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What were your favorite parts of January?
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Wrangler's Monthly Wrap Up: January 2013
Well January came and went pretty quickly didn't it? Time always seems to be flying by, the last few months have felt like nothing to me; as soon as one month starts, it's like I blink and it's over. At least I have this blog to remind me of the great things that happened in January! Here are some of my favorite parts!
Orange Thyme....Part VI!
Here's yet another purchase I made on Black Friday, I can never stay away from an Orange Thyme sale and Black Friday was no exception! There's always a few more flavors I haven't tried.
Company: Orange Thyme
Flavors: Cocoa, Banana, Bubble Gum, Watermelon Juice, Blackberry Jam, and Sweet Strawberry. Yes, I did purchase the set geared towards children, and I'm not ashamed! The Cocoa smells just like tootsie rolls to me, which is awesome because I do enjoy the occasional tootsie roll. It's a very light chocolatey scent. The Banana is one of my most favorite scents ever! It smells very much like a banana popsicle or banana candy. I don't know why, but that's one of my most favorite scents ever. It always takes me right back to my childhood. The Bubble Gum smells very much like bubble gum, it's blowing my mind! It reminds me of my childhood when I was obsessed with chewing bubble gum and my sisters and I would hoard any pieces we got so that no one else could have any. The Watermelon is another one of my most favorite scents ever. It smells like sweet, sugary watermelon. The Blackberry Jam smells very much like sweet blackberries, it's very lovely. I had been waiting for a while to try Rachel's Sweet Strawberry and Black Friday was the perfect time to try it! It smells exactly how you think it should, like fresh, sweet strawberries. Yum!
Wear: Like all Orange Thyme balms, these balms go on very smooth and creamy. They make my lips feel very soft, nourished, and moisturized. They're lovely. I fell in love with these balms the very first time I applied one; the scents may have caught my interest, but the consistency kept me coming back for more!
Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tube with super cute labels! The labels are colored to match the flavor of the balm and on the front of the label there is a white space where the flavor of the balm is printed in a font that matches the flavor of the balm. The font has a very adorable, almost hand written look to it. Also the watermelon balm has a green stripe in the back and little black seeds all over the label, it's so cute!
Price: $3.25 which I'm more than willing to pay for one of these balms!
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. These balms are amazing! I have loved each and every balm I've tried from Rachel's shop, I've never been disappointed. There are so many flavors one can try, Rachel's got everything!
Ingredients: Cocoa & shea butters, candelilla wax, natural and essential oils, avocado oil
Have you tried Orange Thyme balms before? Which flavor is your favorite?
**Don't forget to enter both my giveaways this week! Find my Softlips giveaway here and my PuurBody giveaway here!**
Company: Orange Thyme
Flavors: Cocoa, Banana, Bubble Gum, Watermelon Juice, Blackberry Jam, and Sweet Strawberry. Yes, I did purchase the set geared towards children, and I'm not ashamed! The Cocoa smells just like tootsie rolls to me, which is awesome because I do enjoy the occasional tootsie roll. It's a very light chocolatey scent. The Banana is one of my most favorite scents ever! It smells very much like a banana popsicle or banana candy. I don't know why, but that's one of my most favorite scents ever. It always takes me right back to my childhood. The Bubble Gum smells very much like bubble gum, it's blowing my mind! It reminds me of my childhood when I was obsessed with chewing bubble gum and my sisters and I would hoard any pieces we got so that no one else could have any. The Watermelon is another one of my most favorite scents ever. It smells like sweet, sugary watermelon. The Blackberry Jam smells very much like sweet blackberries, it's very lovely. I had been waiting for a while to try Rachel's Sweet Strawberry and Black Friday was the perfect time to try it! It smells exactly how you think it should, like fresh, sweet strawberries. Yum!
Wear: Like all Orange Thyme balms, these balms go on very smooth and creamy. They make my lips feel very soft, nourished, and moisturized. They're lovely. I fell in love with these balms the very first time I applied one; the scents may have caught my interest, but the consistency kept me coming back for more!
Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tube with super cute labels! The labels are colored to match the flavor of the balm and on the front of the label there is a white space where the flavor of the balm is printed in a font that matches the flavor of the balm. The font has a very adorable, almost hand written look to it. Also the watermelon balm has a green stripe in the back and little black seeds all over the label, it's so cute!
Price: $3.25 which I'm more than willing to pay for one of these balms!
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. These balms are amazing! I have loved each and every balm I've tried from Rachel's shop, I've never been disappointed. There are so many flavors one can try, Rachel's got everything!
Ingredients: Cocoa & shea butters, candelilla wax, natural and essential oils, avocado oil
Have you tried Orange Thyme balms before? Which flavor is your favorite?
**Don't forget to enter both my giveaways this week! Find my Softlips giveaway here and my PuurBody giveaway here!**
The Gnarly Whale
Around Black Friday I had stumbled upon this shop, I liked the way the balms looked and was very curious. Then on Black Friday they had a really amazing sale going on, I think the balms were like 35% off and if you spent over a certain amount you received a free balm. After all the deals, I think I scored 7 balms for less than $14!
