Balms of the Week 9.23.12

This week I've had a few staple balms and I visited some old favorites. Since I have SO many lip balms, a lot of favorites get moved to the back burner because I find new favorites. It makes me so sad to see them sitting in my collection going unused when they used to be my number one go-to balm at some point. So I'll share with you what I've been using consistently as well as a few favorites I've been using occasionally this week.

ForGoodnessGrape's Blood Orange

Whispering Willow's Lemon

(review can be found here)

Rachel Rene Bath & Body's Lemon Cupcake

(review)

Sorry for the poor quality of this photo, I could not get this balm to photograph right. I also noticed that some water I think got trapped in between the plastic wrap and the label so the ink is all smudged, bummer.

Upstate Herb Works' Orange Vanilla

Lemon Citrus's Lemon Sugar

(review can be found here)
I really wish this shop hadn't disappeared, there were SO many more balms I wanted to try. I love them!

Epically Epic's Blue Colada

What balms have you been using this week? Have you tried anything new?

--Christina

love & toast Additional Balms

A few months back I wrote about some love & toast balms I picked up at Whole Foods while I was shopping with a friend, the review for which can be found here. When I looked at their website online there were still a couple flavors I wanted to try that I had not found at Whole Foods and still have yet to find them even though I check almost every week when I stop there. To my luck, when I was shopping on Drugstore.com I searched lip balm and love & toast balms were some of the balms that popped up! Yippee! Not only did they have the flavors I wanted, but if you bought two balms you got one free, oh what a lucky day! I was finally able to try the other flavors I have been looking for!

Company: love & toast


Flavors: Strawberry Fields, Blood Orange, and Limeade. Unfortunately the Strawberry Fields melted a bit during shipping, but regardless it smelled delicious was dead on strawberry. It was so sweet and perfect for summer. I haven't bought a plain strawberry balm in a while and it was a pleasant visit from an old favorite. As for the Blood Orange, I was really disappointed. It has hardly a scent at all. I had to inhale for about 15 seconds to get even a tiny whiff of citrus. I was really hoping it would be amazing since, like I've said a thousand times, I LOVE blood orange balms. The Limeade is a dead on Limeade. Very tart and sour yet sweet all at the same time.


Wear: The Strawberry Fields went on so creamy. All three went on very smooth, no resistance was found upon application. They last about two hours too which is great. My lips feel nourished and I feel like the balm goes on thick enough that you don't need more than one or two swipes.


Packaging: I love these funky looking labels! They're not super funky and outrageous but each one is unique. They're so colorful and different from one another. I love to look at them! Otherwise, the tubes are your average sized lip balm tubes.


Price: $3, which is definitely not bad for a natural balm.

Overall:
Pros: Flavor, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons: Some scents were weak

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 twists, the rating would have been higher if the Blood Orange was better. But you should definitely check out at least one of these balms.

Ingredients: Olive fruit juice, beeswax, jojoba seed oil, shea butter fruit, cocoa seed butter, natural flavor, hemp seed oil, aloe leaf, vitamin E, and stevia rebadiana leaf


Have you tried love & toast balms before? What's your favorite flavor?

Balms I've got my eye on 7.24.12

This week the balms that are tempting me are:

Love & Toast's Blood Orange

(taken from here)

Seriously, just look at how adorable that packaging is! Plus I love love love blood orange balms!

Firebird Bath & Body's Cherry Limeade

(taken from here)

I have wanted to try this balm for SO long, I'm hoping there's a sale or something soon otherwise I'm just going to cave in! 

Jadewick's Thai Coconut

(taken from here)

This is definitely going to be in my next order of balm from Jadewicks!

What balms are tempting you this week? Have you tried any of these balms or companies before? I'd love any flavor recommendations you may have!

Balms of the Week 7.15.12

The balms I've kept in hand this week are:

Firebird Bath & Body's Blood Orange

(review can be found here)

Burt's Bees' Rejuvenating with Acai Berry

(review can be found here)

 Crazy Rumors' Lemonade

(review can be found here)

Hope you enjoy these photos! I was able to use my sister's awesome camera this weekend which is why these photos look SO much better than usual.

What balms have you been using this week? Have you acquired any new ones?

