Bath and Body Works Liplicious Lip Gloss

I know I never, ever write reviews on lip gloss. I hardly ever use it but do buy it every so often. I'm sucker for Bath and Body Works so occasionally their lip gloss sucks me in. I'm not sure how many of you are lip gloss users or how many of you absolutely despise the stuff, but I thought it may be nice to switch things up a bit. Especially with their Semi-Annual Sale coming up, it may be good to know what to try and what to avoid if you plan on checking it out. I also have a couple other of their glosses coming in the mail since I couldn't find them anywhere in store the last couple times I've checked (here in Florida as well as back home).

Do you like how I picked tropical glosses and have the palm
tree in the background? Totally was not planned...I swear!

Company: Bath and Body Works: Liplicious

Flavors: Mango Martini, Mango Tango, and Jungle Guava. I was obviously going for a tropical theme when I picked up these balms (well I had input from my boyfriend and our best friend--yes shared best friend--who were both having WAY too much fun this time in the store). BBW used to carry this lip gloss called Mango Mai Tai, I believe, and I was absolutely OBSESSED with it. I used it all the time! Then I stopped going there for a while and never realized they were discontinuing it =(. Anyway, basically I am always on the search for a new mango lip gloss. ANYWAY...Mango Martini is clearly a fruity scent, I'm not sure if it's very mango-y but there's definitely some fruit mixed with a little something else. It's pleasant but not exactly what I was looking for (but I liked it enough to buy it). The Mango Tango is sweeter than the Mango Martini and I think it's my favorite of the bunch. It's very fruity and sweet. I've never had a guava before so I'm not quite sure what they're like but the Jungle Guava gloss is definitely not as fruity or sweet as the other two. I can't quite describe it properly, which is unfortunate, but it's probably my least favorite of the group.

Wear: These glosses obviously go on smooth because...well they're glosses! These one's aren't sticky like most glosses which is great because I really hate when it's super sticky, I just end up wiping it all off which voids the point in purchasing or buying them. The two mango glosses go on sheer and provide a nice shine to my lips. The Jungle Guava has a slight color but not much, it could be in my head also. All of the glosses have little sparkles in them as well, but I don't notice them when I wear the gloss.

Packaging: Typical lip gloss tubes; a squeeze tube with a cap. They have designs on them that are characteristic of the line of gloss or of the flavor which is cute and is appealing to the eye.

Price: Jungle Guava was $8. Mango Tango and Mango Martini were $7.50 each. I bought them at buy 2, get 1 free so it wasn't so bad...still more than I'd like to pay though. I wish these glosses were like $4 or 5 before any specials.

Overall:
Pros: Variety of flavors, wear, packaging
Cons: Price

Rating: 3 out of 5 squeezes; these glosses do what they're meant to do...make my lips glossy and shiny and be fruity at the same time. I just hate the price for an individual tube. I do like that they rotate flavors pretty quickly as well as keeping a ton of "staples", so if you don't like one season's line of glosses there's always the following season.

Now my question for you guys is, do you like lip gloss or avoid the stuff like the plague?

Savannah Bee Company

About a week and a half ago my boyfriend and I went on a walk to find some more plants for my little herb garden I've got growing out on my deck. This walk of course included a stop at Whole Foods along the way (where I did happen to find three plants I wanted). I love that every once in a while the lip balm selection at Whole Foods shifts; not to mention there's a killer selection every time I go to one. Anyway, it was a hot day and I hadn't picked up new lip balm in a while, so I picked up two. I've been using them like CRAZY while on vacation in Florida, for some reason our room is SUPER dry and I've had cracked lips this whole trip (and my love's had more than a handful of nose bleeds unfortunately...is that too much information?). Anyway, I hope I'm not too biased in this review on these balms because of how dry my lips are despite my frequent use of this lip balm.

I hope you don't mind the pictures, I figured since the sun finally poked its head out today I'd make use of it. I'm actually super impressed by how these pictures turned out with my camera.

Company: Savannah Bee Company

Flavors: Mint Julep and Earl Grey Tea. Both of these flavors are awesome! The Mint Julep is awesome, a nice blend of both peppermint and spearmint. It's super strong in scent (from about four feet away you can definitely smell mint in the air). If you love mint, you'll like this. It's slightly tingly and that's probably what I love about mint balms. As for the Earl Grey Tea, I still have never had a cup of Earl Grey Tea but my boyfriend says that it DEFINITELY smells like it. It's not very strong in scent but it doesn't leave you guessing for what flavor it could possibly be. It's a nice, light flavor that I really enjoy. If you're not into super strong scents, this may be the one for you. I believe they also carried Tupelo Honey, but I'm not a huge fan of honey so I didn't pick that one up. I'm assuming it would be great since the company is huge for specialty honeys! (Perhaps I should have bought the Honey flavor..hmm..).

