Aqua Blossom's Valentine's Day Lip Pot!

I'm very much in a Valentine's Day mood, not as much as I was about two weeks ago when my mind kept thinking that it was Valentine's Day, but still I can't help but reach for Valentine's Day themed flavors this week. I know I just reviewed Aqua Blossom's Valentine's Day flavors the other day, but I didn't own this one at the time, so sorry for the delay!

Company: Aqua Blossom

Flavor: Pink Frosting. This balm smells like yummy sugary frosting with a little bit of vanilla. It's not too overbearing of a scent, it's quite lovely!

Wear: Since this is in a pot, how much goes on depends on how much you put on. Everyone probably knows by now I'm not a fan of lip balm pots solely because you have to stick your finger into the pot and I'm a huge germaphobe. But for all the pots I have, I kinda just stick my lips in it and run the pot across them. So  when I put it on in that manner this balm goes on nicely and provides a nice cover for my lips!

Packaging: This balm comes in an adorable heart shaped pot, it's definitely perfect for Valentine's Day! The balm is colored pink too so it makes it extra cute!

Price: $4.75 per pot which is definitely reasonable since you get 0.25 oz (you usually get .15 oz in a lip balm tube).

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

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 twists, this pot is super cute and would make a lovely gift for Valentine's Day (or would have since the deadline for Valentine's Day orders was February 8th)!

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, mica colorant, vitamin e oil

Have you tried this lip balm pot before? What did you think of it?

***Don't forget to enter my Little Batch giveaway here!***

Crazy Rumors' Sweetheart Collection!

It feels so nice to be back on my computer! I didn't bring my laptop with me to Chicago this past weekend since I knew I would have so many other things to worry about (we were moving my two cats across country) during security that it just wasn't worth it to lug it with me. So since Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, I thought you all would appreciate another review on some Valentine's Day themed balms! I was so happy when there was a Groupon last month to get this set for just $8! It was definitely worth every penny!

Company: Crazy Rumors

Flavors: The Sweetheart Collection: Red Velvet, Chocolate Strawberry, Red Hibiscus, and Bee My Honey. The Red Velvet smells amazing! It's very rich and chocolatey with a hint of creaminess!  The Chocolate Strawberry smells like a fresh, sweet strawberry drizzled over with chocolate.  The chocolate scent is lighter in this balm than the Red Velvet balm. I was really excited for the Red Hibiscus because I had never seen it before in their shop and it sounded amazing! It is a sweet, candy-like scent. It's just as amazing as I thought it would be. Seriously, I've never smelled something so sweet and delicious in my life! It's wonderful! I knew I wouldn't like the Bee My Honey but I thought that I would give it a whiff anyway. It's exactly as expected, it smells like dead on honey.

Wear: These balms go on super smooth and make my lips nice and soft. They're very creamy and absorb right into my lips. They last about two or three hours which is great!

Packaging: The balms in this collection come in your average sized lip balm tubes and have very neat labels! The labels each have the flavor of the balm in a rectangle colored to match the flavor of the balm as well as a picture of an object (flower, strawberry, piece of cake, honeycomb) that represents the flavor of the balm. I really like the simplicity in the packaging! I also love the little cardboard box this collection comes in, so cute!

Price: $13.49 for the set! $3.49 for a single tube which is totally worth it!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, this collection is probably my most favorite collection from Crazy Rumors! Each balm is really amazing! It would be absolutely perfect to give someone (or yourself) for Valentine's Day!

Ingredients: Certified Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Macadamia Seed Oil, Certified Organic Shea Butter, Candelilla Wax, Soy Wax, Jojoba Oil, Carnauba Wax, Natural & Organic Flavors and/or Pure Essential Oils, Vitamin E, Rosemary Leaf Extract, Natural Stevia

Have you tried these balms yet? What did you think of them? Which flavor was your favorite?

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!**

Wicked Soaps Again!

It seems like today is a day for secondary reviews. Shortly after the last time I reviewed Wicked Soaps, they had another sale so I had to try a couple more flavors! Most of you know by now that I can't resist a sale. I was so happy to be able to snatch these balms up! They're amazing!

