LAVANILA The Healthy Lip Butter

This is a review I’ve been avoiding. I’ve been using this stuff for, no joke, about a year. Pretty much nonstop, trying to get myself to a point where I could honestly give it a fantastic review. The other reviews I have read for it have been amazing, and I feel almost guilty for not saying similar things. But hey, not everybody can love something. I’m only saying this, though, because I don’t want you, the reader, to strictly take my word for it. This product is incredibly popular and well-liked, along with many other products that I have reviewed, and my opinion is only one opinion. Take it for what it is. Just a friendly reminder to take my words with a grain of salt.

PRICE: $16.00 at LAVANILA. I purchased mine for the same amount at Sephora.

PACKAGING: This is a .4oz squeeze tube with a screw-on cap and one of those plastic slant-tipped applicators. The packaging itself is actually quite lovely. The product name is written on a glossy strip, bordered with metallic lines, and printed on a more matte background. The design on the tube is nice. Honestly not sure what it is. Maybe flower petals? Whatever it is, it’s pretty. The brand name is written below the product name, on the matte background. Now, on the back, you have ingredients and a small blurb about the product, all of which is way too itty bitty for me to read. But overall, it’s nice to look at. My only real complaint is that the hole in the tube to dispense product from is too big, in my opinion. I feel like you squeeze just a tiny bit, and you get a crapload of product coming out of it. So, I would definitely make that smaller, but other than that.. It’s all good.

TEXTURE/GLIDE: As with all squeeze-balms, I use my finger to apply, not the provided applicator. So, going on via fingertip, this stuff isn’t horrible. Pretty easy to smooth out on my lips. It’s very creamy, and pretty thin in consistency. Honestly, I think it’d be much more effective if it were a little thicker.

SMELL/FLAVOR: I bought this thinking that it would smell like vanilla, and I love vanilla. Honestly, this was the main reason why I even bought this in the first place. But it doesn’t smell much like vanilla at all to me. Now, some people will argue and say that it’s supposed to smell of real vanilla, and not that stuff they claim is vanilla (fake vanilla?), but this doesn’t smell like any vanilla. This smells a little like sweetened Play-Doh to me. Very sweetened. Like someone dumped a pound of Sugar In The Raw into a little tub of Play-Doh. That’s basically what this smells like. I’m not really offended by the smell, and it doesn’t keep me from using it, but it’s definitely not at all what I was expecting.

LASTING POWER: Like I said, it’s incredibly light, so it doesn’t last for very long. Maybe an hour and a half or so.

INGREDIENTS: Please head over here and click the “Ingredients” tab.

ANYTHING ELSE: Okay, so you’re wondering what my problem with this really is. Well, the website claims it’ll make your lips “seriously soft”. This is true, it will. However, while simultaneously making my lips “seriously soft”, it also makes them “seriously flaky”. Almost like it softens my lips and peels up all the dead skin, which would be just fine with me, except that it seems like I always have dead skin when using this product, and I’m fairly certain this isn’t the case. This is the main reason why I’m telling you all to definitely not take my word entirely on this product, because this could just be a bad tube or something in it that’s irritating my mouth.

OVERALL: I’m just not thrilled by this. I think that I honestly let my hopes lift a little too high for this one. I wanted to love it, because so many other people do, and it just didn’t happen. Oh well. What can ya do?

Lip Balm With Attitude

Okay, guys. You might want to get the kids out of the room for this one. The content of this review, I think, isn’t exactly suitable for children under the age of 18. And if you are under the age of 18 and your parents manage to find out you actually bought some of these, then umm.. Don’t tell them where you heard about them, deal? Deal!

So, this is a balm discovery that I’m a little proud of. And why? Because these are some of the most creative and fun balms I think I have ever come across. But they’re a little naughty, so you’ve been warned.

PRICE: $5.95 at Lip Balm With Attitude

PACKAGING: Okay, not gonna lie. The labels on these standard sized tubes kind of scream “I’m homemade!” There’s nothing wrong with that, mind you, but I’m just saying. Every tube features a picture that goes along with the flavor name in some way. Beneath that is the flavor name and a list of ingredients. Everything is easily read, and that’s absolutely a good thing, but I do have one complaint. These are all, er, interesting flavor names. In order to find out what each of them are supposed to smell like (without going to the website), you have to dig through the ingredients, where the flavor is listed there. This shouldn’t be. I like knowing what flavor is going on my mouth, and I like it to be easily found. Other than that, I really don’t mind these labels. Nothing fantastic about them, but nothing to really complain about either (other than the flavor thing).

