Burt's Bees

I had always wanted to try Burt's Bees balms but when I first tried them, I did not like them one bit. I felt they smelled like baby powder and just weren't that great. But everyone was using them like crazy and almost everywhere sells them now. A while ago a reader told me to write a review on Burt's Bee's and I was skeptical about doing it because I had only used one balm by them a couple years ago and I really didn't like it and I didn't want to write a review about how bad Burt's Bees was based on one tube of lip balm. After giving it some thought, I considered purchasing another type of Burt's Bees lip balm. I don't know why it's taken me so long to write about it but I'm finally getting around to it. Here we go!

Company: Burt's Bees

Flavors: Burt's Bees Nourishing Lip Balm with Mango Butter and Burt's Bees Refreshing lip balm. When I first purchased the mango butter one, I thought I'd love it. It was the first balm I had come across that had mango in it. Boy was I disappointed. It had little to no scent and the scent it did have wasn't pleasant at all! It actually kind of grossed me out. I used it once, thought about how much a disappointment and a waste it was, and never looked back. Fast forward 3 years to about a month and a half ago. I was doing my usual lip balm safari, checkin' out the cold and flu aisle. I was looking at Burt's Bees and I just love how the packaging is. I saw the Refreshing flavor and decided I'd give it a shot. Boy, am I glad I did! I LOVED the refreshing balm. It said it was supposed to be grapefruit and I was extremely weary because I've tried so many grapefruit balms in the past and none of them were ever really grapefruit; most of the time the scent was too light to detect anything. This is understandable since grapefruits are such delicately scented fruits, but man oh man did Burt's Bees get it right! It is distinctly grapefruit and it just blows my mind, it's SO wonderful. If you like grapefruit or citrus fruits, do not pass this one up!

Wear: These balms go on SO smooth! They also last at least two hours, fabulous! It goes on evenly and covers easily. I don't know what else to say about these balms but there are no complaints in this department.

Packaging: Everyone has probably seen a Burt's Bees tube. I think they're all gold/yellow tubes with different colored caps meant to match the flavor of the balm. The packaging always looks so neat and pleasing to the eye. Nothing too fancy in this department, but like I always say, you don't need a flashy package to make a great product.

Price: Around $3 a tube which is not bad at all. These balms are also natural so they're definitely worth it for the price.

Overall:

Pros: Grapefruit flavor, wear, packaging, price, natural

Cons: Mango butter

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 twists for the grapefruit flavor and a 2 out of 5 for the mango flavor. I know the balm isn't really supposed to be mango, just that it was made out of mango butter but it was just not pleasing at all to me. Maybe it was an older formula or something, but it just was not my cup of tea. The grapefruit one though, just amazing!

Ingredients: 
For Burt's Bees Refreshing Lip Balm: helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, cera alba (beeswax, cire d’abeille), aroma (flavor)*, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, lanolin, citrus paradisi (grapefruit) seed oil, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, tocopherol, ammonium glycyrrhizate, canola oil (huile de colza), glycine soja (soybean) oil, limonene. *natural flavor

For Burt's Bees Nourishing Lip Balm with Mango Butter: helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, cera alba (beeswax, cire d'abeille), aroma (flavor)*, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, mangifera indica (mango) seed butter, llanolin, ammonium glycyrrhizinate, tocopherol, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, glycine soja (soybean) oil, canola oil (huile de colza), limonene, linalool. *natural flavor

Have you tried either of these flavors? What did you think? What other flavors of Burt's Bees would you recommend?

Fresh and Natural Co. (Lush Lip Candy) Lip Scrubs!

One of my readers, after trying Lush Lip Candy (now Fresh and Natural Co), told me to try their lip scrubs. I had never used a lip scrub before (I know it's crazy), and was kinda unsure about them. I was interested in them because I love using bath scrubs and how well they exfoliate my skin and thought something similar for my lips would be great! I looked at one other company but they didn't have too much and I usually don't find lip scrubs from lip balm companies. I'm glad I was pushed to try one of Fresh and Natural Co.'s lip scrubs, my lips feel fabulous!

Company: Fresh and Natural Co. (previously Lush Lip Candy)

I'm still obsessed with the packaging these scrubs (and lip
balms from last week) came in. So cute!

Flavors: Coconut Lemongrass and Mango & Papaya. The Coconut Lemongrass is phenomenal! It smells just like candy! It's so sweet and delicious, just like the balm (if you haven't tried it yet, get to it!). The Mango & Papaya is also so fruity and delicious, if you like tropical fruits this is definitely a flavor to try (if you're not into lip scrubs, perhaps try it in a lip balm). All of the flavors on their website can be done for balms or scrubs, you can get matching ones or try out a combination of two different ones!