Company: The Gnarly Whale
Flavors: Chocolate Banana, Peppermint, Pina Colada, Mango, Lemon Lime Soda, Chocolate Strawberry, and Strawberry Banana. The Chocolate Banana smells very much like a chocolate covered banana. The banana isn't super strong in this one, but it is very good! I've been obsessed with all things chocolate banana and pretty much banana anything lately, so this is right up my alley. The Peppermint is a wonderful mint balm! It smells exactly like those blue Certz I'm always talking about. I really love that scent. The Pina Colada is very tropical, very much pineapple and coconut. It's a really wonderful scent. As everyone probably knows by now, I'm always in search of the perfect mango balm, so I thought I'd give their Mango balm a shot! The Mango balm smells fruity, but not very much like mango to me. It smells a little off like some other mango balms I've tried before. The Lemon Lime Soda smells amazing! Very citrusy and soda-like, it smells like something I've had before. It's not exactly like 7-Up or Sprite, but it does remind me of something I've had before. The Chocolate Strawberry smells just like sweet strawberry dipped in milk chocolate, this would be perfect for Valentine's Day! The Strawberry Banana smells like fresh, sweet strawberries blended with ripe bananas. It's extremely light in scent, so for those who don't like really strongly scented balms, this would be one for you to try.
Wear: These balms go on really smooth! They glide right across my lips, in one or two swipes on top and bottom I'm good to go! They don't feel really heavy on my lips which is really nice!
Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tube. The tube is black which is always a nice subtle change to the look of a balm. Each tube has a white label with black and grey fonts, it's hard to tell them all apart because they're all very, very similar in style. I really like the font selection they used for their balms. It makes everything look really neat and polished! The one thing that was seriously driving me up a wall about these balms was how the labels were put on. Each label unrolled right off the tube. I would try to smooth out the label only to have to try to smooth it down a minute later. One of my friends saw them on my desk one day and even commented on how the labels were bugging her. It sounds crazy, but it's just a pet peeve of mine when the labels aren't put on properly. But it's not something to get totally bogged down by, it's nothing a little tape can't fix. Other than that, the packaging on these balms is lovely and very pleasing to the eye!
Price: $3.50 per tube which is a pretty classic price for a handmade lip balm.
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons: Some labels don't stick
Rating: 4 out of 5 twists. These balms were pretty great! I love that there's such a large variety of flavors to choose from, there's a flavor for every taste!
Ingredients: Candelilla wax, mango butter, coconut oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E, grapefruit seed extract, flavor
Have you tried balms from The Gnarly Whale yet? What did you think of them?
**Don't forget to enter both my giveaways this week! Find my Softlips giveaway here and my PuurBody giveaway here!**
Company: The Gnarly Whale
Flavors: Chocolate Banana, Peppermint, Pina Colada, Mango, Lemon Lime Soda, Chocolate Strawberry, and Strawberry Banana. The Chocolate Banana smells very much like a chocolate covered banana. The banana isn't super strong in this one, but it is very good! I've been obsessed with all things chocolate banana and pretty much banana anything lately, so this is right up my alley. The Peppermint is a wonderful mint balm! It smells exactly like those blue Certz I'm always talking about. I really love that scent. The Pina Colada is very tropical, very much pineapple and coconut. It's a really wonderful scent. As everyone probably knows by now, I'm always in search of the perfect mango balm, so I thought I'd give their Mango balm a shot! The Mango balm smells fruity, but not very much like mango to me. It smells a little off like some other mango balms I've tried before. The Lemon Lime Soda smells amazing! Very citrusy and soda-like, it smells like something I've had before. It's not exactly like 7-Up or Sprite, but it does remind me of something I've had before. The Chocolate Strawberry smells just like sweet strawberry dipped in milk chocolate, this would be perfect for Valentine's Day! The Strawberry Banana smells like fresh, sweet strawberries blended with ripe bananas. It's extremely light in scent, so for those who don't like really strongly scented balms, this would be one for you to try.
Wear: These balms go on really smooth! They glide right across my lips, in one or two swipes on top and bottom I'm good to go! They don't feel really heavy on my lips which is really nice!
Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tube. The tube is black which is always a nice subtle change to the look of a balm. Each tube has a white label with black and grey fonts, it's hard to tell them all apart because they're all very, very similar in style. I really like the font selection they used for their balms. It makes everything look really neat and polished! The one thing that was seriously driving me up a wall about these balms was how the labels were put on. Each label unrolled right off the tube. I would try to smooth out the label only to have to try to smooth it down a minute later. One of my friends saw them on my desk one day and even commented on how the labels were bugging her. It sounds crazy, but it's just a pet peeve of mine when the labels aren't put on properly. But it's not something to get totally bogged down by, it's nothing a little tape can't fix. Other than that, the packaging on these balms is lovely and very pleasing to the eye!
Price: $3.50 per tube which is a pretty classic price for a handmade lip balm.
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons: Some labels don't stick
Rating: 4 out of 5 twists. These balms were pretty great! I love that there's such a large variety of flavors to choose from, there's a flavor for every taste!
Ingredients: Candelilla wax, mango butter, coconut oil, jojoba oil, vitamin E, grapefruit seed extract, flavor
Have you tried balms from The Gnarly Whale yet? What did you think of them?
