put a brand new lip balm right onto my lips, because I detest that little divot in the top that makes "sharp" edges on the surface of the balm. I always wear it down first on the back of my hand, to make the balm smooth and round before applying it to my lips. Even with a warm up, this balm is difficult to apply. Its very solid feeling, and I've got to press it hard against my lips and make about seven swipes before I feel satisfied. When I press my lips together, it feels thick and waxy. Almost like I'm kneading dough. The consistency is not improved after being warmed up to body temperature. In fact, I think it actually gets thicker! I'm assuming this is because the oils are being absorbed into my skin, and the wax is remaining on the surface. I find my self constantly pressing my lips together in an effort to redistribute the balm. You will probably end up wiping this off before it wears off. I think because of the thickness it will make a good night time, or extreme cold weather balm. I'd also recommend it as a regular skin moisturizer, because the backs of my hands do feel very soft.

Overall: I was really hoping to like this product, especially after reading their philosophy on ingredient integrity. And plum! Very unique, but the formula needs work and I think the flavor choices are somewhat odd. Where is the plum flavored one? A+ for effort, but I don't think I will buy this brand again. 2 out of 5 stars. (website)

W.S. Badger: Cocoa Butter Lip Balm

There's a little health food shop called Rebecca's Natural Foods a few miles from where I live. They stock all sorts of natural and organic products, and have a huge lip balm selection. I've used a few Badger Balms with good results, and figured I'd give their lip balm a try. The flavor I picked was Creamy Cocoa.

Look/First Impressions: The first thing I noticed about this lip balm was the size of the tube. Its a big fat one! (.25 oz) I'm unlikely to misplace something so large, and its easy to tell apart by feel from other tubes when I'm digging in my abyss of a bag. A closer look at the label reveals that the ingredients are Fair Trade and USDA Certified Organic. Now, who can complain about food quality ingredients in their lip balm? With only seven (pronounceable) ingredients, there's nothing suspicious about it, and I feel good buying this one. Also, there is a magical, smiling badger on the front waving a rainbow of little berries out of his wand!

Smell/Taste: The Creamy Cocoa has a subtle smell of chocolate, and a little bit of flavor too.

Feel: Application is smooth and easy. I like to swipe twice for a complete coat. Its not too thick or too thin, and feels great when I press my lips together. I could rub this on my lips all day long, but a good coat in the morning will last me until lunchtime. I'd advise against keeping this one in your pocket though, it can get a little melty.

Rating: Overall, this is the best lip balm I've ever used. 5 out of 5 stars! (website)