Chapstick: Orange Cream Burst and Chocolate Rush

I apologize in advance for the long story!

While I was in Los Angeles last week, I did lots of lip balm searching and buying. I was conducting my usual lip balm safari in a CVS after we had gone grocery shopping at Sprouts and was losing hope that I'd find anything new. My boyfriend was also searching for balms that I hadn't had yet and I was getting discouraged that we wouldn't find anything at all. I usually never check any make up aisles for lip balm because everyone knows that the vast majority of lip balm is kept in the cold and flu section of most stores. But, since summer is quickly approaching I figured there may be some lip balm near the sunscreen. I found a couple CVS brand flavors that were different from usual store flavors so I picked those up and turned the corner to go down another make up aisle; sad that I, once again, hadn't found the limited edition Chapstick flavors. I was talking with my boyfriend and just blindly looking at all the make up when....I SPOTTED THE LIMITED EDITION CHAPSTICK FLAVORS! They were hanging right there, right in front of me on one of those hanging displays that are strewn randomly about all aisles. BOTH flavors were right there, and in abundance! I was so excited, I immediately grabbed them and jumped up and down. My boyfriend could see how excited I was and we were just high fiving and celebrating (yes, we are that lame). I quickly ran to the check out line, eager to try these babies out! While standing in line there was a woman in front of me. She turned around to look at me, then turned forward again and proceeded to do a double take once she saw what was in my hand. She immediately asked me where I had found them and quickly ran out of line to go get them. It felt awesome!

Enough of my long, detailed story of how I found these marvelous, very sought after balms and on to the review!

Company: Chapstick

Flavors: Orange Cream Burst and Chocolate Rush. I have to tell you, this is the BEST orange cream balm I've ever had! It's JUST like the sweet frozen treat. I adore it, I could use it all day. Perfect combination of sweet orange and creamy vanilla. You should definitely try to find this one in stores. The Chocolate Rush smells like a very decadent piece of chocolate cake. If you love chocolate, you will love this balm. It's not like my cocoa flavored balms, which are made with cocoa butter (and are absolutely delicious, might I add) so this is clearly an artificial chocolate, but still not bad.

Wear: It goes on smooth, not like my natural balms but still pretty smooth. I'm sure most people have at least one stick of Chapstick and are familiar with how it goes on. Even coverage, a tried and true classic of balms. Each application lasts about an hour or so. I'm always reapplying these anyway since the flavor is so amazing but, I do find myself licking my lips a little more than usual so that may be a reason it lasts so little.

Packaging: The little paper/plastic packaging these tubes come in is ADORABLE. Keeps up with the ice cream theme by having a summer scene with an ice cream truck depicted. The tubes themselves are average sized lip balm tubes with a swirl pattern of brown or orange, corresponding with the flavor.

Price: I think I paid around $1.50. Usually you can get Chapstick brand lip balm for around $1, but since it was at CVS it was going to be a little more. I didn't care though, they were limited editions!

Overall:
Pros: Flavor, packaging, price, application
Cons: Not natural, doesn't last too long

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, it's a tired and true lip balm brand. I've always been a fan of them (they were my absolute go-to brand along with Softlips, before I found my love of natural balms). These limited edition balms are definitely something you don't want to miss out on!

C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries

I've had these balms in my collection since last summer I believe when I went on a crazy Bath and Body Works binge during their semi annual sale. I try not to use them so much because they are more expensive than almost all of my other lip balms and they're pretty delicate.

Company: C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries

Flavors: Lemon, Lemon and Raspberry, Lemon and Blueberry, Lemon and Black Cherry, and Lemon and Strawberry (tinted lip balm). Obviously after reading those flavors, you've probably guessed that I would love these balms. Seeing as all of them contain lemon and I love lemon, these balms were set to be amazing in my book. The Lemon is a sweet, refreshing scent. As if I had just cut some fresh lemons and sprinkled a little bit of sugar on them. I love it. The Lemon and Raspberry is a perfect blend of refreshing lemon and a tart raspberry, if you're a raspberry fan you'll definitely enjoy this one! The Lemon and Blueberry flavor of course I was going to love since I absolutely love blueberry and lemon mixed together. It smells exactly like fresh blueberries combined with lemon, like a refreshing glass of blueberry lemonade. Yum! The Lemon and Black Cherry is probably the lightest scented of the bunch but still unbelievably delicious smelling. Just like sweet ripe black cherries mixed with sweet lemon. The Lemon and Strawberry is also phenomenal. I sometimes with it didn't have a tint to it so I could wear it whenever I want and apply it however I want without worrying about color spreading around my lips. It smells like a tall, cold glass of strawberry lemonade. It's so delicious! Sweet strawberries mixed with sweet lemon is a win-win for everyone. The color is a light pink/red color. Perfect for every day wear.

