Orange Thyme Part VIII (?)

So...I've kind of lost track of how many Orange Thyme reviews I've done by now, if that doesn't show you how much I love Orange Thyme balms, I don't know what will! I've had these balms for a little while so I apologize for taking so long to review them for you. Don't let that fool you though, it certainly doesn't mean they aren't just as amazing as all of the other Orange Thyme balms I've tried (and I've tried a lot!).

Company: Orange Thyme

Flavors: Peanut Butter Nana, Pistachio Cream, Chocolate Chip Mint, Plumberry, and Raspberry Sorbet. The Peanut Butter Nana smells exactly like creamy, nutty, and salt peanut butter combined with ripe bananas. One of my favorite snacks in lip balm form? I'll take it! If you're a peanut butter fan you'll like this balm. The Pistachio Cream smells absolutely incredible! It smells of that super sweet, slightly nutty pistachio scent combined with some extra creaminess. It smells just wonderful! The Chocolate Chip Mint smells exactly like you think it would; sweet milk chocolate combined with cool and refreshing mint. The Plumberry smells very interesting, very fruity but not overly sweet. It smells of ripe berries and juicy plum, it's a lovely light fragrance that isn't in your face at all. The Raspberry Sorbet smells wonderful! It smells of ripe, tart raspberries with just a little bit of sweetness; this is probably one of my favorite Orange Thyme balms!

Wear: These balms go on smooth and creamy, and a little goes a long way! You really only need one swipe on top and one on bottom to cover your lips in a lovely layer of balm. I love the creaminess of Orange Thyme balms and the way they make my lips feel, they're just heavenly!

Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tubes with delightfully colored labels that reflect the flavor of the balm. Each flavor of the balm is printed in a script that almost looks handwritten. It's very simple, yet leaves nothing to be desired; exactly what you'd ask for in a lip balm label!

Price: $3.50 per tube or $10 for 3 which both are totally reasonable! This price point makes it very affordable for you to try many different flavors!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. Orange Thyme balms are some of my absolute favorite lip balms ever, there are so many flavors and their consistency is just amazing! If you haven't tried Orange Thyme balms before, you're missing out!

Ingredients: Cocoa & Shea Butters, Candelilla Wax, Natural and Essential Oils, Avocado Oil

Have you tried Orange Thyme balms before? Which flavors are your favorite? If you haven't, what are you waiting for?!

Haul of the Week 8.28.13

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you're having a fabulous week so far! I don't have much to share with you guys this week, I've been really busy studying and then exploring the city when I'm not studying. Here are the balms I've received this week:

Balm Chicky Balm Balm

I was contacted by Liz over at Balm Chicky Balm Balm a couple of weeks ago and was eager to check out her products. She has a trademarked tube design that's super neat! The balms are twist up tubes (that are giant by the way) with a little pot of balm on the bottom to share with friends without sharing mouth germs.

Blue Q's Lip Shit

I've been looking for some more Lip Shit balms since the last time my friend brought some home for me and I fell in love with them.

Ganache for Lips

I found these balms in a gift shop here and I opened one and it was so disappointing that I'm going to take the other one that's unopened back to the store. I paid $4.50 for it and really wish I hadn't. I think I'm not going to gamble on balms you buy in store anymore, they're usually so disappointing. 

Country Blossom

This month's lip balm of the month is here!

Burt's Bees

I was so happy I was able to find this balm! It's sooo wonderful!

What balms have you received this week? Do you have as bad of luck as I do when it comes to buying balms in store?

Have a wonderful day!

Long Winter Farm's Four Seasons of Lip Balm Part 1

Hi all! I know this review is long overdue, I received these balms in June, so I hope you're ready for it! I wanted to make sure I got this one up for you guys before the next installment of this subscription comes. I love all of my lip balm subscriptions, and my LWF one is no different!