TEXTURE/GLIDE: Very nice glide. No tugging required. Almost slippery, but not in a bad way. The texture is very smooth and creamy, and a little on the light side. They’re definitely moisturizing, and that’s always a plus.

SMELL/FLAVOR: The fun part! I have six of these: Pole Dancer Lip Enhancer, S&M Bitch Lip Pitch, Screw A Hunk Lip Gunk, Prick Teaser Lip Pleaser, Rock Star Hoochie Lip Smoochie, and Horny Drunk Lip Gunk. That’s a lot of typing. Pole Dancer.. is supposed to smell of Butterfingers, but honestly.. I smell the chocolate, but not the buttery peanuty scent that a Butterfinger has. I almost smell something fruity, honestly. S&M Bitch.. is supposed to smell like caramel fudge. I definitely smell a chocolatey scent, and I guess a little bit of sweetness that might pass for caramel. Screw A Hunk.. is supposed to smell like blueberries & cream, and it does. It’s not very strong, but it definitely has those flavors. Prick Teaser.. is meant to smell like a caramel apple martini, and it does. I smell the alcohol, I smell the apples, and I smell the caramel. That one is definitely a win. Rock Star Hoochie.. is supposed to smell like blueberry-banana, aaand all I smell is the blueberries, honestly. It smells more like blueberries than Screw A Hunk... Horny Drunk.. is supposed to smell like a mojito. I have to be fair here and say that I’ve never actually sniffed a real mojito, so I don’t know what it’s supposed to smell like. It doesn’t, however, smell like my other mojito balms. Overall, the flavors need some work. None of them are by any means bad, but very few of the ones I have actually smell like what they’re supposed to smell like (and there are a lot of flavors, so perhaps other ones are better).

LASTING POWER: Even though they’re pretty light, a nice layer of balm stays around for quite awhile. About two hours or so.

INGREDIENTS: Mango butter, beeswax, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, evening primrose oil, castor oil, stevia (natural sweetener), assorted flavor oil, colorant and assorted metallic mica’s (taken from Lip Balm With Attitude)

OVERALL: So, could they use some improvement? Sure. If I’d change anything, it would be the flavors and the way the flavor names are displayed. Other than that, though, this is a winner. What makes it a winner, in my opinion, is that they have taken a serious amount of time, obviously, in creating something unique, racy, and daring. Perhaps a little (or a lot) too naughty for the younger balm fans out there, but really? Us adults need something fun to giggle at, too. They have provided me with that, and for this reason, I applaud them.

Vitaminschtick

Everybody loves a gimmick, and I am definitely a fan of this one. I’m not particularly a fan of Vitaminwater, because I’ve read in an article or two that it’s really not all that good for you (says the girl who would live off of root beer and fries if she could). But this.. This is cute, and fun, and just good.

PRICE: $2.99 at Rite-Aid stores. But I got mine at Justice with a 40% off coupon.

PACKAGING: Okay, have you seen a bottle of Vitaminwater? Yes? Well, then you basically know what this .14oz tube of balm looks like. Except scaled down. A lot. In fact, I can hardly read anything on here aside from the logo and flavor names. I guess everything else isn’t all that important.

TEXTURE/GLIDE: The glide is insanely unique. It has a jelly feel to it. Hell, the balm itself has a jelly look. It’s translucent and looks similar to Jell-O. Anywho, the glide is nice. It goes on pretty easily without any tugging required. The texture is also jelly-like, and has a slightly tacky feel to it. It’s a little thick, but not horribly so.

SMELL/FLAVOR: I only have this in Power-C, which is the dragonfruit variety. It has a very sharp, fruity scent to it. Maybe slightly tangy. I’ve honestly never had the pleasure of smelling an actual dragonfruit, but I will say that it smells exactly like the Vitaminwater. Which is a good thing. It’s the only Vitaminwater I like.

LASTING POWER: Because it’s a bit thick and tacky, this stuff sticks for a good long while. About two and a half hours or so, depending on how much drinking or eating you’re doing.

INGREDIENTS: Who knows.. I do know it contains Vitamin E, though. I can’t actually find this stuff anywhere online at the time.

ANYTHING ELSE: Contains SPF 20.

OVERALL: I didn’t think I’d be such a fan of this stuff, especially given the fact that it’s not the most moisturizing balm on the planet. Yes, it moisturizes, but not nearly as well as a lot of other balms out there. But it’s fun, and it smells really good, and that texture and glide really is worth experiencing.