Wear: They go on incredibly smooth! It makes my lips feel really nourished. There's really not much else to say about it, it feels absolutely amazing when put on. Sometimes I get a little carried away with putting it on, so for most only one or two swipes will do. When using them though you can't be as rough as you might be with other balms, applying too much pressure can cause the balm to bend within the tube which causes it to scrape against the side when twisting the tube up and down.

Packaging: The tubes are about the size of a tube of Nivea lip balm. It has similar packaging to the Nivea tubes as well, with the over sized caps that cover the entire tube to the base. The balm on the inside, however, is smaller than the width of the balm within the Nivea packaging. It is even smaller than the width of a normal tube of lip balm. The weight of the product is 0.13 oz and3.7g which is smaller than the average 0.15 oz and 4.25g.

Price: $7.50 per tube. This is super pricey for me, especially since the weight of the tubes are just a little smaller than your average sized tube. Sometimes Bath and Body Works has them for buy 2 get 1 free but that's still about $15 plus tax for 3 tubes so about $5 a tube. This is more reasonable but still a lot to spend on a stick of lip balm.

Overall:
Pros: Flavors!, Wear, Packaging
Cons: Price

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 twists, if the price was just half of what it is this balm would get a perfect 5 out of 5.

Comin' up this week from The Chapstick Wrangler

I'm really excited to have a pretty normal week once again, which of course means I get the opportunity to blog as I wish!

This week you can look forward to seeing:

C.O. Bigelow

AND FINALLY

Chapstick Spring Limited Edition Flavors

I am The Chapstick Wrangler after all, it's about time that I write up a review on some good old Chapstick.

I may write up a third review this weekend depending if I can get some down time to do so.

In the not so distant future you can look forward to seeing:

D and R Apothecary

Panama Jack

Yes To Carrots

Gator Gubba

I've been meaning to write about this company for a while--seeing as I purchased them in December--I had heard good things about it so I wanted to give them a try. I didn't receive my package for almost a month and only received it a week and a half after I had emailed complaining I hadn't received it yet. I hate bad customer service. I know I ordered in middle of December which is bad because it's close to Christmas but seriously, not receiving it until beginning to mid January? Preposterous. For that reason, I haven't wanted to use these very much. And also, I received two of them with the safety seals broken and marks on the balm itself which, being a bit of a germaphobe, grossed me out. For this reason, some of the balms I was only able to smell. I would have tried to ask for a refund or a replacement but since it took SO long the first time around, I didn't want to bother with it.

Company: Gator Gubba

Flavors: Watermelon, Orange Vanilla (herbal), Cherry, Bubblegum, and Pineapple Vanilla. Watermelon is the best smelling out of the bunch by far, it smells like the artificial watermelon flavor of candy but it's still the most noticeable and pleasant. The Orange Vanilla was one of two that came with a broken safety seal. To me it smells just like plastic, no sweet or creamy to it. My boyfriend says he smells a slight vanilla but nothing too prominent. The smell could also be lessened because it is an herbal balm. The Bubble Gum also came with a broken safety seal, it smells like a very artificial bubble gum scent and not sweet like one would imagine; if you're looking for something like Hubba Bubba or Bubbalicious, this is not the one for you. The Cherry is the second best smelling. It smells like artificial cherry but it's not too bad. You can definitely tell it is Cherry. I was really excited for the Pineapple Vanilla, I figured it would be something very different from what I have in my collection already. The scent is very light and only the pineapple is detectable. I was disappointed in this, I have tons of Pineapple balms and tons with great pineapple scent but I was looking for something different.

Wear: The ones that I was able to apply go on with very minimal force, so they go on okay--they aren't the smoothest but definitely aren't the hardest to apply. They also go on VERY thick, one or two swipes is more than enough. It kind of feels like the balm is just sitting on my lips however and not really penetrating to get my lips smooth. I guess since this has SPF that may be a good thing so it doesn't wear away so fast? They last about 2 hours which is great, especially if you're out and about in the sun.

Packaging: They non-herbal balms are your average sized tube of lip balm with identical blue labels. The only thing indicating that they are different flavors are the different colored bands on the top of the tube that match the indicated flavor. There isn't anything crazy special about the lip balm but it is waxy so it could stand up to some wear and tear with frequent use. The herbal flavor has a green label that is identical to the blue labels and has a colored band indicating the flavor. Nothing too crazy or flashy from these. I'm truly indifferent to this packaging.