Company: Long Winter Farm

Flavors: Pina Colada, Lavender Peach, and Strawberry Shortcake. The Pina Colada has a mellow, tropical scent of warm coconuts and sweet pineapple. It's a lovely, lightly scented balm that is definitely not overbearing. The Lavender Peach was definitely one I wasn't sure if I'd like or not, it's such an interesting scent and I'm not a huge fan of lavender. This one has a strong scent of ripe, sweet peaches and lavender. It smells really lovely, but I'm just not a fan of lavender. What's really interesting is that when I smell this balm the scents almost come in waves, first I smell super, sweet peaches and then I smell lavender, and then I smell peach, and then I smell lavender. It's so unique! If you like fruity and floral balms, this is one you should try! The Strawberry Shortcake smells amazing! It smells of ripe, sweet strawberries and cake; it's sooooo yummy! This is probably one of my most favorite LWF balms.

Wear: These balms go on super smooth and creamy, if you haven't tried a Long Winter Farm balm before, you're missing out on one of the best lip balm consistencies ever! These balms go on thick without being too thick and are just heaven on my lips.

Packaging: These balms come in lovely oval tubes with labels that have the flavor of the balm right on front. The labels are also colored to reflect the flavor of the balm.

Price: $4 a tube which is totally worth it for one of these balms!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. You really can't go wrong with any Long Winter Farm balm and I'm super excited to see which balms I'll get next month!

Ingredients: Natural Beeswax, Sweet Almond, Grapeseed & Jojoba Oils, Cocoa & Unrefined Shea Butters, Vitamin E, Flavor Oil

Have you signed up for the seasonal lip balm subscription from Long Winter Farm? If you have, what did you think of the balms?

Balms of the Week 8.25.13

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you've been having a wonderful weekend! We've been having a ton of fun walking around the city and trying out tons of new restaurants. If you have a Seattle favorite or must-try please let me know! We're trying to do everything and as much as possible while we're here! I haven't been using too many different balms this week, but I've definitely been using some favorites!

ForGoodnessGrape's Banana Moose Pie, Baby Moose Smooches, and Baby Moose Tracks

Burt's Bee's Revitalizing

Orange Thyme's Sugared Grapefruit

What balms have you been using this week? Have you used anything super incredible?

Happy Sunday! Enjoy your day!

Balms I've Got My Eye On 8.23.13

Happy Friday, everyone! I hope you're as excited about the weekend as I am. I'm finally going to have a weekend where we aren't moving, traveling, totally stressed out and booked each day. We're going to explore the city and really just take in everything. We really love it here and want to experience everything we can. I hope you have some fun plans this weekend too! Here are some balms I've had my eye on this week:

Lippincott Soap Co.'s Coconut

(via)

Orange Thyme's Vanilla Pumpkin

(via)

Ripe Shop's Ambrosia

(via)

What balms have you had your eye on this week?

Have a wonderful day!

Baby Moose Lips from ForGoodnessGrape

Okay you guys I seriously couldn't wait to tell you about these new Baby Moose Lips that Lisa from ForGoodnessGrape has come up with. They're pretty special and I haven't stopped using them since I got them! I love every lip balm line that Lisa comes out with, but this one may be my absolute favorite!

Company: ForGoodnessGrape

Flavors: Baby Moose Tracks, Baby Moose Smooches, and Banana Moose Pie. Before I even opened the little bag that comes in the package in the mail, I could smell the Baby Moose Tracks and I was so excited! It smells of salty and nutty peanut butter, rich chocolate, and creamy vanilla. Wow is it amazing! If you like peanut butter and chocolate (I know it's crazy to think that some people don't, but they exist *cough* Rob *cough*), then this balm is one for you! The Baby Moose Smooches is definitely one of my favorite balms ever. It smells of sweet, sweet strawberries and ripe banana with a touch of creamy vanilla. You haven't lived until you've tried this balm! (Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but I can't get enough of this balm!) The Banana Moose Pie is another one of my most favorite balms ever! I'm pretty much a sucker for a good banana balm and Lisa makes some of the best banana balms I've ever tried (and trust me, I've pretty much tried every one she has). This balm smells of ripe, sweet banana and gooey marshmallow combined with the scent of rich vanilla that really pulls everything together. LOVE this balm!

Wear: Now as if the flavors weren't enough, the consistency of these balms is incredible; so incredible that I forced Rob to try it (you know he hates wearing lip balm) and even he couldn't deny how wonderful the consistency was. These balms are so, so soft and glide on like a dream (do these words even make sense?). They make my lips feel soft and moisturized instantly. They have the perfect consistency, creamy and soft, and not too thin or too thick.