Company: Wicked Soaps

Flavors: Pumpkin Cheesecake, Cranberry, and Peppermint Candies. The Pumpkin Cheesecake smells AMAZING! Just as you would expect, a little spicy, a little creamy, and all around wonderful. The scent is noticeable but not overbearing, I think it is just the right about of scent. The Cranberry flavor really surprised me! It's dead on cranberry and smells very sweet; it's much stronger than other cranberry balms. It's really lovely. The Peppermint Candies balm is icy cool and reminds me of the blue Certs my dad used to always have on hand. It smells amazing! Each one of these balms was a winner in my book; I liked them a lot better than the last flavors I tried from this shop.

Wear: These balms go on sooo smooth and very creamy. With these, a little goes a long way. I feel like the balm immediately sinks into your lips and goes to work on making your lips feel nice and soft.

Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tube with labels that have a bit of an old-timey apothecary feel to them, if that makes any sense. The labels have a weathered look to them. The flavors of the balm and name of the shop are clearly stated on front.

Price: $3 a tube which is an amazing deal for one of these balms!

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

Rating: 4 out of 5 twists. These balms were amazing! I really enjoyed these ones, they were perfect for this wintery weather and the transition from fall to winter.

Ingredients: Cocoa butter, beeswax, coconut oil, avocado oil, flavor oil

Have you tried Wicked Soaps balms before? Which flavor is your favorite?

**Don't forget to enter my HUGE Birthday Giveaway here!**

Even More ForGoodnessGrape Balms!

I'm so glad to see many shops that closed for the holidays, reopen again for business! December felt like such a down month for lip balm buying and browsing because almost everyone closed up shop for a while, which was totally understandable because of the holidays! Now that the holidays are over, shops are back in full swing. One of which is ForGoodnessGrape!

Company: ForGoodnessGrape

Flavors:  Peppermint Bark, Candy Cane, and Lemon Cupcake. The Peppermint Bark is really incredible! If you like mint and chocolate at all, this is a balm you need to try. I can detect rich, decadent chocolate combined with mint that is not overwhelming. I think the chocolate scent is stronger in this balm than the mint, so you chocoholics out there should look into this balm! The Candy Cane is much lighter than I expected. It's pepperminty but not overbearing, perhaps there is a little bit of vanilla to tone down the mint. Either way, this is a classic candy cane balm! This balm is extra cute because the balm itself is red and white swirled, just like a real candy cane! The Lemon Cupcake is AMAZING, probably one of my most favorite ForGoodnessGrape flavors, ever! It's lemon and buttery and smells just like a freshly baked cupcake! And everyone knows lemon cupcakes are pretty much my favorite thing to make, ever! Seriously if you like lemons or baked goods, you have to try this balm.

Wear: These go on so smooth, much like all other ForGoodnessGrape balms, and make my lips feel so smooth and moisturized.

Packaging: These balms come in clear average sized lip balm tubes. The labels have the flavor of the balm clearly stated on the front and have designs and/or pictures to match the flavor of the balm. The Candy Cane one is especially festive!

Price: $4 for Peppermint Bark and Lemon Cupcake, $5.50 for Candy Cane. These are a bit at the upper end of my budget for lip balms, but they're totally worth it!

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

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, I love all of these balms! ForGoodnessGrape has so many flavors it's hard to not find one...or five...that you'll fall absolutely head over heels for!

Ingredients: Shea butter, mango butter, cocoa butter, sweet almond oil, beeswax, jojoba oil, coconut oil, castor oil, vitamin E, fragrance
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The Peppermint Bark was free with a previous order that was forgotten, but quickly sent, and the Candy Cane and Lemon Cupcake were complimentary from Lisa at ForGoodnessGrape. However all opinions are my own! Thank you Lisa for sending me these balms, you always know exactly what to send!
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**Don't forget to enter my HUGE Birthday Giveaway here!**

Softlips Sugar Cookie

These flavors from Softlips™ are perfect for the winter season. I'm so happy to have these flavors in my purse to use when it's cold out. This flavor is probably one of my favorites from Softlips™.

Company: Softlips™

Flavors: Raspberry and Sugar Cookie. The Raspberry smells just like you would expect, tart yet sweet. The Sugar Cookie smells wonderful! It's light, sugary, and buttery just like the delicious baked treat. It smells incredible without being overwhelming.

Wear: These balms glide on smooth and make my lips feel soft and nourished. I love the way Softlips™ balms make my lips feel! I'm wearing the Sugar Cookie right now and it feels so creamy on my lips.