Price: For the non-herbal flavors they are $1.25 a piece and for the herbal flavor it is $2.25. Pretty great price for a decent product. They aren't natural but do have SPF (15 for non-herbal, 30 for herbal).

Overall:
Pros: Variety of flavors, wear, price
Cons: Weak scents, long time for delivery, unsealed balms

Rating: 3 out of 5 twists, they aren't phenomenal and the bad customer service will forever keep me from purchasing from them again. Once I run out of these, I doubt I'll buy any more. For the price, I suppose that it's worth it to purchase one as a spare to throw into an extra bag or in the car.

Plum Valley Notions

I've realized in this last couple weeks that when I get tired or it's late at night, I tend to turn to the Internet and buy tons of impulsive things. Including clothes I'll never wear and lip balms I haven't thought a lot about. I'm trying to break that habit by buying only balms I've had my eye on for quite a while before purchasing (this of course does not include when I buy balms in person). That being said, here is another brand I chose out of impulse on Etsy.com.

Company: Plum Valley Notions

Flavors: Blueberry Lemonade, Coconut Banana, and Lemon. I always buy something Lemon to use as a flavor comparison, I also really love lemon. The Lemon doesn't smell like just a lemon or even lemon and sugar. It smells like Lemon Cake or Lemon Pound Cake. I am not a fan of this at all. It could be because I was expecting something that was just like lemon and not like a baked good but there's something about the way it smells that I don't particularly enjoy. If you're looking for something that is similar to a lemon cupcake, this may be the balm for you. As for the Coconut Banana, it is once again mostly just banana. I'm not sure if it's because banana as a fruit is extremely strong and fragrant and ends up being too overpowering in lip balms combined with other scents, but I can't seem to find a perfect blend of coconut and banana. It smells like a warm banana, or perhaps just reminds me of a warm banana nut muffin (what is with this baked goods?). The Blueberry Lemonade was also not what I was expecting. Unlike the Blueberry Lemon from Orange Thyme that I mentioned in a previous blog, this one is all blueberry and only a light scent at that. I can't smell any of the lemony goodness that I was expecting =(. It takes a long inhale for me to catch a whiff of anything distinct.

Wear: These balms go on easy enough once you get past the uneven edges (I'm assuming from being hand poured into the tubes?). It's hard to get a good application at first especially since in one swipe you get tons of crumbly pieces from the uneven edges. This was really unpleasant for me as I kept ending up with crumbs of lip balm in my mouth. After I broke away these edges the balm went on pretty smooth. I'm sure many people don't mind these edges but to me it really interferes with a good application and it's a bother to get the balm started.

Packaging: I was somewhat surprised but what I received in the mail after looking at the tubes online. Online the tubes had a nicely printed label on an average sized white tube of lip balm. What I received were tubes with labels that look like they were just printed on address labels and stuck to the tube. The label contains the company name, the flavor, and the ingredients. Since these are just labels stuck onto tubes, I assume that the ink will rub off with frequent use since there is nothing to protect it from wear. I'm sure to some this is not that big of a deal, and it really isn't. But it just wasn't what I was expecting. I am also the type to buy according to the packaging of a tube of lip balm and appreciate a nicely done label. I wasn't too impressed with the packaging on these balms.

Price: I bought 3 for $7.75 which comes out to about $2.58 a piece. A great price for an all natural balm, more so if the product is phenomenal but acceptable for an OK product.

Overall:
Pros: Price, all natural beeswax balm
Cons: Flavors not as indicated, packaging, difficulty starting application

Rating: 2 out of 5 twists, these balms just weren't my cup of tea. I'm sure I'll throw them into a beach bag or in the car as an emergency balm but it's not something I would buy again. I just didn't enjoy them and felt really disappointed with the flavors. This is not to say you won't enjoy them, but I did not. I always hate rating balms low, but alas it is the truth and the truth is what must be written.

So delayed!

I have had a whirl wind of a week! I have not been able to sit down and rest, which means I haven't been able to write up a review either. Visiting my boyfriend's parents always means running around from the moment we wake up until the moment we go to sleep, including the days we say we'll take it easy and do nothing (which often means we'll go for a run, then a four hour walk, then play 9 holes of golf...oy). But, on this trip I was able to pick up about seven or ten balms; they're all scattered about our luggage so I'm not quite sure how many I have right now. In addition to my new balms I also found about seven new pairs of sunglasses all for about $0.99 a piece! Yay!

I should let you guys know that I have FINALLY acquired the limited spring flavors from Chapstick, Orange Cream Burst and Chocolate Rush! I didn't think I'd ever find them since I was unable to find the limited edition Candy Cane flavor from this past winter =(. I almost cried when I saw them in their so very cute packaging. A lot of high fives and celebration were had between my boyfriend and I. I will try to get that review up ASAP.