**Don't forget to enter both my giveaways this week! Find my Softlips giveaway here and my PuurBody giveaway here!**
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Haul of the Week 1.30.13
I've received SO many wonderful balms this week! I've been having really good luck with finding such amazing balms. It's been a while (knock on wood) since I've had a flavor or a balm that really didn't sit well with me. Here's what's been comin' in this week:
I cannot get enough of these whipped lip butters! (Use code: LOVER20 to save 20% off your order, seriously try one of their whipped lip butters or one of their anthologies, all amazing!)
I can't stop myself from buying from The Simple Siren, especially when there are flavors I haven't tried and they have a coupon code (ORGANICLOVE20 until Valentine's Day).
As soon as I received my first order from Bag Lunch, I had to order a few more balms while they were having a sale (50% off their balms!).
I am SO happy I was able to find these! The Cake Batter is AMAZING. It's definitely my favorite and I can't stop using it!
When Lisa had a coupon code a little while ago I couldn't help myself from buying her "Spend Every Day of the Week with ForGoodnessGrape" bundle. She also threw in a Chocolate Kahlua balm, yum!
I've never ever bought just one balm from a shop before, let alone from Long Winter Farm. But I suppose there's a first time for everything! I already had all the balms I wanted from Amanda's shop, except for this one. It smells so chocolatey and amazing.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Aqua Blossom Valentine's Day Flavors!
Okay, I'm finally going to give in to my mind thinking it's Valentine's Day already. I've given up trying to convince it otherwise. I mean, it is getting close, isn't it? Hopefully this review will give you enough time before Valentine's Day to purchase it for someone special for V-Day, or for yourself. I think all of these balms are absolutely perfect for Valentine's Day!
Company: Aqua Blossom
Flavors: Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Red Velvet Cake, White Chocolate Truffle, and Black Forest Brownie. Okay, yum, each of these flavors is seriously amazing. The Chocolate Covered Strawberry smells exactly like sweet strawberries dipped in rich chocolate. The Red Velvet Cake is such a rich scent, it's very chocolatey and creamy. The White Chocolate Truffle smells incredible! It smells just like creamy white chocolate, it makes my mouth water just by smelling it. And last but definitely not least, the Black Forest Brownie. Okay, if you've been paying attention the last couple of weeks, you've seen how much I love this balm! The Black Forest Brownie smells AMAZING. Rich, rich chocolate complimented by sweet cherries, seriously this balm is so decadent. I'd take this over dessert any day! (Okay not really, because I really love dessert, but you see what I'm getting at here. It's THAT good when I would consider trading dessert for lip balm.) Ashley also has a Sparkling Champagne balm for Valentine's Day that I didn't try, I don't know how I'd feel about a champagne balm since I don't really like champagne. But I'm sure it's wonderful!
Wear: These balms go on so smooth and creamy and sink right into my lips. They last for hours and just cover beautifully.
Packaging: These balms come in those lovely oval tubes that I love so much. Each label is custom designed to match the flavor of the balm, making each label easily distinguishable from the others. The labels for these balms are so well done, very sophisticated yet simple.
Price: $3.75 per tube, which is definitely something I'm willing to pay for one of these balms!
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. Seriously these balms are wonderful, any girl (or guy) would be lucky to receive these for Valentine's Day. Ashley also has a gift set where all of her Valentine's Day flavors come in a really cute tin, that set is $16.75. Although these balms are very much Valentine's Day themed, I think they'd be perfect year round!
Ingredients: Shea butter, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, candelilla wax, coconut oil, kokum butter, soybean oil, essential and/or flavor oil, vitamin e oil
Have you tried Ashley's Valentine's Day flavors yet? Which one is your favorite?
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Don't forget you can use code: WRANGLER to save 20% off your purchase in Ashley's Etsy and direct shops! Good until March 31st, 2013
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**Don't forget to enter both my giveaways this week! Find my Softlips giveaway here and my PuurBody giveaway here!**
Company: Aqua Blossom
Flavors: Chocolate Covered Strawberry, Red Velvet Cake, White Chocolate Truffle, and Black Forest Brownie. Okay, yum, each of these flavors is seriously amazing. The Chocolate Covered Strawberry smells exactly like sweet strawberries dipped in rich chocolate. The Red Velvet Cake is such a rich scent, it's very chocolatey and creamy. The White Chocolate Truffle smells incredible! It smells just like creamy white chocolate, it makes my mouth water just by smelling it. And last but definitely not least, the Black Forest Brownie. Okay, if you've been paying attention the last couple of weeks, you've seen how much I love this balm! The Black Forest Brownie smells AMAZING. Rich, rich chocolate complimented by sweet cherries, seriously this balm is so decadent. I'd take this over dessert any day! (Okay not really, because I really love dessert, but you see what I'm getting at here. It's THAT good when I would consider trading dessert for lip balm.) Ashley also has a Sparkling Champagne balm for Valentine's Day that I didn't try, I don't know how I'd feel about a champagne balm since I don't really like champagne. But I'm sure it's wonderful!
Wear: These balms go on so smooth and creamy and sink right into my lips. They last for hours and just cover beautifully.