Kiehl’s Baby Lip Balm

Kiehl’s is one of those companies that always impresses me after I’ve taken a good long while to actually give their products a shot. I always mean to, buuut I just never get around to it. Something better comes along. Something else just seems like a better idea. But then I finally decide to give that Kiehl’s product a go, and I kick myself for not trying it sooner.

PRICE: $7.50 at Kiehl’s

PACKAGING: Sliiightly larger than your standard sized tube at .17oz. Not by much, but hey, every tiny bit counts. This tube has a nice, light feel to it. I wouldn’t necessarily call it “babyish”, aside from the little building block “Baby” logo stamped right onto the label. Everything on this label, though, is printed way too small, in my opinion. Even the brand and product labels are tiny, and forget about trying to read the blurb about the product or ingredients. That stuff isn’t really all that important, though. I like the feeling I get from this label, and I guess that’s all that matters.

TEXTURE/GLIDE: This goes on very, very easily. I’d even go so far as to call this glide slippery. It has a slightly greasy feel to it, which provides a very nice natural looking sheen. The texture is pretty light, but you can still detect some product there.

SMELL/FLAVOR: They claim this is unscented, but I definitely smell something there. The only thing I can think of to describe this as is a freshly opened pack of looseleaf paper. It doesn’t smell quite like that, but it’s definitely close to it, and the other thing it reminds me of is escaping my mind at the moment and actually frustrating me a lot, grr.. It’s not a strong or offensive smell by any means. It’s very plain.

LASTING POWER: Due to the light nature of this balm, I find that it needs to be reapplied pretty often, especially if there’s a lot of eating, talking, or drinking. It lasts about an hour or so, at most.

INGREDIENTS: I honestly can’t find a complete list of ingredients anywhere, but hey, it contains avocado oil.

ANYTHING ELSE: Do not by any means heat this balm up. It really doesn’t take long whatsoever for it turn liquify. I won’t share with you the story on how I know this to be true, but trust me when I say it’s a very unfortunate thing to have happen to you.

OVERALL: This is a great, moisturizing balm, especially for those of you with very sensitive skin. I’d definitely recommend it if you tend to break out from other lip balms.

Ladies & Gentlemen, this here blog is officially one year old. I’m disappointed that I wasn’t financially able to do a super awesome giveaway to celebrate, but oh well. Next year!

I’d like to thank all of you for sticking with me through the first year. I know it hasn’t been perfect, but I’m working on it, and hoping this year will be even better than the last.

Blistex Fruit Smoothies

One of my goals for this year is to try and review more drugstore balms. In this economy, nobody can afford the high-end stuff (even though I throw money away on it anyway), and it’s important to keep lips soft and smooth with stuff we can actually find the money for.

So, here is a drugstore balm. A Blistex balm.

PRICE: I think I bought these at the grocery store for a little less than $3. But you can buy them for $4.49 at Drugstore.com.

PACKAGING: Okay, so you’re getting three (or four, depending on if you find the extra special pack with one extra flavor) balms for the price of one, which is pretty nice. These are smaller than your standard sized tube at .10oz each. A noticable difference, but still, three or four balms for the price of one. Still not bad. Each wrapper has a pearlized, metallic sort of look to it, displaying the brand, product, and flavor names. Aaand that’s really all I can say about that.

TEXTURE/GLIDE: Think Lip Smackers. This is where this product becomes one of my least favorite Blistex products. The glide is just okay, and it’s waxy. Very waxy, and somewhat on the “too thick” side of the balm spectrum. Is it moisturizing? A tad, but not enough to make this worth it to me.

SMELL/FLAVOR: This comes in four flavors that I know of, and I’ve got ‘em all: Melon Medley, Triple Tropical, Strawberry Banana, and Berry Explosion. Melon Medley isn’t bad. It’s melon-y, but with a slight artificial twist. Triple Tropical honestly smells like Chapstick to me with only a hint of tropical fruit scent. Strawberry Banana is my favorite of the bunch, and is the one that was an “exclusive” or something. It smells like what it’s supposed to smell like. And Berry Explosion smells basically like strawberries. Basically? Nothing special here.

LASTING POWER: They do last quite awhile, about three hours or so.