I will also try to write up a review in just a moment but I am exhausted since we just got in about three hours ago and ran out to get dinner and just finished up eating about 30 minutes ago.

I appreciate your patience with this whirlwind of a week!
--The Chapstick Wrangler

Coming up this week!

I'm headed to Los Angeles tomorrow afternoon so next week I'll be on vacation, but I'm definitely going to try to post on my usual Thursday night if not earlier. I'll try to bring a whole stash of balms with me so I'll have some options on what to show you guys. But here's some brands that may show up next week:

Plum Valley Notions

eco lips

Yes To Carrots

Pucker Ups from Sally Beauty Supply

Aubrey Organics

I could also throw a curve ball and write about something completely different, but I'll try not to do that =). Also, since I'll be on vacation there is a likelihood that I'll pick up some new balms which would mean I'd write about something not pictured here.

--The Chapstick Wrangler

Lemon Citrus--Additional Balms

I wrote a review last week on balms by Lemon Citrus and felt pretty iffy about the balms I picked up. They were good but there was something about them that just didn't make them perfect to me. The seller did have a mini sale on her products shortly after I purchased the other balms so I picked up a couple I hadn't purchased yet, the packaging is so cute I just couldn't help myself! I was so glad to purchase again from her, this just goes to show that things may be worth a second try.

Super cute packaging as always <3. 

Company: Lemon Citrus

Flavors: Lemon Sugar, Blood Orange, and Black Cherry. I had picked Lemon Sugar and Blood Orange and was pleasantly surprised to see Black Cherry included as a freebie! Usually I'm so iffy about trying cherry balms (even though I LOVE cherries) and am so glad I got to try it. The Black Cherry is super fragrant and not too sweet. Smells just like delicious cherries. I was very pleasantly surprised by it. The Lemon Sugar is great as well, very soft and delicate sugary lemon scent--just like lemonade. It's also very pleasant. The Blood Orange was a bit of a disappointment, I'm used to their super fragrant scents and this one I could hardly smell the scent that is characteristic of a blood orange--citrus sweetness with a bit of an edge. There is a very, VERY light scent of orange. But not just orange, it smells a little different but not like blood orange. I don't know how to describe it. But it's very light so if you don't like super fragrant balms, this may be one to try.

Wear: Of course the application is very smooth, don't have to push it. Smooth from the get-go. Lasted about 1.5-2 hours, of course I always end up eating or drinking so they could last longer.

Packaging: As you've seen before there are delightful labels on average sized lip balm tubes. The labels are color coded to match the flavor. I just love the way the flavor is in a curly cute script. The packaging was the first thing that I noticed and really pushed me to purchase these.

Price: $3.50 plus shipping, not too bad for a natural lip balm.

Overall:
Pros: Flavors, packaging, wear, price
Cons: None with this batch, only the blood orange wasn't as expected but not a total deal breaker

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 twists, perhaps it was the flavors I picked last time that made me not like them so much. But these ones were great.

Olimax Soap

I am SO sorry I've been late on my posts lately, I've been super busy and have barely had time to sleep let alone write up some reviews. Next week I'll try to make sure I post on Thursday like I usually do. My Etsy.com obsession is just going to keep continuing. I just love the variety of flavors I can find online.

I love when sellers put effort into their packaging.

Company: Olimax Soap

Flavors: Banana Coconut, Orange Creamsicle, and Lemonade. I'm obsessed with lemon anything so beware that there may be an influx of balms containing lemon in the next few weeks. Back to these flavors...all of them have this subtle perfumey, soapy smell lingering over the scent of the balm. I haven't yet decided if that is a good thing or a bad thing yet. I don't usually like really perfumey balms and prefer just scented lip balms that smell like the flavor they are supposed to. The Banana Coconut is very much banana, I have yet to find the coconut part to it. I was really hoping to find an awesome banana coconut blend since I haven't come across that before but this was pretty much just banana. The Lemonade isn't like lemonade, I only sense the perfume-y scent and when applied it doesn't really have a noticeable scent to it. It's a little disappointing since I love lemon and lemonade lip balms. For the Creamsicle flavor, it's a very subtle orange scent and a little hint of cream. I think this is the best flavor out of the three I picked out.

Wear: They go on super smooth and it doesn't take much to get full coverage. I did notice that some went around the outside of my lips, but it also could be how I apply it because I tend to be a little over zealous with putting on lip balm. Pretty decent though. It lasts about 2 hours.