Packaging: These balms come in those lovely oval tubes that I love so much. Each label is custom designed to match the flavor of the balm, making each label easily distinguishable from the others. The labels for these balms are so well done, very sophisticated yet simple.
Price: $3.75 per tube, which is definitely something I'm willing to pay for one of these balms!
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. Seriously these balms are wonderful, any girl (or guy) would be lucky to receive these for Valentine's Day. Ashley also has a gift set where all of her Valentine's Day flavors come in a really cute tin, that set is $16.75. Although these balms are very much Valentine's Day themed, I think they'd be perfect year round!
Ingredients: Shea butter, sweet almond oil, apricot kernel oil, avocado oil, candelilla wax, coconut oil, kokum butter, soybean oil, essential and/or flavor oil, vitamin e oil
Have you tried Ashley's Valentine's Day flavors yet? Which one is your favorite?
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Don't forget you can use code: WRANGLER to save 20% off your purchase in Ashley's Etsy and direct shops! Good until March 31st, 2013
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**Don't forget to enter both my giveaways this week! Find my Softlips giveaway here and my PuurBody giveaway here!**
Monday, January 28, 2013
Mini Monday 1.28.13
I feel like the weekends never last enough around here, two days is definitely not enough! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and are having a wonderful Monday doing whatever it is you may be doing. Here are the balms for this week's Mini Monday:
Long Winter Farm's Orange Cream
This balm smells just like oranges and sweet cream! It's a little bit tangy with just a tiny hint of cocoa.
The Simple Siren's Grandma's Rosemary Lemonade
This smells just like lemonade with just a hint of rosemary. I thought the rosemary would be stronger and more overbearing, but it's not. It just adds a little something extra to the light and sweet scent of lemonade.
Crazy Rumors' Black Cherry from the Soda Collection
This smells just like a cherry coke! It's a rich and distinct scent. I think it's wonderful!
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Balms of the Week 1.27.13
I hope you're all having a wonderful Sunday! I also hope that it's not too cold for you, wherever you may be since this week has been pretty chilly for some parts of the U.S. I'm happy I was able to beat the cold this year by moving to San Francisco, although I really do love the cold. Anyway, here are the balms I've been using this week!
ForGoodnessGrape's Strawberry Tangerine
Bag Lunch's Strawberry Lime Rickey
Ripe Shop's White Chocolate Coconut
Live Beautifully's Chocolate Strawberry
Live Beautifully's Chocolate Orange
Live Beautifully's Lime & Vanilla
Funny story from this week, we had a bomb scare in our building on Wednesday (the bomb part is not the funny part). It seemed pretty serious since they cut off all the streets within a two block radius of our apartment building and bomb squad was called in. What was strange was although it seemed so serious, they didn't evacuate us or stop pedestrian traffic to our building (you could get to our building but not any further). Anyway, my boyfriend was at work freaking out that I was in the building and I kept trying to convince him I'd be fine, but he kept bugging me to leave so I finally did just to make him stop bothering me. As I'm finishing up my search for things to put in my purse to keep me occupied while I'm not in the apartment (books, iPad, etc), I almost leave without this balm, but then I made sure to turn around and grab it before heading out the door. Yes, even under the threat of a bomb, I made sure to have this particular balm on me. It's that good.
It seems that I've been in a Strawberry and Chocolate mood this week, probably because my mind still thinks Valentine's Day is next week.
Saturday, January 26, 2013
PuurBody Giveaway!
How about another giveaway? I know I currently have my Softlips Jack Frosting giveaway going on, but another one can't hurt right? Who doesn't love a chance to win some free balm?
This time I'm giving away two tubes of PuurBody lip balm! One winner will win both tubes: one tube of Blood Orange and one tube of Pom-Orange, two of my absolute favorite PuurBody flavors!
Like usual, this giveaway is open to U.S. Residents only! The winning entry WILL be verified. The giveaway ends at midnight on February 5th!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck to all of you who enter!
Happy Saturday!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck to all of you who enter!
Happy Saturday!
Friday, January 25, 2013
Balms I've Got My Eye On 1.25.13
For some reason my mind keeps thinking that Valentine's Day is next week, and I can't stop thinking that it is! I think it's because I've been eyeing so many lovely Valentine's Day themed lip balms lately. It's strange because I've been looking at a lot of non-V-day lip balms too and I still keep thinking Valentine's Day is only days away. What is wrong with me?! Here are the balms I'm hoping my love will "surprise" me with this year:
Aqua Blossom's Valentine's Day Lip Balm Pot
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Seriously, how adorable is this? I'm not even that big a fan of lip balm pots, but this one is just too cute to resist!
PuurBody's Creme Brulee
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This is my boyfriend and I's favorite dessert to share, this would be a perfect lip balm for V-day!
The Simple Siren's Simple Put Lime
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I can't resist a new Simple Siren lip balm!
What balms are you eyeing this week?