Packaging: These balms come in white oval tubes with a picture of a cartoon baby moose on the front. Each label has the flavor of the balm on the front underneath the moose and along the bottom of the tube (near the twisty) it says what flavors make up the balm, which I love because sometimes it's not obvious what a scent consists of.

Price: $4 per tube which is totally worth it for one of these!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. Seriously, if you haven't tried these new Baby Moose Lips, you're totally missing out! TRY THEM!

Ingredients: chamomile butter, sweet almond oil, kokum butter, organic cocoa butter, candelilla wax, apricot kernel oil, macadamia nut butter, castor oil, coconut oil, avocado oil, beeswax, organic rosehip oil, calendula extract, vitamin e, essential oil and/or flavor oil

Have you tried these new Baby Moose Lips balms? Which flavor is your favorite?

Haul of the Week 8.21.13

Hi all! I hope you're week is still progressing smoothly. We are loving Seattle living, I'm having so much fun here! My haul isn't crazy large this week, but the balms are still super incredible!

Long Winter Farm

I know you're all going to be jealous again...Denise sent me some of her custom balms from LWF and they're incredible!

Moon Valley Organics

I picked up this balm while trying to find something to eat at Whole Foods the other day.

Eco Lips

Another balm I picked up while at Whole Foods the other day trying to find something for lunch. 

Maybelline

I love these new electro limited edition Baby Lips! The colors are so pretty! I'm still missing two but I have hope that I'll find them soon.

What balms have you received this week?

Happy Wednesday!

Aqua Blossom Part VIII

Hi all! Hope you're having a great week so far! I'm sorry there wasn't a post yesterday, I was just sooo busy moving and traveling and just plain exhausted, I didn't have any motivation to write. We didn't even get to go to sleep until about 3AM this morning, so I was exhausted. I'll have you guys know that TSA was freaking incredible when we were going through Virgin America's security. They saw we had pets and immediately let me go into a private screening room and the woman who was helping me does cat rescue on weekends so she was having so much fun helping me. When I was at Midway airport with the cats I had to BEG for a private screening room and only after two different supervisors were called did they let me have one, but the woman helping me then was like "DON'T LET THEM TOUCH ME, THEY'RE GOING TO BITE ME!" It was still great they gave us a private room last time, but boy oh boy was their attitude about it SO SO SO much better. I was happy enough to fill out a comment card immediately after and couldn't thank them enough. If you're ever flying out of SFO through Virgin America with pets, Cliff and Anna at security are AMAZING! ANYWAY, it's been a while since my last Aqua Blossom review and I really love Aqua Blossom balms, so it's about time I get one up, don't ya think?

Company: Aqua Blossom

Flavors: Green Tea, Cinnamon Ginger Mint, Jasmine Blossom Tea, Herbal Blend, and Pink Sugar Almond. The Green Tea smells of amazing sweet, rich green tea scent. I know that sounds weird, but it has a really wonderful and prominent green tea scent. Rob thinks it smells more like Hi-C Fruit Punch, but then again him and I never agree on what a balm smells like. The Cinnamon Ginger Mint has a warm and spicy scent that is only complimented by the coolness from the mint. This scent is so unique and really wonderful! Rob thinks it smells like Christmas, and it totally does, this would be great for the holidays! The Jasmine Blossom Tea has a light, faintly sweet tea scent. The Herbal Blend smells very minty! I don't pick up too many herbs, but there's definitely something there that tones down the mint a bit. The Pink Sugar Almond smells of sweet almond with extra sweetness from the scent of icing. This one is definitely a unique scent I've never tried before.

Wear: These balms go on so smooth and glide right onto my lips. They make my lips feel really soft and wonderful!

Packaging: These balms come in oval tubes with very clean and simple designs. Each label has a colored portion that reflects the flavor of the balm, making it easier to distinguish each balm from each other.

Price: $3.75 per tube which is really a great deal! It's totally an affordable price point that allows you to try so many different balms (and Ashley has a TON of different yummy flavors!).