Wear: These go on super smooth! I love that a lot of pressure is not needed to get these balms to go on. I have a cut on the inside of my lip from biting it so many times, I swear I feel like I am the only person who can bite their lips and tongue repeatedly in one sitting. So of course this whole week when I tried to put on balm, I was trying to avoid putting any pressure on this part of my lip and these balms really helped minimize the discomfort. I can't tell exactly how long they last since I've been using them this week in the SUPER hot Florida weather and the dry air in this room; neither of these factors allows for an accurate measurement of duration. So far they've been lasting close to an hour before I need to reapply, but I'm assuming under normative or ideal conditions these balms would last longer.

Packaging: These balms come in your average sized tube with labels that have colors that match the flavors. There's something very "homey" and "old-timey" about these labels. They remind me of the South? Maybe. I don't know exactly what these labels remind me of, but they're cute and simple.

Price: I think I paid about $3. This was great for a natural and certified organic balm that was pretty good quality.

Overall:
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Application, Packaging, Price
Cons: Nothin'!

Rating: 4 out of 5 twists. These were pretty fabulous balms and they have certainly been my go-to balms the last week or so. If you see these, I'd probably pick up one just to try. You won't be let down, especially if you pick up Mint Julep and you're a mint fan like myself.

Ingredients: beeswax, coconut oil, shea butter, extra virgin olive oil, cocoa seed butter, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, grape seed oil, hemp seed oil, peppermint oil, spearmint oil, lavender oil.

Have you guys ever tried this company, whether for their lip balms or their honey?

A sale, a sale!

Hey ya'll!

I apologize for the delay this week with reviews but I've just been so darn busy! I've started an MCAT class that needs all my attention for the next month or so, until I take the exam. My boyfriend and I and one of our best friends decided we all really needed a vacation to get over school and all the hectic-ness that is our lives. So write now I am writing this from the sunshine state and I will hopefully be able to write up a little review while we are here.

This post, however, is not a review. I just wanted to post and let you all know that Lush Lip Candy (the review for which can be found here), is having a sale this Memorial Day weekend starting tomorrow! The sale is a buy one, get one free sale from May 26th-May 28th. If you have yet to try these absolutely delectable balms, now is your chance to do so! Everything is buy one, get one free including the two and four pack of balms.

I thought you'd all like to know about it and I wanted to make sure you didn't miss this! Also, be sure to follow Lush Lip Candy on Facebook to stay up to date with future sales.

Also, L told me today she found me Softlips Watermelon while shopping around downtown and picked me up a pack. I'm SUPER excited to give it a try! When I get back hopefully I'll try it and be able to let you know what I think about it!

Have any of you picked up the new Watermelon flavor yet? I'd love to hear what you think!

Thanks for being patient and, of course, for reading!

--The Chapstick Wrangler

H&M Lip Balm

Last week I spent all of Tuesday with L to celebrate her birthday. Our usual birthday celebrations include shopping downtown, going to Flattop, and walking forever around the city. When we were waiting in the check out line at H&M I happened to glace at their "impulse" section. I usually don't even look because it's always like bangles, umbrellas, socks, and hair ties. But this time something caught my eye. Lip balm? In H&M? Weird! It didn't really bother me that it was lip balm in a pot, usually I stay away from these, but I picked up two just to check them out. Here's the verdict:







































Company: H&M

Flavors: Coconut Mango and Ginger Lime. The Coconut Mango is a very nice tropical scent and is a perfect blend of both fruits. It's very lightly scented which is nice. There's not much to say about these flavors. The Ginger Lime is more on the lime side but it is very light which I LOVE since I have a problem with balms being way too limey. I also have had a hard time with balms being too gingery but this is a very nice combination of both. These balms are very lightly scented.

Wear: It's a pot so it really depends on how much you put on and how you scoop up your balm. To me this balm is pretty thin going on and I feel like I need to dip my finger back into it several times to get proper coverage. Maybe I'm just not used to these pots of balm. It makes my lips slightly shiny.