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Ripe Shop
I bought these balms during Black Friday, it's actually funny how it happened. My boyfriend and I were gearing up to head out for Black Friday, we didn't really have too much we wanted this year, but one thing was for sure, Etsy was on my list. I had already started purchasing some balms while we were getting ready to head out and I was posting on Twitter/Facebook as I was completing purchases when Adriana from Ripe Shop told me to try out her balms. In the madness that is Black Friday, I immediately looked at her shop and placed an order. I actually hit submit on my order on my phone while putting on a shoe as I was running out the door, it's quite silly what I can do while buying lip balm!
Company: Ripe Shop
Flavors: Mango, Pistachio Cream, and White Chocolate Coconut. The Mango balm smells wonderful! Very sweet and tropical, just like my favorite fruit! I've been kind of obsessed with pistachio balms ever since I was sent a LWF Pistachio Chip lip balm from one of my readers. So it only made sense for me to try Ripe Shop's Pistachio Cream balm. This balm smells very sweet and creamy and a little nutty. I love it! What I was really excited about was the White Chocolate Coconut, two of my favorite flavors in one balm? It's just got to be good! This balm is a rich white chocolate scent with warmly scented coconut blended into it, it smells so decadent!
Wear: These balms go on very, very smooth and creamy. They practically melt right into my lips. One or two swipes on top and bottom and you're good to go!
Packaging: These balms come in oval tubes that are the same weight as your average size lip balm. The labels are very plain and simple, white with a black font and has the name of the balm right on front.
Price: $4 per tube, which is not too bad for one of these balms.
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 twists, these balms are amazing! I'd really recommend that you try at least one or two flavors, they're wonderful!
Ingredients: Sweet Almond Oil, Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Avocado Oil, Cocoa & Shea Butters, Vitamin E, Flavor
Have you tried Ripe Shop balms before? What did you think of them?
**Don't forget to enter my Softlips giveaway here!**
Company: Ripe ShopFlavors: Mango, Pistachio Cream, and White Chocolate Coconut. The Mango balm smells wonderful! Very sweet and tropical, just like my favorite fruit! I've been kind of obsessed with pistachio balms ever since I was sent a LWF Pistachio Chip lip balm from one of my readers. So it only made sense for me to try Ripe Shop's Pistachio Cream balm. This balm smells very sweet and creamy and a little nutty. I love it! What I was really excited about was the White Chocolate Coconut, two of my favorite flavors in one balm? It's just got to be good! This balm is a rich white chocolate scent with warmly scented coconut blended into it, it smells so decadent!
Wear: These balms go on very, very smooth and creamy. They practically melt right into my lips. One or two swipes on top and bottom and you're good to go!
Packaging: These balms come in oval tubes that are the same weight as your average size lip balm. The labels are very plain and simple, white with a black font and has the name of the balm right on front.
Price: $4 per tube, which is not too bad for one of these balms.
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 twists, these balms are amazing! I'd really recommend that you try at least one or two flavors, they're wonderful!
Ingredients: Sweet Almond Oil, Coconut Oil, Beeswax, Avocado Oil, Cocoa & Shea Butters, Vitamin E, Flavor
Have you tried Ripe Shop balms before? What did you think of them?
**Don't forget to enter my Softlips giveaway here!**
Live Beautifully
I was told about this shop by one of my readers and quickly after looking through the shop, I knew I would be trying some of their balms. Shortly after I received my first order, I saw that Nicole and Aaron had come up with two new anthologies! And as soon as I saw them, I was drooling over them instantly! Shortly after I tweeted about the new anthologies, Nicole and Aaron contacted me to try them out! They also let me choose a whipped lip butter to try, yippee! I was almost in tears, I was so excited and so happy!
Company: Live Beautifully
Flavors: Sparkling Wine Flavors-Sweet Moscato, Peach Bellini, Orange Mimosa; Chocolate Fruit Flavors-Chocolate Cherry, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Strawberry; and Lime & Vanilla whipped lip butter. First, let me start by saying that every flavor I have tried from Live Beautifully has been truly amazing. I find myself using these balms every day! My boyfriend and I have recently been getting more interested in wine, especially Moscatos, so the Sparkling Wine Anthology came at just the right time! The Sweet Moscato is a very light fruity scent. The Peach Bellini is a light and sweetly scented peach balm. It's very fruity and delightful! The Orange Mimosa smells incredible! A very bright and strong scent of orange, but not overbearing smack in your face citrus, but a more mellow citrus scent. It's quite lovely. The Chocolate Cherry is such a rich and decadent chocolatey scent with just a hint of cherry. I can't stop smelling it, it smells incredible! I'm sure most of you know by now how much I love a good chocolate orange lip balm, and this one definitely fits the bill! The Chocolate Orange is wonderful. A rich chocolate scent complimented by a sweet and citrusy orange scent. Seriously, this one smells AMAZING. A burst of orange and rich chocolate, what more could you ask for? The Chocolate Strawberry is equally as wonderful, sweet, sweet strawberry blended with a rich chocolate scent. This one would be absolutely perfect for Valentine's Day, heck both of these anthologies would be great for Valentine's day. But especially, the chocolate anthology! I'd much rather receive some chocolate lip balms than chocolates (less calories, and they last longer). The Lime & Vanilla whipped lip butter has got to be THE BEST thing I've ever used! Tangy lime blended with sweet vanilla, the best scent I've ever encountered!