Have a great week!

H&M Blood Orange

Since I've posted about the other H&M lip balms I picked up about a month ago (the review can be found here), I've seen tons of Google searches for H&M's Blood Orange lip balm. It seems pretty popular since it's searched almost every day. I absolutely LOVE blood orange balms and was surprised I hadn't run across the blood orange one when I first purchased the other two lip balms. This past weekend before L's sister's wedding, I made a run to H&M and picked up the blood orange balm. Here's the low down:

Company: H&M

Flavor: Blood Orange. I was really hoping that this balm would be a real blood orange scent like I'm used to in other balms. I feel like this is more like pink lemonade mixed with a little bit of orange juice. I actually really like it. It's an interesting scent and even boyfriend approved! (My boyfriend does not like lip balm or the way it feels but this one he actually let me put on him willingly).

Wear: Even though this balm is in a pot, it actually covers pretty well. I feel that it goes on thicker than the other H&M pots;  I didn't have to repeatedly reach into the pot to apply it. It also comes out easier than the other H&M pots which makes it easier to apply. It lasts about an hour with repeated licking of the lips which isn't too bad, but I do like my balms to last a little bit longer. It sat in the car for a little while and was a little melted and came out way too easy but it solidified right back up.

The big dip in it was from when it sat in the car for about 45
minutes; I was going to apply it like usual pot balms but this
one was much easier to take out and apply.

Packaging: The balm is in a little pot that is pink on the outside with a black label on the top. The label has a tiger on it and it makes it really distinct within my collection. It's cute and little but with an edgy side to it.


Price: $3 which isn't so bad since the weight of it is 0.3oz/8 grams which is twice the weight of a normal tube of lip balm.


Overall:
Pros: Flavor, wear, packaging, price
Cons: Not natural or organic (but that's more a personal preference)

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 twists, for a potted balm this is probably my favorite one. It covers great, is easy to apply, and has a very pleasant scent. Next time you're in H&M you may want to try this one out!

Ingredients: Polybutene, ethyl hexyl palmitate, mineral oil, petrolatum, ceresin, synthetic wax, fragrance, phenoxyethanol, limonene, benzyl benzoate, linalool, citral, titanium dioxide, red 6, red 7, iron oxide. 

Have you tried any of the H&M balms yet? What did you think?

Jadewicks

I finally received my order from Jadewicks! After months of eyeing her balms and the frequent recommendations by others to try them, I took the plunge! I was also glad that these balms didn't melt with how hot it's been outside. Here's the low down on these highly anticipated balms.

I love extra care in the packaging like this! It really is the little
things.

Company: Jadewicks

Flavors: Blood Orange, Sparkling Lychee, Asian Peach, and Chamomile Pear. Christine was nice enough to throw in a free sample of Chamomile Pear! Yay! The Blood Orange isn't as "bloody" as I'd like to it be, if that makes sense. My really good blood orange balms have a huge indicator that they're blood orange instead of just orange. This balm, unfortunately for me, seems just like sweet orange. Not saying that's bad, I do love orange flavored balms, but I was hoping for a sharp, distinct scent of blood orange. The Sparkling Lychee is hard to get the scent I think. It's not crazy strong so the first time I smelled it I thought there was no scent at all. But if you inhale a little more you get it! It's a very light lychee scent! This is to be expected since lychee fruit don't really have a crazy strong scent. I thought this would be my favorite scent of the bunch, followed by Blood Orange but it wasn't. I definitely liked the Asian Peach the best. The Asian Peach is really pleasant, it's peach with a very, very tiny hint of ginger. I'm not a huge fan of ginger but I was hoping for just a smidge more ginger but I can't really complain! It smells absolutely delicious! The Chamomile Pear is wonderful. It is a soft, crisp pear scent. There's not really anything much to say there; it is as it says it should be. I was hoping these flavors would have a stronger punch since I LOVE balms with strong, delicious scents. But, if you like softer scented balms, these may be the ones for you!

Wear: These balms go on very smooth. The very first use for each balm I had to struggle a little to get it going but once it was going it was good to go! It goes on super smooth. However, I can still feel the chapped-ness of my lips through the balm so I'm not sure if it completely nourishes and moisturizes my lips deeply. I have other balms where you can't feel any chapped-ness after applying and maybe that makes me biased. The balm lasts about two hours which is great!