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. These balms were definitely scents I don't normally choose, but I really wanted to try some new things outside of my comfort zone and these were definitely wonderful! I'd recommend trying any Aqua Blossom balm that you have any sort of inkling towards, they're ALL wonderful!

Ingredients: shea butter, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, candelilla wax, coconut oil, kokum butter, soybean oil, essential and/or lip-safe fragrance (flavor) oil, vitamin e oil

Have you tried these Aqua Blossom balms before? If not, what's your favorite Aqua Blossom balm?

Balms of the Week 8.18.13

Happy Sunday, everyone! Today's the big day that we move to Seattle. I'm so not ready for another change in venue and definitely not ready to bring the cats on a plane and have to go through security with them. The last time I had to beg TSA to let me go into a private room with both cats, neither of them like to be held and as soon as they're held they start squirming and scratching (I have more than a few scars) to get out. I don't think that'll fly this time, so Rob and I are trying to practice picking up the cats a bunch so they get used to it. The longest we've ever been able to hold one of the cats is about a minute, and that was only one time, the rest of the time it's about 15 seconds before they start attacking us. Ugh. Anyway, while I'm over here stressing out about that today, why don't you check out the amazing balms I've been using this week:

Orange Thyme's Sugared Grapefruit

Orange Thyme's Cherry Lemonade

ForGoodnessGrape's Baby Moose Tracks, Baby Moose Pie, Baby Moose Smooches

Seriously, if you haven't tried any of Lisa's new Baby Moose Lips, you're missing out. Holy cow these make my lips feel amazing!

Ripe Shop's Mango Sweet Tea

Firebird Bath & Body's Strawberry Tangerine

Firebird Bath & Body's Cherry Limeade

Firebird Bath & Body's Ginger Peach

Black Widow Balm's Orb

Black Widow Balm's Gossip

Black Widow Balm's Calavera '12

Phew! That was a lot! I'd highly recommend trying one or all of these balms, they're super wonderful!

Have a wonderful day!

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

Country Blossom Balm of the Month: July 2013

Happy Saturday, everyone! I hope you're going to have a fun-filled day today! Today we're packing up our apartment and moving it into storage, so today is going to be a lot more of work than play. Anyway, I know this balm is for July, but I had a lot happen in July unexpectedly and this just wasn't able to be reviewed in July. Oh well! I hope you enjoy =).

Company: Country Blossom

Flavors: Cotton Candy. This balm smells just like the sugary, sweet treat! It reminds me of summers when my sisters would get cotton candy ice cream from TCBY, they were obsessed with that stuff! This is definitely a dead on cotton candy scent.

Wear: This balm goes on so smooth and easily glides across my lips. I really love the creamy texture of Country Blossom balms, the consistency is just wonderful!

Packaging: This balm comes in your average sized lip balm tube with a white label. The flavor of the balm is stated right on front and has an image depicting the flavor right below it. The shop's name is in the center of a bright yellow sunflower. The design is very simple and to the point, without being too plain. The balm is also blue instead of no color and matches the flavor of the balm.

Price: $3 per tube which is totally worth it for one of these super creamy balms!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. I really like this balm, it definitely reminds me of summers past and makes me wonder when the next time is that I'll be enjoying some sweet cotton candy.

Ingredients: Beeswax, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Vitamin E Oil, Flavoring Oil

Have you tried this balm from Country Blossom before? What did you think of it?

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

Balms I've Got My Eye On 8.16.13

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! This week went by really fast but at the same time kind of slow. I'm kind of happy the weekend is here, only because Rob will be home tonight, but otherwise this weekend is going to be work, work, work, work, work! We have a little over a day to pack up the stuff we unpacked and find a storage place and move everything into storage. I'm not really looking forward to it! I hope you all are going to have a more exciting weekend than I am. Anyway, in between study sessions this week, I've had my eye on these:

Aqua Blossom's Bergamot Lemon

ForGoodnessGrape's Malted Mango Mooseshake

Evolution of Smooth's Blueberry Acai

What balms have you had your eye on this week?

Have a wonderful day!