Wear: Each of these balms goes on crazy smooth and creamy. They melt right into my lips and provide me with long lasting moisture and protection. The whipped lip butter has the best consistency, it's super smooth and silky; one of the only balms my boyfriend will let me put on him! He couldn't get past how amazing the consistency was. Seriously, I love wearing these lip products.
Packaging: First off, I have to say the packaging on EVERYTHING is so impressive. From the mailing labels on the envelope to the lip balm tubes to the business cards, I've never been so in awe before. Everything is so well put together, so pleasing to the eye, and just oh so lovely. The lip balms come in your average sized lip balm tubes, with labels that have the name of the shop, the name of the balm, and then the flavors that go into the balm. I LOVE that, I don't think I've ever found a lip balm that actually had the flavors of the balm on the label. Like sure, a strawberry lip balm shouldn't be too surprising that it's strawberry flavored, but something like a fruity punch or something would be great to have the flavors used to make it! (Which by the way, this shop does on their Tropical Drink Anthology! [Review coming soon]). The labels are so well done and the color scheme and fonts all just go so well together. The whipped lip butter comes in a lip balm pot with the same type of label on the lid, it's so nice! I also love the extra care that went into packing the products, the whipped lip butter jar was surrounded in cork to protect it. How wonderful!
Price: $4 per tube or $10 for an anthology which has 3 balms. The whipped lip butters are $6 a pot and trust me, it's totally worth it!
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Flavor variety, Wear, Packaging, Price, Presentation, everything!
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, seriously I can't say enough about these balms. They are totally wonderful in every way. The whipped lip butters are a must try! Honestly, I could rave about these balms all day!
Ingredients: Beeswax, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Mango Butter, Apricot Kernel Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, Coconut Oil, Natural Flavors & Oils
Have you tried Live Beautifully balms before? Which flavor is your favorite?
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These balms and whipped lip butter were sent to me complimentary by Nicole and Aaron over at Live Beautifully Body, however all opinions expressed in this review are my own! Thank you Nicole and Aaron for allowing me the opportunity to try and review your products!
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**Don't forget to enter my Softlips giveaway here!**
Flavors: Sparkling Wine Flavors-Sweet Moscato, Peach Bellini, Orange Mimosa; Chocolate Fruit Flavors-Chocolate Cherry, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Strawberry; and Lime & Vanilla whipped lip butter. First, let me start by saying that every flavor I have tried from Live Beautifully has been truly amazing. I find myself using these balms every day! My boyfriend and I have recently been getting more interested in wine, especially Moscatos, so the Sparkling Wine Anthology came at just the right time! The Sweet Moscato is a very light fruity scent. The Peach Bellini is a light and sweetly scented peach balm. It's very fruity and delightful! The Orange Mimosa smells incredible! A very bright and strong scent of orange, but not overbearing smack in your face citrus, but a more mellow citrus scent. It's quite lovely. The Chocolate Cherry is such a rich and decadent chocolatey scent with just a hint of cherry. I can't stop smelling it, it smells incredible! I'm sure most of you know by now how much I love a good chocolate orange lip balm, and this one definitely fits the bill! The Chocolate Orange is wonderful. A rich chocolate scent complimented by a sweet and citrusy orange scent. Seriously, this one smells AMAZING. A burst of orange and rich chocolate, what more could you ask for? The Chocolate Strawberry is equally as wonderful, sweet, sweet strawberry blended with a rich chocolate scent. This one would be absolutely perfect for Valentine's Day, heck both of these anthologies would be great for Valentine's day. But especially, the chocolate anthology! I'd much rather receive some chocolate lip balms than chocolates (less calories, and they last longer). The Lime & Vanilla whipped lip butter has got to be THE BEST thing I've ever used! Tangy lime blended with sweet vanilla, the best scent I've ever encountered!
Wear: Each of these balms goes on crazy smooth and creamy. They melt right into my lips and provide me with long lasting moisture and protection. The whipped lip butter has the best consistency, it's super smooth and silky; one of the only balms my boyfriend will let me put on him! He couldn't get past how amazing the consistency was. Seriously, I love wearing these lip products.
Packaging: First off, I have to say the packaging on EVERYTHING is so impressive. From the mailing labels on the envelope to the lip balm tubes to the business cards, I've never been so in awe before. Everything is so well put together, so pleasing to the eye, and just oh so lovely. The lip balms come in your average sized lip balm tubes, with labels that have the name of the shop, the name of the balm, and then the flavors that go into the balm. I LOVE that, I don't think I've ever found a lip balm that actually had the flavors of the balm on the label. Like sure, a strawberry lip balm shouldn't be too surprising that it's strawberry flavored, but something like a fruity punch or something would be great to have the flavors used to make it! (Which by the way, this shop does on their Tropical Drink Anthology! [Review coming soon]). The labels are so well done and the color scheme and fonts all just go so well together. The whipped lip butter comes in a lip balm pot with the same type of label on the lid, it's so nice! I also love the extra care that went into packing the products, the whipped lip butter jar was surrounded in cork to protect it. How wonderful!
Price: $4 per tube or $10 for an anthology which has 3 balms. The whipped lip butters are $6 a pot and trust me, it's totally worth it!