Packaging: Very simple and plain labels on average size lip balm tubes. There are white labels with color bands around the top and bottom of the tube to match the indicated flavor. The company name and a pink flower are also included on the tube. It is the paper kind of label though, no waxy covering so I could see the ink wearing away with frequent use.

Price: I bought 3 for $7.50 which is a heck of a deal, for 1 it's $3 which is not too bad for a natural, vegan lip balm.

Overall:
Pros: Wear, Price, simple label
Cons: Flavors weren't as expected

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 twists, I wasn't too impressed with these balms. The price is phenomenal for three tubes. The wear is great also if you're looking for a spare balm or to try a new balm that isn't too costly.

Lemon Citrus

As you must know by now, I've been obsessed with browsing and buying on Etsy.com So here's another brand I happened to stumble across. Also, the packaging the balms came in was SO cute that I had to take pictures of it and every step of me opening it. You can really tell a lot of love and care went into packaging and creating these balms.

Look at how cute this is! The tag had my name on it, so I flipped
it over just to protect my identity I suppose. 

So cute that the package was sealed with this tape and hearts.

Company: Lemon Citrus

Flavors: Sugar Plum, Honeycrisp Apple, Asian Pear, Sweet Potato, Pineapple Coconut, and Chocolate Banana. I chose flavors that I don't usually pick; normally I'm a citrus-y kinda girl and didn't pick any of those this time. I had very high expectations for these new flavors. The Sugar Plum has a very fragrant, sweet scent. There's something lingering behind it though, I can't quite put my finger on it. The Honeycrisp Apple smells very perfume-like with a light, faint scent of apple. The Asian Pear smells more like a granny smith apple with a dash of pear in it.(I still haven't found the perfect Asian Pear balm, if anyone has a recommendation for a good one, please let me know!). The Chocolate Banana smells JUST like a banana split sundae, smells a little nutty too. I think maybe I just associate nuts with banana because I always think my banana balms smell a little nutty..hmm. The Pineapple Coconut has a lot of pineapple in it, I can't smell the coconut so much but it's still pleasant. The Sweet Potato was definitely a gamble. I wanted to try a flavor I had never even seen before in lip balm, I was expecting something very unique and pretty much just bought this out of my curiosity. It smells just like raw sweet potato, I was expecting something sweeter like the sweet potatoes you eat at Thanksgiving that are baked and a little sweetened with brown sugar. All of these balms are really fragrant and are only scented and not flavored or sweetened. When I put them on though I don't even get the faint idea that I'm tasting something like I usually do with scented balms.

Wear: These balms go on very smooth, they aren't the smoothest ones I have but they are pretty smooth. They last at least an hour and a half. They make my lips feel pretty smooth. I find when I inhale deeply with my mouth open and wearing these balms I get a strange feeling on my lips. It's a little weird to describe but it's very similar to what happened when I tried the e.l.f. therapeutic conditioning balm.

Packaging: I LOVE this packaging. I was instantly drawn into these balms because of the way they look. They are your average sized lip balm tube, clear with colored labels designed to match the said flavor. They've got a cute script on the label stating what the flavor is.

Price: $3.50 plus shipping. The perfect price for a natural, handmade balm.

Overall:
Pros: Variety of flavors, packaging, price, application
Cons: I wish there had been a little flavor to them

Rating: 3.5 out of 5, I had really high expectations for this balm but I feel like I was a little disappointed. I haven't found myself using these balms much, other than for the purpose of this review. But, it could also be because I've bought so many balms the last two weeks that I just haven't had time to work them into daily use. I bought two other balms that should be arriving next week, they're citrus-y so hopefully I'll like them better. If you like a strictly scented balm, these are probably the ones for you!

Trader Johann's Virtuoso

Last weekend when I went home to visit my parents, my dad took my sister and I to lunch. After lunch we decided to go to Trader Joe's and of course, I've heard of the lip balm they sell there and have heard nothing but great things about it so I was on the hunt for it. We picked up some random things while perusing the store until my sister and I found the lip balm. I could not wait to try it! Since the balms come in packs of three, I was planning to give one to my sister and my dad and keep one for myself. My dad told me he didn't want one because he was okay with his green tube of Blistex that has been a staple in our house since I was very little. I told him to at least try the Trader Johann's lip balm and as soon as he put it on he was sucked into it. Let's get to it now, shall we?

Company: Trader Joe's

Flavor: Virtuoso (Spearmint). I usually do not like spearmint at all, peppermint is more my cup of tea. But, I really, really enjoyed this spearmint balm. It felt so soothing and refreshing to put on. It has a clear, distinct scent of spearmint and I find it quite pleasant. When I lick my lips it tastes just like minty toothpaste, which isn't terrible (not that I encourage eating toothpaste).