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

Epically Epic Part XII

Hi everyone! I'm sorry this post was delayed today. Of course with all the bad luck I've been having lately, I should have assumed something would happen this week before the move while Rob was out of town. Last night I spent 3 hours with my cat in the emergency room. Most of it was just waiting in the waiting room to see the vet after the initial examination of my cat, then waiting for the vet in the examination room, and then waiting for the medication. The entire time we were there I only talked to the staff or the vet for about 15 minutes. I did not expect to be there until almost midnight. Last time I had to go to the emergency room with my cat we were in and out in about an hour. Blah, needless to say, I came home, gave him his medications, tried to eat something since I hadn't eaten in 10 hours and went straight to bed. Anyway, I'm hoping today will be less eventful because I don't think I can take anymore craziness before this move!

Company: Epically Epic

Flavors: Coconut Vanilla, White Chocolate Mocha, Dark Chocolate Coconut, Dark Chocolate Cherry, Dark Chocolate Strawberry, Pineapple Mango, Lime Irish Cream, and Peanut Butter Jelly. The Coconut Vanilla is a lovely, light scent of tropical coconut and warm vanilla. It's so mellow and calming, yet brightens up my day whenever I use it. The White Chocolate Mocha is amazing! It has the scent of rich mocha with a little bit of creaminess that is characteristic of white chocolate, so yummy! The Dark Chocolate Coconut has a light scent of rich dark chocolate and tropical coconut. The Dark Chocolate Cherry is very similar, it smells like ripe cherries covered in rich dark chocolate; super decadent and yummy! The Dark Chocolate Strawberry smells of dark chocolate dipped strawberries, pretty much a no-brainer and totally yum! The Pineapple Mango is probably one of my favorite balms from EE. It's bright pineapple combined with sweet mango, it's like a little tropical escape! The Lime Irish Cream is definitely something I've never had before, I'm still not entirely too sure what Irish Cream is supposed to smell like! It smells of of lime and creaminess and something else. It's really lovely! Okay, can I be honest about something here? I've never had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in my life. I like both separately, but the thought of them together sounds really gross to me. My mom never wanted me to eat PB&J's when I was younger and she still thinks that that's something she'd never feed me. I don't even know if my sisters have ever had PB&J. Anyway, when I saw that Allison has included a tube of Peanut Butter and Jelly, I was so surprised and a little nervous because I didn't know what I'd think of it. This balm smells wonderfully of salty, creamy peanut butter and a sweet fruity jelly (after looking it up it's supposed to be blueberry-acai and it totally is!). This balm is crazy wonderful! But, I still don't think I'll be trying a PB&J any time soon.

Wear: These balms glide on so beautifully and just go on so smooth. They're creamy and make my lips soft almost instantaneously. I really love the silky consistency of Epically Epic balms!

Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tubes with labels that are colored to reflect the flavor of the balm. They're super cute and help make each balm stand out (unless you have over 60 EE balms, like I do, in one place, then it get's a little confusing).

Price: $3.75 per tube which, trust me, is totally worth it!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. I can honestly not recommend Epically Epic balms enough. I'm absolutely head over heels for them and anytime a new limited edition batch is released, I'm all over it! I've never used an Epically Epic balm that I didn't love.

Ingredients: Pistachio Butter, Jojoba, Sweet Almond Oil, Castor Oil, Vitamin E, Candelilla Wax, Flavor, Natural Sweetener

Have you tried these Epically Epic balms before? If not, what Epically Epic balms are your favorite?

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

Haul of the Week 8.14.13

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Today is Rob and I's 6 year anniversary! Woo hoo! Too bad he's in Seattle and I'm in San Francisco and I'm going to spend all day studying for the MCAT. Booo. I'm not actually that bummed because it's often that we aren't together on our anniversary or we're doing something boring that we always say we'll make up for at the next one, we have more fun every other day of the year, why stress about one day! Anyway, I received some really amazing lip balms this week and I'm super excited to share them with you!

Black Widow Balm

I've had my eye on Black Widow Balm for a while now and when I saw that there was a BOGO sale on the sample size balms, I knew I had to try them! These are beautiful lip tints with super unique and yummy scents!

Suzy's Scent Shop

Suzy is such a sweetheart. She sent me these balms to cheer me up a bit because of all the chaos that's been going on in my life lately. These balms are super wonderful!