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Flavor variety, Wear, Packaging, Price, Presentation, everything!
Cons:
Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, seriously I can't say enough about these balms. They are totally wonderful in every way. The whipped lip butters are a must try! Honestly, I could rave about these balms all day!
Ingredients: Beeswax, Cocoa Butter, Shea Butter, Mango Butter, Apricot Kernel Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Sweet Almond Oil, Macadamia Nut Oil, Coconut Oil, Natural Flavors & Oils
Have you tried Live Beautifully balms before? Which flavor is your favorite?
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These balms and whipped lip butter were sent to me complimentary by Nicole and Aaron over at Live Beautifully Body, however all opinions expressed in this review are my own! Thank you Nicole and Aaron for allowing me the opportunity to try and review your products!
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**Don't forget to enter my Softlips giveaway here!**
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Haul of the Week 1.23.13
I've been trying to slow down a lot on lip balm buying, but whenever there's a new flavor from a favorite shop, a coupon code, or a sale I just can't help myself! Here's the goods from this week:
I ordered the Blue Moon and Allison generously included a Lavender Vanilla Chamomile balm a well!
Nicole and Aaron so generously sent me their two new anthologies as well as one of their whipped lip butters to try!
I had been recommended this shop before but never acted on it, so when I saw that they had 50% off their balms last week, I had to give them a shot!
What goodies did you get in the mail this week?
Have a beautiful day!
--Christina
**Don't forget to enter my Softlips giveaway here!**
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Aubrey E. Apothecary's Winter Set
I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I really love Limited Edition stuff. Especially in the form of a lip balm. So whenever I see limited edition balms, I know I have to have them. As soon as I had gotten my Aubrey E. Apothecary Fall Set, I already had my eyes on her Winter Set. I also saw that her Winter Set contained a White Chocolate Mint flavor and since most of you know by now, I'm absolutely obsessed with my Winter Frost balm from Little Batch (which is White Chocolate and Mint), I had to try it out to compare!
Company: Aubrey E. Apothecary
Flavors: Almond Biscotti, Cranberry Orange, Gingerbread Vanilla, Eggnog, and White Chocolate Mint. The Almond Biscotti has a very subtle almond scent which I love because almond scented products tend to be a little overbearing for me and makes my stomach turn a bit. The Cranberry Orange smells AMAZING. Very sweet and fruity and there is no guesswork to it, there's definitely cranberry and orange blended together to make one heck of a scent. The Gingerbread Vanilla smells lightly of gingerbread with just a hint of vanilla, it's perfect. The Eggnog balm smells incredible! It's spicy and creamy with just a little bit of sweetness, it's definitely on the stronger side of scents, but I love it! And last but not least, the White Chocolate Mint. This balm smells really good, it's definitely white chocolate mixed with peppermint, but I think my favorite is still Winter Frost from Little Batch, just by a little bit. If you like White chocolate or mint at all, this is definitely a balm for you to try!
Wear: These balms go on very smooth and creamy and are immediately soaked up by my lips. The White Chocolate Mint even makes my lips a little tingly which I love in a mint balm.
Packaging: The balms in this set come in oval lip balm tubes which are awesome because they really fit the contour of your lips. The labels have the shop name and lip balm flavor on the front. The lip balm flavors are printed in colored inks to match the flavor of the balm. These balms also come in a really cute box with a green ribbon as you can see in the picture above, it's really wonderful the care that went into packaging this set.
Price: This set is $17.75 which brings each individual balm to $3.55 a piece which really isn't too bad for a balm.
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 4 out of 5 twists. The balms in this Winter set were really wonderful! There's a combination of balms with really subtle scents and balms with some pretty strong scents. I'd definitely recommend trying an Aubrey E. Apothecary balm!
Ingredients: Beeswax, Sweet Almond Oil , Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Flavor oil
Have you tried Aubrey E. Apothecary balms before? Which flavor is your favorite?
**Don't forget to enter my Softlips giveaway here!**
Company: Aubrey E. Apothecary
Flavors: Almond Biscotti, Cranberry Orange, Gingerbread Vanilla, Eggnog, and White Chocolate Mint. The Almond Biscotti has a very subtle almond scent which I love because almond scented products tend to be a little overbearing for me and makes my stomach turn a bit. The Cranberry Orange smells AMAZING. Very sweet and fruity and there is no guesswork to it, there's definitely cranberry and orange blended together to make one heck of a scent. The Gingerbread Vanilla smells lightly of gingerbread with just a hint of vanilla, it's perfect. The Eggnog balm smells incredible! It's spicy and creamy with just a little bit of sweetness, it's definitely on the stronger side of scents, but I love it! And last but not least, the White Chocolate Mint. This balm smells really good, it's definitely white chocolate mixed with peppermint, but I think my favorite is still Winter Frost from Little Batch, just by a little bit. If you like White chocolate or mint at all, this is definitely a balm for you to try!
Wear: These balms go on very smooth and creamy and are immediately soaked up by my lips. The White Chocolate Mint even makes my lips a little tingly which I love in a mint balm.