INGREDIENTS: Dimethicone (2% w/w) (Skin Protectant), Octinoxate (7.5% w/w) (Sunscreen), Oxybenzone (2.5% w/w) (Sunscreen), Alumina, Bis PEG 12 Dimethicone Beeswax, Butylparaben, C20 40 Pareth 3, Daucus Carota Sativa Root, Ethylparaben, Flavor, Fruit Extract, Glycerin, Glyceryl Stearate, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Hydrogenated Polyisobutene, Hydroxylated Milk Glycerides, Isopropyl Myristate, Myristyl Myristate, Ozokerite, Panthenol, Pantothenic Acid Polypeptide, Polybutene, Polyhydroxystearic Acid, Propylparaben, Water (Purified), Retinyl Palmitate Polypeptide, Silica, Sodium Saccharin, Squalane, Sucralose, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Titanium Dioxide, Tridecyl Neopentanoate, Triisononanoin, May Contain: Blue 1 Lake, Red 30 Lake, Yellow 10 (taken from Drugstore.com)

ANYTHING ELSE: They contain SPF 15.

OVERALL: Eh.. I wouldn’t recommend them. You get a lot for your buck, I’ll give you that much, but I think it’s much more worth it to buy one product for that price than to buy three or four of something you’re not going to use very often at all. They smell okay, but the less than desirable feel doesn’t make it worth it.

Yankee Candle Lip Balm

I do apologize for that tiny pic. I searched all over the internet for a decent picture of these, that wasn’t taken by another blogger, and that was basically all I came up with. So, we’ll just have to deal with that, right? Right.

So! Who doesn’t love novelty balms?! I know I love novelty balms. I love adorable packaging, I love fun brands, I love cute flavors and flavor names.. Who also doesn’t like the overpriced candle company known as Yankee Candle? I know I love Yankee Candle, even though I very rarely purchase any of their candles. And here we have a merge of the two. As if Yankee Candle and a novelty balm went ahead and had themselves a baby. And the result? Well, you’ll just have to find out.

PRICE: $3.99 at Yankee Candle, and most places that sell Yankee Candle products.

PACKAGING: This is the part that’s grabbing everybody by the hair and pulling them in. Very in. I mean, just look at that packaging! It’s a tiny candle jar! Awww.. Er, anywho. The little top of the “jar” is pulled off to reveal a very fat balm. You’re getting about as much in this as you would in a standard sized tube of lip balm (standard is .15oz, this is .14oz), but it’s just mushed down to fit the chubbiness of the “jar”. The very bottom twists to move the balm up and down. The labels are adorable, and basically look like the label on a candle, except these have the ingredients and say “lip balm”, not “candle”. Only problem? I find that the packaging is, unfortunately, pretty cheaply made. You have to take very special care not to completely ruin the label when first attempting to twist the top and break the seal. I have two that the little dial on the bottom is broken. Buuut this is why it’s a novelty balm. Nobody is expecting God’s gift to the lip balm packaging world here. I just wish that they took a little extra care in making it a little more sturdy.

TEXTURE/GLIDE: This is where I was very pleasantly surprised. Now, for most balms, this really isn’t anything special. But for a novelty balm, it really is. It actually knocked me right off my socks. Most novelty balms have a very waxy, hard feel to them that do next to nothing for your lips. This, however, is the exact opposite. They glide right on with the greatest of ease, and very incredibly smooth and creamy on your lips. They moisturize awesomely as well.

SMELL/FLAVOR: I have this in four flavors: Black Cherry, Buttercream, Vanilla Cupcake, and Vanilla Lime (also available in Christmas Cookie, Juicy Watermelon, and Sweet Strawberry). Black Cherry might honestly be my favorite cherry lip balm. It’s very light and sweet, but not artificially cherry. Buttercream is sweet, but not overpoweringly sweet. Not “I’m gonna make you toss your cookies” sweet. Vanilla Cupcake smells, honestly, almost identical to Buttercream. Maybe slightly sweeter. Vanilla Lime is awesome. Sweet and fruity, but not too much of either. I’m definitely more of a fan of the fruity flavors, as opposed to the sweet dessert flavors. Which is bizarre for me, because that’s usually not the case.

LASTING POWER: A surprisingly amount of time. About two hours or so.

INGREDIENTS: I can’t find a complete list of ingredients, but it contains beeswax, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic hemp seed oil, vitamin E and rosemary.

ANYTHING ELSE: It has SPF 15, so you can actually wear this out in the sun with no worries.

OVERALL: I’m definitely not disappointed with the balm itself. The packaging is adorable and fun, but could use a little work in the quality department. I’d say it’s worth trying, though, definitely.

Lip Labz Lip Balm

I was super excited to receive this review from Bailey. I love finding out about new products (who doesn’t?!), and this is one new discovery I am very much wanting to check out for myself. They look awesome. Thanks for introducing me, Bailey!

But anway, without further ado.. Review time!