Wear: It goes on so very smooth, pretty slick goes on easy with one swipe while providing great coverage. It also contains SPF 15 which is always an added bonus for any balm. I also think that the spearmint scent would be able to cover up any bad breath that you may have which is a perk for wearing this balm. It also lasts about 2 hours which is great!

Packaging: It's your average sized lip balm tube. It's a white tube with a white and green label with Virtuoso and Lip Balm in big letters and their slogan "Music to your lips" beneath it. Very homemade/Trader Joe's feel. Pretty simple packaging even though it does contain a lot of writing on it.

Price: This is the BEST deal I have found for lip balm anywhere (okay except for a couple occasions where I got lip balm for about $0.40 and $0.67). It's $2.49 for 3 balms! It only comes in a pack of three but that's the price you'd normally pay for just ONE tube anywhere else, making this quite the steal. It comes down to about $0.83. That's even cheaper than a stick of Chapstick brand lip balm, but with 50% organic ingredients! I'd lean for the Virtuoso.

Overall:
Pros: Flavor, Packaging, PRICE!, Wear
Cons: I wish there were more flavors! They've got a great formula, I wish there were more!

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, unless you're totally against spearmint or mint balms, you should totally invest in a pack of these. Even if you only need one, you can always share with others =).

Crazy Rumors: Perk Collection

Alright as promised, I've got a new review this week for you. I obviously went a little crazy buying Crazy Rumors lip balm this past winter because I own almost every flavor that they offer. I go a little balm crazy when I find a new brand that has so many new flavors that I'm not used to. For you coffee lovers, this may be the collection for you.

Company: Crazy Rumors

Flavors: Amaretto, French Vanilla, Mocha, and Coffee Bean. Like I said, if you like coffee this may be the collection for you. I, on the other hand, am not a huge fan of coffee. I do enjoy it occasionally and I used to love it back in high school but I don't really drink it more than once or twice a year now (I'm definitely more of a tea person). That being said, there needs to be some caution when you read my descriptions of these flavors. Amaretto, I bought this because it reminded me of my roommate's attempt at making some homemade amaretto liqueur. It is VERY much like the liqueur. Very almond-y and VERY fragrant, the whole drawer that it's kept in smells just like it. It reminds me of a cherry coke smell also, but only sometimes. This one may be too fragrant for me, I wasn't all that pleased with it compared to the other balms from their collections. I was expecting to like French Vanilla, but it was a very, very faint vanilla smell and had a bland taste and scent. It wasn't anything phenomenal. I guess I was expecting something a little bit sweeter in scent. The Mocha flavor also is a very faint scent, I wasn't all too impressed with it. Perhaps that's how it is intended to be but as a lover of the occasional mocha frappuccino I was expecting something more like that. Coffee bean I did not like at all. I usually love the way coffee beans smell, so warming and just feels like home when you smell them, but I did not find that here. I'm sure coffee lovers would love it though! This one was also more fragrant than the French Vanilla or Mocha.

Wear: Like the other Crazy Rumors balms they go on crazy smooth. Just one or two swipes and you're good to go! They last a long time as well, close to two hours. The typical quality you find with these balms. They're just fabulous all around, even if I don't like the flavors the wear is still great.

Packaging: Clear tubes that are your average size of lip balm tube. Labels with their mascot on it and color banners to match the flavor. The collection has a unique color scheme just like the other collections. The little seal at the top on these balms say "A Coffee Break For Your Lips". Cute, I love that extra effort to make each safety seal unique for each collection.

Price: $3.50 plus shipping. The typical price you find for a natural, vegan balm.

Overall:
Pros:Packaging, Wear, Price, Easy application, Long lasting
Cons: I didn't really enjoy the flavors, perhaps they could be a little sweeter? To each his (or her) own.

Rating: 3 out of 5 twists, not my favorite collection from them but still not a bad collection. If you love coffee, you should definitely give these a try.

Reviews to (hopefully) come this week

Hi all!

Thank you so much for reading, the numbers of people reading this blog has been escalating rapidly so thank you for reading and spreading the word! I've got a lot of work going on the next two weeks but am going to try my hardest to get some posts up for you guys. I've still got a brand from last week that I received but I didn't review, I also happened to get three more tubes this weekend from different brands. I'll post some pictures of what you can expect over the next two weeks. I may also surprise you by posting other things that I haven't been able to photograph yet.

Lemon Citrus

Neutrogena Naturals

Crazy Rumors: Perk Collection

Hopefully I'll also be able to write about the newest balms I've acquired this weekend.