Packaging: The balms in this set come in oval lip balm tubes which are awesome because they really fit the contour of your lips. The labels have the shop name and lip balm flavor on the front. The lip balm flavors are printed in colored inks to match the flavor of the balm. These balms also come in a really cute box with a green ribbon as you can see in the picture above, it's really wonderful the care that went into packaging this set.
Price: This set is $17.75 which brings each individual balm to $3.55 a piece which really isn't too bad for a balm.
Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons:
Rating: 4 out of 5 twists. The balms in this Winter set were really wonderful! There's a combination of balms with really subtle scents and balms with some pretty strong scents. I'd definitely recommend trying an Aubrey E. Apothecary balm!
Ingredients: Beeswax, Sweet Almond Oil , Coconut Oil, Avocado Oil, Flavor oil
Have you tried Aubrey E. Apothecary balms before? Which flavor is your favorite?
**Don't forget to enter my Softlips giveaway here!**
Another Softlips Jack Frosting + Extras Giveaway!
This past weekend I went shopping with my boyfriend and I found a couple more 2-Packs of Softlips Jack Frosting so I decided to pick up 2 more packs! I know that this pack is a little hard to find and since the last Softlips Jack Frosting Giveaway I did was so successful, I thought that I would offer those who weren't able to get their hands on one another chance to! As a bonus, one winner will receive a 2-Pack of Softlips Jack Frosting and a pack of Softlips Raspberry plus a bonus stick of Softlips Sugar Cookie; and another winner will receive a 2-Pack of Softlips Jack Frosting and a pack of Softlips Vanilla plus a bonus stick of Softlips Sugar & Spice.
This giveaway will run from today until February 2nd!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck to everyone who enters!
This giveaway will run from today until February 2nd!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck to everyone who enters!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Mini Monday 1.21.13
I hope that those of you who have work off today have a very relaxing day off! I've spent this weekend fixing up our second bedroom and turning it into my our office, so I'm definitely going to try to take it easy today (although my only job now is job hunting and maintaining the household, haha). I've been waiting forever to be able to sit at a desk and write these posts. I also bought a work table so that I can get back into sewing! (I used to be way into sewing, to the point of competing through my high school with garments I made). Anyway I'll stop rambling now, here are the three balms I have for you this week:
Aqua Blossom's Black Forest Brownie
The second I used this balm I was in love. It smells divine! Super scrumptious and decadent chocolate combined with sweet cherries. Seriously, this stuff is amazing. Even the boyfriend likes it!
Live Beautifully Body's Strawberry Colada
This balm smells so tropical! You can definitely smell the sweet pineapple and strawberry combined with warm pineapple. Yum!
Bag Lunch's Strawberry Lime Rickey
Okay seriously, I wish this was a popsicle or a drink or something, I want to consume this! It smells SO good! It's sweet strawberry and tangy lime, but with more sweetness to it. It's almost candy like. I'm absolutely in love with it!
There ya have it! I hope you all have a wonderful Monday!
--Christina
Sunday, January 20, 2013
And the Winners for my HUGE Birthday Giveaway Are...**UPDATED x 2**
Nilda, Julie, Cilly, and Francisca!
Congratulations ladies!!!
Why four winners when I said three? For those of you that don't follow me on Facebook or Twitter may have missed that one of my readers wanted to throw in an extra prize pack (1 Epically Epic Lemon Meringue, 1 Petite Threla Blueberry, and 1 sample jar of Live Beautifully Body's Strawberry Honeysuckle) for a fourth winner. How generous of her!
***One of the original winners already had the balms she was being sent, so I picked another winner!***
***One of the original winners already had the balms she was being sent, so I picked another winner!***
This was honestly the hardest giveaway prize allocation I've ever had! It was so hard to give everyone exactly what they wanted. I hope everyone will be happy with what they receive!
All I need from you ladies now is an e-mail to lipbalmwrangler@gmail.com with your name and where you would like the balms to be sent.
Thank you to everyone for entering this giveaway!! There will be another one posted shortly! I just have to plan which wonderful balms I want to giveaway next!
--Christina
Balms of the Week 1.20.13
This week I've been using so many different balms. Earlier this week I decided to organize about 100 or so tubes of lip balm into which order I'd review them in, as well as separate them all into separate bags to make it easier to find which balms I'm reviewing. Of course while I was going through so many lip balms, I had to try tons and tons of them. I stumbled upon old favorites and new favorites. I also received a few balms in the last two weeks that I'm finally getting to. Here's what I've been using this week:
Live Beautifully Body's Vanilla & Lime
This lip butter is SO soft and creamy and smells absolutely delicious, this is the only balm I've been able to get my boyfriend to try and then admit he liked!
ForGoodnessGrape's Cream Soda
Still one of my most favorite balms, I keep it right next to my bed and use it continuously!
Live Beautifully's Blue Island Breeze
This flavor is amazing! I'm very much into tropical balms right now.
Epically Epic's Blue Moon
I honestly don't know how to describe the flavor of this balm, but I keep reaching for it!
Aqua Blossom's Black Forest Brownie
I really want to eat this lip balm. It smells scrumptious!
What balms have you been using this week? Did you stumble upon a new favorite?
Happy Sunday!
--Christina
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