PRICE: $3 each or 5 for $10 @ www.liplabz.com

PACKAGING: 0.15 oz or 4.5 gram tube

TEXTURE/GLIDE: I’m a big fan of creamier balms, and this one really glides on smooth. It’s got a buttery texture, not waxy or oily like some other natural balms I’ve used before. I also find that with regular use my peely, dry spots clear up really quickly and i don’t get cracked as badly in the harsh Canadian winter. I like to wear it under my lipstick or over a lip stain for longer wear and to protect my lips from any questionable ingredients ( I’m a drugstore lipstick junkie ). Even when the balm is cold it goes on nice and smooth.

FLAVOR/SMELL: This is the cool part: I went to the website and chose TWO flavors from their veritable “menu” of offerings to blend together. I made one chocolate/raspberry, one mango/blueberry, and my favorite: banana/maple – Banana pancakes! They smell DELICIOUS and have a faint sweetness that isn’t overpowering.

LASTING POWER: Average/Long. If you’re not overly obsessive about licking your lips, one application will last you about 2 1/2 – 3 hours. I’m a smoker, so I probably have to reapply more often. On another note, I use it sometimes under my powder eyeshadow and it lasts FOREVER. Forever-ever.

INGREDIENTS: Cocoa butter, Shea butter, Coconut oil, Beeswax, Stevia, Food grade flavoring oils

ANYTHING ELSE: Check out the site… there seems to be rumors of lipgloss on the Facebook group as well.

OVERALL: 5 out of 5 for sure.

Last week, I asked how you guys would feel about me reviewing products other than stuff meant for your lips. A good deal of you said it would be fine by you, while another decent chunk said that the reason they’re so desperately in love with my blog (that miiight be an exaggeration) is because I’m strictly a balm blog.

So, how about this: I’m going to stick to lip products here at Balmaholic. However, by lip products, I mean every type of lip product. Starting this month, I’m going to be reviewing more lip glosses, as well as balms of course. Once I get myself more cash, I might start checking out some lipsticks, but I typically try to steer away from those because personally, I just don’t like using them.

The reason for this, guys, is that sooner or later I’m going to run out of lip balms to review. Granted, right now, I’m not even close to being at that point but it’s bound to happen and I’m going to need something to fall back on to keep this blog rolling. So, why not start now?

As for reviewing things non-lip related, later on in the year, depending on my money situation (which was pretty horrendous last year, thus why I’ve been horrible at sending out prizes, for this I apologize from the bottom of my blackened little heart), I hope to obtain a video camera. That’s right.. I hope to start a VLOG. This is where I hope to review things that aren’t balm related, and some balmy things that are just too special to post here.

Sound good? I sure hope so.

Pucker Ups Lip Balm

I sure do love when readers take the time to write a review. Who doesn’t love being in the spotlight for even just a brief moment in time on this wonderful internet we have here?

I’m not quite sure the name of the person this came from. This makes me pretty sad in a way. The name it was emailed from says Anthony but is that their name really? Alas, I might never know.. But anyway, here it is.

PRICE: $1.29 -I found it at Sally’s Beauty Supply here. On sale now for 50 cents!

PACKAGING: As you can see the Packaging is very cute with a lip print on the cap and the flavor written in Bold along with a picture of the flavor at the bottom which in this case is a Watermelon. It is very easy to read and the ingredients list is not very long. They come in a variety of flavors (watermelon, tangerine, red apple, coconut, strawberry ect)

TEXTURE/GLIDE: The glide is very nice. When you first put it on it is kind of hard but as soon as you use it a second time it is very smooth and not too thick, but thick enough that you will know you have balm on.

FLAVOR/SMELL: The scent is very strong as soon as you open the cap you can smell it. It is strong but not to the point of being irritating

LASTING POWER: It lasts a good amount of time. I would say after an hour has passed you should still feel balm on your lips. You may have to reapply but it’s only $1.29 so balm it up lol.

INGREDIENTS: As I said the ingredients list is not very long: MINERAL OIL ,OZOKERITE ,PETROLATUM ,MICROCRYSTALLINE WAX ,CERESIN ,FLAVOR ,COPERNICIA CERIFERA (CARNAUBA) WAX ,TOCOPHERYL ACETATE ,ALOE BARBADENSIS LEAF EXTRACT ,SACCHARIN ,RED 40 LAKE ,RED 27 LAKE……It looks long on the screen but believe me compared to other balms it’s not. But hey what do you expect it’s not chapstick 100% Natural lol.

OVERALL: ( Overall this balm is a very good product the only thing I could say bad about it is that it is only available online on sallybeauty.com or in the store. I give this balm a 4 out of 5 Rating.)~Original~