ForGoodnessGrape

Lisa was kind enough to send me some of her new Baby Moose Lips balms to try and oh my gosh I'm in love! They're sooo soft and moisturizing and are just awesome. 

What balms have you received this week?

Happy Wednesday!

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

Ripe Shop Part V

Hi all! I'm so sorry that there wasn't a post yesterday. Rob and I spent the majority of Sunday trying to plan out our move and everything we need to do for it, it took us over 3 hours just to figure out flights. Then we spent the rest of the day doing laundry and trying to get him packed up for this week (he flew into Seattle yesterday morning), and I just ran out of time and energy to get a post up. I wanted to make sure I had a post for you guys today even if it was a little bit later than usual. I hope you'll enjoy!

Company: Ripe Shop

Flavors: Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Raspberry, Kiwi Passion Fruit, Boysenberry Jam, and Mandarin Rose. The Chocolate Orange smells incredible! It's rich chocolate combined with sweet orange, it reminds me of those chocolate balls my Dad would bring home. You know the kind that were shaped like oranges and you knocked them on something to have them fall apart? It smells just like that! The Chocolate Raspberry is also incredible. Instead of sweet orange, you've got ripe raspberry combined with rich chocolate; this one is Rob's favorite. The Kiwi Passion Fruit is definitely a flavor I've never tried before. It smells of sweet, ripe kiwis blended with the tropical and exotic scent of passion fruit. It's very light and sweet. The Boysenberry Jam smells just like you think it would, of sweet ripe berries. This one is definitely a balm that reminds me of summer, I mean come on, summer isn't summer without some delicious berries! The Mandarin Rose was one I was definitely surprised I liked, especially because I typically don't like anything floral. This one has the sweet citrus scent of mandarin combined with the scent of sweet rose. It's really wonderful!

Wear: These balms glide on super smooth and melt right into your lips. You really need to be careful though on your first uses of a tube, these balms are super delicate and if I push with the same force I do as my other balms, I usually end up with this balm in chunks on my lips and in my mouth (Unfortunately, these don't taste as good as they smell!). So be a little more gentle with these balms.

Packaging: These come in oval tubes with black and white labels. The flavor of the balm is stated right on front which makes it easy to distinguish each balm from one another. These labels are very clean, simple, and made a little elegant by the design that is now in the background of the label.

Price: $4 per tube, or 2 for $7, or 3 for $10.50 which is definitely a steal for one of these balms!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. I really love Ripe Shop balms and I'd definitely recommend that you try one (or more)!

Ingredients: Sweet Almond Oil, Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Avocado Oil, Cocoa & Shea Butters, Vitamin E, Flavor

Have you tried these Ripe Shop balms before? What did you think of them?

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

Balms of the Week 8.11.13

Happy Sunday, everyone! I hope you've been having a wonderful, relaxing weekend! Rob and I have a lot to do between today and next Sunday, so I'm definitely glad we didn't do too much yesterday. It's official, we are moving to Seattle for at least the next two months, so we need to work out a LOT of things because we JUST moved into this apartment (and they were going to move us to a second apartment next month so right now the leasing office doesn't know what to do for us, ugh). Rob leaves tomorrow morning and won't be back until late Friday night and then we're going to fly with the cats on Sunday to Seattle. So we've kinda got a short time frame in which to do everything we need to since Rob won't be here during the week. ANYWAY, just wanted to update you guys in case I'm a little M.I.A. in the near future. Here are the amazing balms I've been using this week!

Orange Thyme's Cherry Lemoande

Orange Thyme's Sugared Grapefruit

Ripe Shop's Sweet Mango Tea

Aqua Blossom's Mango Spice

What balms have you been using this week? Have you found a new favorite?

Happy Sunday!