Packaging: Softlips™ balms come in thin white tubes which I think are so adorable and very different from other lip balm packaging. The colors of the fonts on these tubes match the flavor of the balm and just add to the aesthetics of the packaging. And right now you can find these balms in special holiday gift tag packaging, perfect for giving as a gift as it has "To" and "From" placements on it. Cute and functional, gotta love that!

Price: $3 to $4 for a dual pack of Softlips™ which I think is definitely worth it!

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

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 twists. These balms are wonderful, I love all Softlips™ products and especially their limited edition and holiday lip balms.

What is your favorite Softlips™ flavor? Have you tried all of their holiday and winter flavors yet?
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This package was provided complimentary to me by Softlips™, but all opinions are my own. Thank you, Softlips™, for providing me this great opportunity!
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**Don't forget to enter my HUGE Birthday Giveaway here!**

Softlips Sugar Plum Berry

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Everyone! I hope you are enjoying your holiday and get to spend it with friends, family, and loved ones. I know I'm looking forward to spending the day with my family, extended family, and boyfriend. I love getting together with family for the holidays! To keep up with these Tuesday holiday posts, today I have for you Softlips™ Sugar Plum Berry!

Company: Softlips™

Flavors: Sugar Plum Berry and Raspberry. The Sugar Plum Berry is probably one of my most favorite Softlips flavors! It's absolutely wonderful! It's very fruity and sweet! You can definitely tell there is a berry scent in it and a touch of plum with some sweetness. It smells so delicious! The Raspberry is also really good! It smells just like raspberries, tart yet sweet.

Wear: These go on very smooth! They make my lips very soft and nourished.

Packaging: These balms come in thin white tubes that are half the weight of your average sized lip balm tube. The font colors of the tube match the flavor of the balm. Also these two come in a limited edition holiday two pack that looks like a gift tag which would be perfect for gift giving! (Or a gift for yourself ;))

Price: ~$3 for this two pack, which is totally worth it!

Overall
Pros: Flavors, wear, packaging, price
Cons:

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 twists. These balms are great! I'd definitely recommend the Sugar Plum Berry to anyone and everyone!
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This pack was provided complimentary to me by Softlips™, however all opinions are purely my own. Thank you, Softlips™, for the opportunity to review your products!
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**If you're a fan of Softlips™, don't forget to enter my giveaway here for your own 2-Pack of their Jack Frosting!**

Softlips Jack Frosting!

Okay this is probably my most FAVORITE Softlips™ flavor ever. Period. I'm in love with this. My boyfriend hates frosting anything and he even thought this smelled good (until I told him what it is of course, and then he didn't like it as much). I will most definitely be having a special post about this balm coming soon :).

Company: Softlips

Flavor: Jack Frosting! This balm smells so amazing, to me it smells just like frosting. Warm, vanilla frosting with a slight tingle. It's weird, this is a very warm scent to me but, when I had my sister and my boyfriend both try to guess what scent it was they both said on two different occasions: chocolate, mocha, caramel. Which is so weird, I think there's just something wrong with their scent receptors ;). This balm has a slight smokey/burnt smell to it too, not burnt but more like toasted. It reminds me of freshly baked goods, it's delicious!

Wear: Smooth! This balm goes on wonderfully and may take a couple more swipes due to the smaller diameter of the balm, but it's totally worth it and not a hassle at all (trust me there are balms that are a hassle out there, I've had some balms where it was a fight and almost too painful to put on). True to a Softlips™ balm, this makes my lips feel super soft and smooth. Oh, did I mention this delicious balm, like most Softlips™ balms, has SPF 20?

Packaging: This balm comes in the typical Softlips™ tube, it's a thin white tube, about half the diameter of your average lip balm tube. The labeling is super neat and simple: 'Softlips' in big writing with Jack Frosting in  a shade of blue (maybe Cobalt?)  font beneath it.

Price: ~$3 for a 2 pack of this wonderful Limited Edition Softlips™ balm.

Overall
Pros: Flavor, Wear, Packaging, Price, SPF 20!
Cons:

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, I really like this Jack Frosting balm! It's also really cool that the fans got to pick it. It's nice to actually be able to vote on new flavors!