Stay tuned!

--The Chapstick Wrangler

Orange Thyme

I apologize in advance if this entry is much longer than my usual ones. My love ended up ordering me 7 balms and then I bought 3 and then with each purchase there was 1 freebie so this review will be on 12 flavors of amazing lip balm. As I've been saying for a couple of weeks now, I'm obsessed with Etsy.com and especially now homemade/handmade lip balms. Handmade lip balms are so much better quality (from what I've experienced so far) than anything you can buy in stores, plus they come in a crazy amount of flavors that you wouldn't find anywhere else. Be prepared for tons of words and tons of pictures.

Look how cute they arrived, it was hard to
take pictures when all I wanted to do was
open those cute little bundles of lip balm.

Some of the balms listed in the review are missing because
 one was not sent with the others but I did receive it
 just two days later and with a freebie included.

Company: Orange Thyme

Flavors: Brace yourself. Toasted Coconut, Blueberry Lemon, Pomegranate Lemon, Lemon Creme (told you, I'm obsessed with Lemon right now!), Coconut Mango, Key Lime Pie, Lychee & Red Pear, Rhubarb Strawberry, Passion Fruit, Blood Orange (I'm kinda obsessed with this right now too) and the two freebies: Earl Grey Tea and Frozen Banana.

The Toasted Coconut came with a little tip on
top, still usable and still wonderful <3.

Toasted Coconut-It smells absolutely delicious, very light coconut but a lot toasty. Kind of reminds me of popcorn sometimes. I love this smell. It's absolutely delightful.
Blueberry Lemon-My first ever blueberry lip balm and I love it. It smells just like blueberry lemonade or a blueberry lemonade martini (the reason behind why I wanted to try this is because I had one a few weeks ago and LOVED it, yum!). It's not too much blueberry or too much lemon, a nice harmony between the two. Love.
Pomegranate Lemon-I was expecting a very bitter pomegranate like the few other pomegranate balms I have but I thought the lemon would be a nice complement to it. Boy, was I right! It smells like candy and summer time, very sweet and uplifting. It makes me instantly happy whenever I smell it.

The Lemon Creme came a little disfigured, but
I love it nonetheless =).

Lemon Creme-Very light lemony scent, but can definitely sense a light hint of vanilla or something to give it that creamy aroma. It's light and refreshing. Another fave!
Coconut Mango-I was really excited for a tropical balm, I LOVE mango and am always trying to find a perfect mango balm. I feel that the mango was overpowered in this balm by the coconut. There's a strong scent similar to the one found in the toasted coconut. It is a very decadent balm that's for sure. Occasionally I catch a light whiff of sweet mango which is very pleasant!
Key Lime Pie-I LOVE key lime pie and am always feeling a little daring when I come across one because I always want to buy it, hoping that it will be like my favorite dessert. I always find that the balms are too limey though and not enough creaminess that I find when I dig into a slice of Key Lime Pie. This balm was also very limey =(. Not as limey as the others but still more lime than I was hoping for. Still a delightful balm.
Lychee & Red Pear-I was really excited for this one, I LOVE lychee and never come across it anywhere, especially not in a balm. I didn't know what to expect since Lychee has such a light scent to it. This balm has a sweet, light, perfume-like scent to it. Not quite sure if it really captures lychee essence or not. I think I'm smelling more red pear in it. Either way it is a very light, delicate balm that I'll be wearing on the days I'm feeling a bit more girlish.
Rhubarb Strawberry-I did not know what to expect from this. My boyfriend really wanted me to get it because it was different and he said he liked Rhubarb Strawberry Pie. I didn't even know what Rhubarb was until I googled it, then I REALLY didn't know what to expect. This balm has a sweet, tart smell to it. I can definitely tell there's some strawberry in there and a hint of something extra (which I'm assuming is the rhubarb, but then again I've never had it before). It's wonderful! I was pleasantly surprised.
Passion Fruit-Companies always are a hit or miss with passion fruit I feel like. Sometimes I really love it, sometimes I really wish I hadn't purchased it. This one is somewhere in the middle. It is definitely a delicate, very fruity scent. It's a crisp scent. Very pleasant.

This was the balm that wasn't included with the rest initially,
blood orange, and the frozen banana was the freebie included.
The seller is so amazing with communication and sent it out
right away.