Packaging: The balms are kept in pots and the pots are SO cute. They're perfect for summer; they have cute little patterns on it with very bright colors that remind me of summer. It's a very feminine and adorable package. Of course I don't like pots so I'm a bit biased. I'm just way too conscious about germs and I have to sanitize my hands before hand every time I want to use it.

Price: $2.95 which isn't too bad since the weight of the balm is over twice as much as you'd get in a stick, but of course it is harder to put on. But if you like pots and use them frequently that's a pretty darn good price.

Overall:
Pros: Flavors, Packaging, Price
Cons: Application (of course I wish it was in a stick, I just don't like pots)

Rating: 3 out of 5 twists; these balms aren't awful but because their in pots they're obviously not my favorite.

Whole Foods Lip Balm

Anyone who loves lip balm and has checked out the lip balm section at Whole Foods knows how overwhelming it can be to look at ALL the available lip balm. On one of my trips to Whole Foods I actually decided to pick up the Whole Foods brand lip balm along with some other non-store brand lip balm.

Company: Whole Foods Market

Flavor: Pomegranate Orange. This flavor is phenomenal and much better than I was anticipating. You can definitely sense the presence of the tart pomegranate with a light scent of citrus. It's pretty fragrant but not at all overbearing.

Wear: It's very slightly stiff at first, but quickly gives way and is very smooth. It goes on great with adequate coverage. It goes on a little thinner than usual balms but it's not necessary to have more, it does the job! There's really no complaints here, it lasts about an hour and a half to two hours which is great.

Packaging: The size of the tube is the usual size. The tube is white with a dark red label with a little bit of orange, very pomegranate and orangey. It has a picture of both fruits. Not too much to say in this department; it's an adequate label.

Price: I think it was a little over $2.00. I can't remember the exact price.

Overall:
Pros: Flavor, Price, Wear, Packaging, Organic
Cons: Nothing

Rating: 4 out of 5 twists. This is a great balm but not my go-to balm, I usually carry it as a spare. Have you ever tried Whole Foods Market brand lip balm? What flavors have you tried and what did you think?

ChapStick Fresh Effects

What I love about ChapStick is that they have so many different lines from their one company and that they started doing limited edition flavors. I also love that most of the time you can find their balms for about a dollar. What do you guys think about ChapStick? What's your favorite flavor?

Company: ChapStick

Flavors: Refreshing Mandarin and Invigorating Green Tea Mint. I absolutely LOVE these flavors! The Refreshing Mandarin is very citrusy and kind of minty. My lips tingle a little after it's been put on and it's really enjoyable. The Invigorating Green Tea Mint is also pretty awesome. There's a nice blend of green tea and mint and it's quite "refreshing".

Wear: These balms go on pretty smooth and provide great coverage! These balms always go on without a problem and last a good amount of time. I really like the tingly feeling these balms give me when I wear them.

Packaging: These tubes are your average sized lip balm tube with a slightly translucent shiny cap. The labels are blue with a color strip indicating flavor. They're different from the other ChapStick designs.

Price: Around $1 which is fabulous!

Overall:
Pros: Flavors, Price, Packaging, Wear
Cons: Hard to find these in stores

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, these balms are awesome! It took me a while to be able to find them, I had to order one online and another I found in a random dollar store. If you can find these and like minty balms you should definitely try them!

If you've tried these before, let me know what you think!

Aubrey Organics

A while ago my friend, who I'll refer to as L from now on, bought me a couple lip balms for no reason, she just saw them and thought I didn't have them and surprised me with them. One of those balms was this one. She's the best! She's always finding me cool new lip balms that I've never heard of before. I believe a good portion of my lip balm collection is from her. Love ya, L!

Company: Aubrey Organics

Flavors: Raspberry. This is on the stronger side of the scented spectrum for balm. It's very raspberry like and very sweet and a little tart scented. If you like fruity balms this is probably one you'd like to try.

Wear: It goes on pretty smooth and covers evenly. It lasts about two hours which is a pretty decent amount of time. Not a lot to complain about or boast about here.

Packaging: It's your average sized lip balm tube with a redish pink cap and a similar colored label. It's a pretty distinctive looking tube compared to others in my collection.

Price: About $3 which is fabulous for an organic balm that lasts.

Overall:
Pros: Accurately scented, wear, packaging, price, organic
Cons: Nothing really

Rating: I'd give this balm a 3.5 out of 5 twists, there wasn't really anything wrong with it at all it just wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I'd really like to try the other flavors, it may just be that it was a raspberry flavor and I seem not to enjoy those ones as much as other flavors.