Have you tried Softlips™ Jack Frosting yet? 
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This pack was provided complimentary to me by Softlips™, however I've only given my 100% honest opinion!  Thank you, Softlips™, for allowing me the opportunity to review your products!

More Crazy Rumors Holiday Balms!

I can't believe that Christmas is only 7 days away! I'm not quite yet in the holiday spirit, but maybe if I keep using some of my new holiday balms, I will be! After my last Crazy Rumors post containing some of their  holiday balms, I purchased the rest of the Crazy Rumors Holiday balms and I'm in love with every single one of them!

Company: Crazy Rumors

Flavors: Peppermint Twist, Plum & Peppermint, and Gingerbread. The Peppermint Twist is a perfect blend of tingly mint and creamy vanilla! I love using this balm. If you enjoy candy canes or peppermint in any way, this is a balm you want to try. The Plum & Peppermint is probably my favorite balm out of these three. The plum is very distinct which I like and with it being paired with tingly peppermint, it's a very unique flavor combination! I love this fruity, minty balm! I've used this one more than any other balm out of the Candy Cane Collection. The Gingerbread is a perfect representation of spicy cookie and creamy vanilla icing. This smells delicious and is definitely perfect for the holidays!

Wear: These balms go on so smooth, they just glide across my lips! They last about 2 hours and make my lips feel great!

Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tube and have Crazy Rumors written right on front with the balm flavor written right beneath it. There is also a picture depicting an image from the collection to which the balm belongs (i.e. Candy Cane picture for Candy Cane collection) or just a picture to represent the balm. I also really love the seals they use to keep the balms fresh. I don't know if they were always like this but I seriously can't get over them. I'm so weird I even keep all of the seals I rip off, they're just so cute! I also love the feel of these labels, okay enough weirdness for one post.

Price: $3.49 for one tube, but I bought these on Black Friday for 50% off! Score!

Seriously, it's the little things. Those seals are adorable!

Overall
Pros: Flavors, wear, packaging, price
Cons: That there aren't even more flavors?

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, I really, really love these balms. They're absolutely perfect for the holidays!

Ingredients: Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Macadamia Seed Oil, Shea butter, Candelilla Wax, Soy Wax, Jojoba Oil, Carnuba Wax, Natural Flavors and/or Pure essential oils, Vitamin E, Rosemary Leaf Extract and Natural Stevia

Have you tried Crazy Rumors balms before? Which ones are your favorites?

Limited Edition Chapstick Holiday Balms Giveaway

With the holidays coming up, it only makes sense to get your hands on some new holiday balms. Today I'll start my giveaway for all three limited edition Chapstick Holiday flavors. I know that these may be easier to find than other limited edition flavors/balms, but who doesn't love a chance to win free stuff?

(review)

The Prize: One tube each of Chapstick's Candy Cane, Chocolate Truffle, and Apple Cider!

How To Enter: This giveaway is open to U.S. Residents only!! Simply comment below with which flavor you're dying to try!

For Additional Chances to Win:
+'Like' Lip Balm Wrangler on Facebook
+Share the giveaway on your Facebook page
+Follow @LipBalmWrangler on Twitter
+Tweet about the giveaway on Twitter (Something along the lines of "Check out @LipBalmWrangler's giveaway for 3 Limited Edition Chapstick Flavors over at www.lipbalmwrangler.com"
+Follow my blog through GFC (Google Friend Connect)
+Follow LipBalmWrangler on bloglovin
+Post about the giveaway on your own blog
+Take a photo of your favorite lip balm on Instagram and use #lipbalmwrangler in your caption

If you already do one of the above, just leave a comment saying so!

**Make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry!!**

That's a total of 9 chances to win!

When It Ends: This giveaway will end in one week on December 20th at 5pm!

Good luck to all who enter!

Chapstick Limited Edition Holiday Flavors

These next couple of Tuesdays will be reviews of Holiday balms; I realize the holidays are quickly approaching and there are still many holiday balms I have yet to review! I want to make sure I fit these more seasonal balms in before the season is up!