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

Balms I've Got My Eye On 8.9.13

Happy Friday, everyone! Did I seriously finally get through a whole week without skipping a post? Hallelujah life is kind of getting back to a more manageable state, although in the next couple of weeks there will probably be some hiccups in my posts if we have to move. Also, in about a month I'm taking the MCAT so the week before then I may not have as many posts as usual, just a heads up! Anyway, I kind of want to treat myself for being as productive as I could be this week (if I wasn't studying for the MCAT, I was at the gym, eating, cleaning, or sleeping), so maybe some of these balms will be finding their way to me soon:

ForGoodnessGrape's Blueberry Pomegranate Lemonade

(via)

Orange Thyme's Vanilla Plum

(via)

Firebird Bath & Body's Honeysuckle Nectarine

(via)

What balms have you been admiring this week?

Have a wonderful Friday!

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

ForGoodnessGrape Part IX

It's been a little while since my last ForGoodnessGrape review, so I hope you guys are excited for today's post! I know my ForGoodnessGrape posts are pretty much always the longest posts because I always end up buying seven or more balms at a time. And yes, there are still flavors in Lisa's shop that I don't have that I have my eye on! (P.S. Have you guys seen how cute Lisa's new layout on her website is?)

Company: ForGoodnessGrape

Flavors: Raspberry Mojito, Orange Hibiscus, Lime Phosphate, Banana Marshmallow, Dirty Diva, Grapefruit Lime, White Chocolate Mint, Pineapple Key Lime, Pineapple Papaya, Island Orange and Vanilla Lemon Lip Melts. Alright, brace yourself for these! The Raspberry Mojito has such a bright, lovely scent that's full of ripe raspberry, tart lime, and a little bit of mint. It smells just like a mojito! The Orange Hibiscus is one of my absolute favorite balms ever. If you've never tried a balm with hibiscus, you're missing out! This balm has the sweet, citrusy scent of orange combined with a candy-like scent added from the hibiscus. This is a super sweet and fruity balm! The Lime Phosphate smells just like lime soda, it has a bright lime scent that almost tickles my nose like the bubbles you get when you drink a freshly poured pop. The Banana Marshmallow has a candy-like banana scent combined with the subtle scent of ooey-gooey marshmallow. I'm pretty sure I have almost every single banana balm Lisa makes. The Dirty Diva has the sweet scent of ripe strawberries combined with a more mellow orange scent. The Grapefruit Lime is another one of my absolute favorites from FGG! It has the refreshing citrus scent of grapefruit combined with the tart and slightly sour scent of fresh lime, if you like citrus balms, you need to try this balm! The White Chocolate Mint smells absolutely amazing! This balm has the rich scent of white chocolate combined with cool, tingly mint...seriously what else could you ask for? The Pineapple Key Lime is such a unique and wonderful scent. This balm has the tropical scent of pineapple combined with creamy key lime. The Pineapple Papaya is another wonderful tropical balm. This balm is like a tropical paradise in a tube, combining the scents of fresh pineapple and tropical papaya. The Island Orange smells of warm tropical coconut and sweet orange, yet another balm that reminds me of a tropical getaway (which I could SO use right now). The Lemon Vanilla Lip Melts has a wonderful creamy and lemony scent. You know I'm a sucker for anything lemon and this definitely didn't disappoint!

Wear: Everything goes on super smooth and they all make my lips feel nice and soft. The Lemon Vanilla Lip Melts has an amazing consistency. It's a whipped butter that is just heavenly! It's so light and fluffy and goes on my lips like a dream.

Packaging: Each tube of FGG balm has a bright and colorful label that has colors that coordinate with the flavor of the balm. It really helps distinguish my FGG balms from one another, when you have as many as I do, anything to help differentiate tubes helps! The Lip Melts comes in a cute little jar that has a very plain and simple label that reminds me of products you'd find in a spa or anywhere else you'd buy high end bath & body products.

Price: Balms $3.75 to $4.25 and Lip Melts are $8.50. The balms are totally within my price range and more than worth the price. I know the Lip Melts are more expensive, which is why it took me so long to finally get around to buying one, but you get 0.5oz of product (a normal lip balm tube has .15oz) so you're getting 3 times the product which makes $8.50 not seem so expensive! Also, Lisa has tons of sales pretty frequently which is super great, so you can definitely use that to your advantage if you think her prices are too high.

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. I love all of the lip product lines that Lisa comes up with, if you couldn't tell by now, I think she makes some pretty amazing balms! Seriously, go try one or five, you won't regret it.