Softlips Organic Collection

I am about to be extremely angry. I have written this review THREE times to post only for my computer to shut down once and my draft get saved TWICE and then erased for no reason TWICE! Someone really does NOT want me to post this review! Ugh! After such a LONG delay, here it is!

The newer labels are the ones that are more
vibrant (orange and green, Papaya and
Peppermint, respectively). I love those new labels!

Company: Softlips

Flavors: Honeydew, Pomegranate, Acai Berry, Papaya, and Peppermint. The Honeydew is not like honeydew at all, its one of my favorite fruits and I was really looking forward to this balm but I was highly disappointed. I can't even describe what it's like. It doesn't even seem like a fruit to me. The Pomegranate is a little more accurate, it's a tart scented balm but still no real hint of sweet or anything amazing. The Acai Berry is the best scented of these three, it's clearly an exotic berry of some sort but I have nothing really to compare it to since I've never eaten an Acai Berry and I don't have any other balms that are Acai flavored. The Papaya is AMAZING. Definitely one everyone should try. I do NOT like papaya the fruit (unless it is dried) but oddly enough I love this Papaya balm. It is sweet, fruity, and just all around amazing. The Peppermint is also just PHENOMENAL. It's very minty and cool and tingly to the lips. Love these two!

Wear: Very smooth, as is typical with Softlips balms. Since the tubes are smaller in diameter than your average tube of lip balm, a couple more applications are necessary but totally not a hassle to do so.

Packaging: Those cute, thing, white tubes that I love so much. I don't know what it is about them but I love these little guys.

Price: Around $3 which isn't bad for an all natural, organic balm. Some places have it a little closer to $4 or a little over, like Walgreens or CVS but those places usually have more expensive balms.

Overall:
Pros: Variety of flavors, price, packaging, wear
Cons: Some flavors are not very accurate/pleasant

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 twists for the entire collection. For Papaya and Peppermint alone, 5 out of 5 twists, must haves!

Have you ever tried these balms? What did you think of them?

Apologies for the delay!

I am so sorry to keep everyone waiting for reviews this week! Life has been super hectic with finals and a new tenant moving into my condo causing stress on my roommate and I. I visited my parents this weekend hoping to post reviews away from home but in my haste I forgot my bag with my laptop in it (updating from my iPhone right now and it would be hard to write a whole review on this, plus I'd have no pictures so the reviews would be rather dull). Ugh! Finals week has definitely had its effect on me. I promise to post by Monday! I will also post Thursday as usual. Thanks for being so patient with me! --The Chapstick Wrangler

Yay! This blog is 4 months old!

I just wanted to post and say a giant THANK YOU to all of my readers. In the last month the views on my blog has shot up over 2,400 views! The last three months had been exactly 1,000 views a month. I don't know what happened this past month but I'm glad it did!

I'm glad so many of you find my blog entertaining. It also makes me SO happy that so many of you decide to write me, either by commenting on posts or e-mailing me. I really appreciate it. I love any and all reader input.

When I started this blog 4 months ago, it was just an idea that popped into my head and that I talked over with my boyfriend. I intended to actually start it the 1st of January of this year, but because I was driving back and forth in a car from San Francisco to Los Angeles (we were looking at apartments which also took away any time to start by my deadline)...it wasn't exactly possible. It's because of my boyfriend that I'm called The Chapstick Wrangler. When I was trying to think of ideas of what to name my blog, he just looked at me and said "You're The Chapstick Wrangler!" And thus, the name and blog was born.

Within the first 4 days or so I had gotten up to 35 views (half of which were probably from my boyfriend, his mom, and myself on our various devices). We...I...never, EVER thought my blog would get more than MAYBE 50 views. My writing is poor, my stories are long, I ramble a lot and where am I to tell others what a good or bad balm is? Then I reminded myself that I had (at the time) a collection of lip balm greater than 150 tubes (it's closer to about 300 now) and possibly knew a thing or two about lip balm.

With all that being said, I just want to say thank you once again for reading. Without readers, this blog would go unread and my motivation to keep it going would be long gone. Thank you, also, for giving me a good excuse for having such a large collection of balm.

I would love to hear any recommendations that would make this blog better, what you like about the blog, and what brands you've tried that I've reviewed and what you think of them.

--The Chapstick Wrangler