Packaging: These tubes are so simple and to the point, I love it! There is no extra clutter on the labels or anything distracting. Just simple a white tube of average size with a colored band matching the flavor and a colored line on the label. I love the simplicity of these balms. This is a good example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, these balms are not simple or plain.

Price: 3 tubes for $9. Not too shabby for a natural balm especially since every order gets a free sample. The samples are not "sample" size either, they're full sized (at least for the lip balm)!

Overall: 
Pros: Flavors, Packaging, Wear, Price, Sample with every order
Cons:


Rating: 4 out of 5 twists. I would definitely recommend trying these balms, you get a free sample with every order and the balms are made fresh when you order. You even get to pick what sample you want! What more could you ask for? I now see why these balms are always recommended to me!

Ingredients: 

Sparkling Lychee, Blood Orange, Asian Peach: Beeswax, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Tocopherol, Flavor.

Chamomile Pear: Beeswax, Theobroma Cacao (Cocoa) Seed Butter, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil, Prunus Armeniaca (Apricot) Kernel Oil, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Tocopherol, Flavor, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract.

Lemon Citrus--Additional Balms

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

Super cute packaging as always <3. 

Company: Lemon Citrus

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

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

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

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

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

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

Firebird Bath & Body: Blood Orange, Asian Pear, Lemon Sugar

As I've been telling you all, I've been addicted to going on Etsy.com and looking at all different kinds of handmade balms. It was very hard to limit my purchasing to just a few brands because I can tell you right now, I've got about 30 items in my cart that I'm dying to purchase. My boyfriend even went beyond his promised 11 balms to 13! Apparently there was a glitch in our text messages and he was really going to buy me only 5 so I was happy with 11 but he surprised me by letting me get two more, I'm such a lucky girl =). Anyhow, this particular brand I've been wanting to try for months now and finally got around to purchasing a few balms during a pre-order sale. My only regret was not ordering more!

Company: Firebird Bath & Body, formerly Flourish Bath & Body

Flavors: Blood Orange, Asian Pear, Lemon Sugar. I've been very addicted to lemon lip balms lately, just can't get enough of them! This Lemon Sugar balm however was a very subtle lemon scent. I was expecting my usual smack-in-the-face lemon scent. But it was still very pleasant. I was also looking forward to the Asian Pear flavor since I've previously mentioned my bad luck with the only other Asian pear flavor I own. This scent was also very light, at first I couldn't smell it at all. But once I used it two or three times I was able to detect a light, pleasant scent of a crisp Asian pear. Now the Blood Orange was a HUGE surprise for me. Even when purchasing it, I thought that the scent would be very light but boy was I wrong! The scent is definitely there and very characteristic of a blood orange. It is stronger than the other two and so sweet. I absolutely LOVE This flavor. I cannot stop putting it on! I always hope it will wear off so I can put more on but as you'll soon see, I have to wait a while!

Wear: These balms are in no way the smoothest balms I own. They are a little stiff when first being applied and don't appear to warm up a crazy amount. But in this case, I don't really see that as a problem. It goes on with great application without needing to be crazy slick and provides excellent coverage, just a few swipes and you're done. It goes on thicker than other balms and seems just slightly sticky at first but goes away. I actually love the way this balm applies which is what I was also really surprised about because I usually love really soft balms. This balm feels great going on, the thicker consistency feels moisturizing and it lasts FOREVER, at least 2.5 hours! I love these balms!

Packaging: I really love these labels, they are so cute and colorful and match their indicated flavor. They're gorgeous in color, very bright and make me just smile when I see it. The fonts are gorgeous as well, not your usual fonts that you see on a label. These balms look very classy and sophisticated while still maintaining a handmade touch to them. You can really by the look of these balms that someone cared to put enough effort into the product as well as the presentation of the product.

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

Overall:
Pros:Flavors, application, crazy long lasting, natural, packaging, price
Cons: The only con I see is that I don't have more of these balms, does that count?

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, this is also a MUST have in any lip balm collection.