Blood Orange-Compared to the other blood orange I purchased from Firebird Bath & Body (found in my previous review), this one is much more typical orange than the characteristic scent of blood orange. Regardless it is a strong, citrus-y scent and I adore it! If you love citrus, you will love this! Very sweet!
Earl Grey Tea-Although I am a tea fanatic, I've never had Earl Grey Tea. I don't know why but I just never have. My boyfriend says he loves it so he's really happy I got it as a freebie (I'm assuming it may get stolen from my collection, so I'm on guard). But it smells just like a cup of tea, I was surprised that I loved the scent. It's light but definitely there. I'm not curious as to how the tea is because of how good this balm smells.
Frozen Banana-Smells fabulous! Dead on for banana, not too over powering and not too light. It's just right, I love it! In mine it smells like there is a light undertone of nuts, reminds me a little of a banana split sundae. Fabulous.

Wear: I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW AWESOME IT GOES ON! It is THE smoothest balm by far I've ever put on. A great amount of product goes on with just ONE swipe, it may even be too much! I love, love, love the way this feels when I put it on. It feels so smooth and moisturizing. I feel like my lips are really nourished when I put it on. My lips look great after I put on the balm. The balms last about 2 hours each, longer if I could just stop drinking water in between! But I love putting it on so much that I secretly hope it wears off, just so I can put it on again. Yes, it is THAT good.

Packaging Very cute labels! The labels on the tubes are color coded to the flavors, each label is different in color. The flavor is ascribed on the label in a font that looks like it was hand written. It's very unique and delightful to look at. It is your average size tube of lip balm. Wonderful.

Price: $3.25 plus shipping. It is totally worth it for this natural, handmade balm. It is such a high quality product; I'm so happy I purchased!

Overall:
Pros:FLAVORS, SCENTS, PACKAGING, PRICE, WEAR!
Cons:Absolutely nothing

Rating: 5 out of 5, you should definitely think about investing in at least a couple of these just to try out the plethora of flavors she carries.

Maybelline Baby Lips

Thank you Emily for requesting this review! As per request I'll be reviewing Maybelline's Baby Lips. I love Maybelline products and I love lip balm and occasionally some lip tint so I figured why not buy some of these to encompass three things that I love? It's a little harder to categorize these balms the usual way I categorize them (i.e. flavors, wear, etc) because of the color component but I'll try my best!

Company: Maybelline

Flavors: Pink Punch, Peach Kiss, and Cherry Me. My favorite out of the three is Cherry Me, it smells just like a cherry sweet tart, those candies I ate when I was a child. It smells like a sweet candy and provides a light shade of red. The next would be Peach Kiss, it smells like a subtle hint of peach, but more like the really fake kind of peach and is a light peachy, sheer color. It's like a shimmery nude color. It adds a faint color on lips. The Pink Punch doesn't have too much of a scent at all, it's very very light. The color is supposed to be I'm assuming a brighter pink, surely more so than the Peach Kiss but to me it's just a light pink.

This is to demonstrate what the colors look like on my skin.
From  left  to right: Cherry Me, Peach Kiss, and Pink Punch.
These were done with two applications of the balms on my skin.

Wear They all go on very smooth so there isn't really any hassle with the application. For the Cherry flavor, the red color is somewhat buildable, you can create more red color just by applying more. I like it because it's not too outstanding of a red that I could wear on a regular basis. The peach is just a sheer color on the lips, it gives a subtle hint of nude/peach color but nothing tremendous. It gives a somewhat gold shimmer. I wear it just to give my lips a little something extra for more casual days. The Fruit Punch hardly shows up for me, it may be because I've got a darker complexion so a light pink won't show up but I didn't find any difference upon wearing this one. The fruit punch was more of an impulse buy than the other two. I believe they advertise 8 hours of protection but I don't really remember any of them lasting a substantial amount of time, perhaps an hour or so. Also, they aren't as shiny as shown in the picture. Lighting effects and the way colors show up on different computer screens affect the way the colors appear, this is just to give you somewhat of an idea as to what to expect.

Packaging: The packaging is cute, seems very child-like to me though. It's about the size of a tube of Nivea lip balm and has bases that are different colors for each flavor. Each tube has a clear cap that covers the whole tube with the words "Baby Lips" all over it. I'm not too impressed by the packaging but it does stand out in my lip color drawer. I'm not sure what audience they were trying to target.

Price: About $3 if you buy it at Walmart. Not a terrible price at all for a lip color/lip balm. It's much cheaper than a lip stick and about the same price as other lip balm that doubles as lip color.

Overall:
Pros: Price, application, variety of colors, packaging
Cons: Little difference using lip color

Rating: 3.5 out of 5. It's worth a shot if you've been curious about it, I'm sure the darker shades will show up the best out of all the flavors and if you have a lighter complexion I'm sure you'll have better results with the lighter shades. I'm also hoping to try Peppermint and Quenched which are more just balms than lip color.