Company: Chapstick

Flavor: Candy Cane, Apple Cider, and Chocolate Truffle. I had missed out on the Candy Cane balm last year and I was really disappointed because it was so hard to find the limited edition balms from last year and I was only able to find the White Hot Cocoa. But not this year, I was finally able to try the balm I had waited so long for! The Candy Cane is a lovely rendition of one of my favorite Christmas time treats. It's icy peppermint with a little bit of vanilla. The Apple Cider is so interesting. I didn't know what to expect of it, but it's very much like apple juice with a bit of spice. It also has a warmer scent to it. It's actually quite pleasant! I'm usually not a huge fan of apple scented balms, but this one is actually pretty nice. The Chocolate Truffle is a rich, rich, rich chocolate scent. All you chocolate lovers out there are definitely going to want to get this balm. There's really not too much else I can say about this balm, it's rich and chocolatey, what else would you want from it?

Wear: These balms go on smooth and cover beautifully. They last a decent amount of time too which is always nice! The Candy Cane has the wonderful icy bite and tingly feeling one would expect from a Candy Cane balm. I love the tingly feeling!

Packaging: These balms come in your average sized lip balm tube. The Candy Cane tube has a label that is red and white striped like...well, a Candy Cane, and the Chocolate Truffle label is a lovely chocolatey rich brown with thin white stripes which remind me of those yummy Chocolate Truffles! The Apple Cider label is red with a black portion with Chapstick written in it, and the label on the cap has a picture of a cup of apple cider which is very festive.

Price: $0.98 to ~$3 depending on where you buy it. I know I should have waited until I could get the balms at Walmart but when I first saw the Candy Cane and Apple Cider I had to buy them immediately! I paid about $3 for them, but I was lucky to get the Chocolate Truffle for $0.98! Definitely a steal and definitely worth it!

Overall
Pros: Flavors, Wear, Packaging, Price
Cons: Not natural

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists, Chapstick balms will always be some of my favorite. I've been using them for so long, and I may not reach for them all the time anymore because I've found lovely natural balms that I never knew existed, but I know if I ever need a good balm I can always count on a tube of Chapstick.

Have you tried these limited edition Chapstick lip balms yet? What did you think of them?

Mini Monday 12.10.12

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend! Somehow this weekend has left me more exhausted than rested so today I'll be taking it easy while my boyfriend is at work. I apologize for the way the photos look in this post, I don't have my set up here in California with me so I have to find things to work with to give me decent pictures. We'll get back to our regular Mini Monday today; here are the balms I'll be sharing with you this week:

For Goodness Grape's Tequila Sunrise

This balm is so hard for me to describe since I've never actually had a Tequila Sunrise, although I've meant to order it quite a few times! All I know about a Tequila Sunrise is that it has orange juice and tequila in it, that's about all you need right? This definitely smells a bit like orange with a little somethin' else, which I'm assuming is the tequila portion of the balm. I didn't think I'd like this balm that much, but it's one of the two from For Goodness Grape I've had on me the last week!

Epically Epic's Lemon Mint

Everyone knows by now that I love lemon lip balm and I love mint lip balms, so putting the two together should be amazing right? It totally is! This balm is the most amazing blend of sweet lemon and refreshing mint, it's just so lovely! 

Crazy Rumors' Gingerbread House

When I had my boyfriend guess the scent of this balm he immediately said, "Christmas!" So yes, this balm pretty much smells like Christmas. Not like pine trees, but more of the food part of Christmas. This balm is exactly cinnamon-y gingerbread with a hint of vanilla icing. Perfect for the holidays!

Stay tuned for next week's Mini Monday! I also have tons of posts for you this week, so stay tuned for that as well!

**Don't forget to enter my giveaway here for your own stick of Softlips Marshmallow Ghost**

Balms I've Got My Eye On 10.26.12

Hey all!

I had a lovely weekend in Vegas last weekend and it's been hard to transition back into reality and get through this week, especially with a paper due the day after I returned from Vegas! This weekend it'll be tons of studying, work, and cleaning. But, to get myself through the weekend, I find my eyes wandering to these balms:

Epically Epic's Candy Cane

(via)

I adore this packaging! It's so cute!

Little Batch's Candy Cane

(via)
I'm sensing a theme here...I really like mint and candy canes! I'm also getting in the mood for more holiday balms!

Epically Epic's Sugar Cookie

(via)

This packaging is also crazy adorable! So tempting!

Blue Q's Lip Shit in Cucumber Mint

(via)

This combination just sounds so tempting! I wonder what it would be like since cucumber is such a light scent!

What balms have you been tempted by lately? Are you also in the mood for some new holiday balms?

Have a great weekend!

--Christina