Ingredients: 
Balms-Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Sweet Almond Oil, Beeswax, Jojoba Oil, Coconut Oil, Castor Oil, Vitamin E, Fragrance
Lip Melts-(all organic ingredients)butyrospermum parkii (Shea Butter) fruit, theobroma cacao (Cocoa) seed butter, helianthus annuus (Sunflower) seed oil, cucurbita pepo (Pumpkin) seed oil, olea europaea (Olive) Oil, rosa canina (Rosehip) fruit oil, ricinus communis (Castor) seed oil , oenothera biennis (Evening Primrose) oil, euphorbia cerifera (Candelilla) wax, tocopherol (natural Vitamin E), essential oils. 

Have you tried any of these balms before? What did you think of them? Which FGG balms are your favorites?

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

Haul of the Week 8.7.13

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I hope you're all having a wonderful week so far! We've had even more stress put onto us this week because Rob's company wants him to move to Seattle for two months starting on Monday. This kinda just got dropped on us, so now we're trying to figure out what to do. Ugh! When will these extra stressors we don't need stop?! Anyway, I don't have a huge haul this week, but boy are these balms and perfume oils pretty amazing!

Firebird Bath & Body

I had to take advantage of the sale Firebird Bath & Body had going on last week, it's been too long since the last time I ordered from there! I've been really obsessed with perfume oils lately, I put them on all day at random times, but usually when I shouldn't (like right before I fall asleep).

Puur Body

There was a mix up with my lip balm subscription, Brandi thought it was a 6 month subscription and had stopped sending me them a few months ago. She quickly fixed it though and sent me a ton of balms to make up for it! They're so scrumptious!

There you have it! What have you received this week? Anything super yummy?

Have a wonderful day!

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway for the new MixStix from ChapStick!**

ChapStick MixStix + Giveaway

Hi all! I've been waiting for just the right time to write up this review and host the giveaway, but with all the stuff that's been happening the last few weeks, it kind of got pushed to the side. Now that I'm getting back into the swing of things, why don't we have a giveaway? Stay tuned for after the review! I feel so lucky to be part of the ChapStick® blogger program. ChapStick® was generous enough to send me three tubes of their new MixStix as well as three tubes to give to one lucky winner! Not only did they send me these tubes of MixStix, but they also sent me an iTunes gift card, an insulated tumbler, and some headphones! Thank you, ChapStick®  This lovely package has definitely made my summer much better! I can't wait to tell you all about these new products from ChapStick®!

Company: ChapStick®

Flavors: Green Apple Caramel, Lemon Berry Sorbet, and Strawberry Banana Smoothie. First, let me tell you about these super innovative lip balms; they're dual sided! That's right, you have a flavor on each side for you to wear solo or combined! Now that we've got that out of the way, the Green Apple Caramel smells exactly like an ooey-gooey, stick, sweet caramel apple when combined. The rich caramel scent combined with the candy sweet scent of green apple makes me wish it was fall so I could be eating some delicious caramel apples. The Lemon Berry Sorbet has one side made that smells of light, slightly sweet lemon and the other side smells of a wonderful combination of mixed berries. This is such a unique and lovely scent. The Strawberry Banana Smoothie has one side that smells of sweet, ripe banana and the other side has an amazing, ripe strawberry scent that is different from ChapStick®'s Strawberry balm.

Wear: These balms go on very smooth and cover my lips wonderfully. I love being able to wear one flavor alone or both combined. They're great worn both ways.

Packaging: These balms come in tubes that are slightly longer than your usual lip balm tube since there is a different scented balm in each side. These tubes are so awesome! I've never seen or had a balm that had two separate flavors on either side of the tube. The labels and caps are brightly colored and coordinate with the flavor of the balms.

Price: I think I saw these in stores for about $4 which I thought was pretty reasonable for these balms!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. These balms are pretty wonderful and I'd highly recommend trying at least one of them!

And now for the giveaway! It is open to U.S. residents only and will run for two weeks. The winning entry will be verified. Good luck, everyone!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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The ChapStick® product, information and gift have been provided by Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. Thank you, ChapStick®, for giving me this wonderful opportunity!