Wear: Instead of doing my usual "wear" section, this will be more like how I applied it (I don't really know if it's correct or not because I've never used a lip scrub before, so bear with me and correct me if I'm doing something wrong!) First, I wet my lips a little, I had a little bit of lip balm left on my lips and wanted a clean surface. Then, I took a little bit of product and applied it to my bottom lip. I worked the scrub in small, gentle circular motions across my bottom lip and then my top lip. I was looking pretty ridiculous with all this sugar across my lips and trying not to eat it because it smelled so delicious! Once I thought I had exfoliated my lips enough, I rinsed them off with water. I then dried my lips and applied a lip balm. Remember to apply a lip balm right after so you're lips are extra smooth! I can't believe how soft my lips feel after using that balm. I regret not trying a lip scrub sooner! I think what would make this lip scrub even better is if it came with a tiny spatula to apply scrub to your lips. This is absolutely not a huge issue but since I have nails that are a bit on the long side, it isn't that easy to get scrub out without getting it underneath my nail.

Packaging: These scrubs come in tiny pots similar to lip balm pots. They're clear pots with black lids and a super cute label on top with the flavor on it. I can't get over how adorable these pots look! I definitely think these two pots will last me a while with how little product I use each time. I almost wish lip balm came in these pots, that's how cute they are! (For those of you who haven't been following along entirely, I am not a huge fan of lip balm pots.)

Price: One pot is $4 and if you do a lip balm and lip scrub set it is $6. $2 more for an extra lip balm? That's quite a deal! Everything is all natural too, this is a win in my book!

Overall:
Pros: Flavor, Application, Packaging, Price, Variety of flavors, softness of lips
Cons:

Rating: 5 out of 5 twists. These lip scrubs are AMAZING. If you're in the market for a lip scrub, do not hesitate to try these! I absolutely loved them! I may be biased because I've never tried another kind before (and I am more than willing to try any suggestion for other lip scrubs) but, these were just fabulous.

Ingredients: Pure Cane Sugar, Sweet Almond Oil, Beeswax, Avocado Butter, Cocoa Butter, Mango Butter, Chamomile Extract, Orchid Extract, Vitamin E, Flavor Oil and Natural Sweetener.
Have you tried these lip scrubs before? If not, what kind of lip scrub do you use, if you use one?

For Goodness Grape is Having a Sale!

Hey all!

I try to inform you all about any and all sales on lip balm I hear about. I have yet to purchase from this company but am considering it since they are having a sale. This company has crazy amounts of flavors to offer, but their prices are a little steeper than most companies I've reviewed (shipping wise and product wise). But maybe it's because they're totally super awesome? I have no idea, but I want to find out. Anyways, here's the information for this "Christmas in July" sale on their Etsy page:

From 7/3 to 7/7 you can save 20% on your order (excluding bundles and discounted balms) with this code: CIJSNEAKPEAK20 

From 7/13/12 to 7/22/12 you can save 15% on your order (excluding bundles and discounted balms), but I don't think the code has been put up yet or if it is the same code. But, if you miss out on the 20% you can check their Etsy page here to follow up on a coupon code (and I'll try my best to update on the sale).

If any of you decide to try these balms, let me know what you think of them! I am still deciding on whether or not I will try them, so I suppose you can stay tuned to find out if I do!

--The Lip Balm Wrangler

Epically Epic Soap is Having a Sale!

Hey all!

I was just informed that Epically Epic Soap is having a sale TODAY only! You can save 10% on your order from her Etsy shop! Please visit her shop here to take advantage of this sale! The coupon code is JULY4TH to save 10%.

If you missed it you can find my review for Epically Epic Soap Co. here.

I know I will personally be taking advantage of this sale later tonight!

If you try out her balms, I'd love to know which ones you pick!

Take care,

The Lip Balm Wrangler

Some Big News and Changes!

Hey all!

I don't know if you've noticed, but there have been some changes to the blog! My lovely boyfriend has been working for hours to create the design as well as many new things that are soon to follow. I'm so grateful for his hard work, I've been wanting a real design for this page since day 1. I figured that 7 months into the blog, it was about time I got a real design and not just a template.

With this change comes another change, a name change.

I have so many big ideas about where I want this blog to go in the future and how I want it to run, so because of these things I want to avoid any confrontation I may encounter from the Chapstick Company. I will be changing to the Lip Balm Wrangler instead. I know it is a much lamer name but it's one that gets the point across and includes the word "wrangler".

The link for this blog will change to www.lipbalmwrangler.blogspot.com but if you search or type in www.chapstickwrangler.blogspot.com it should take you to the same page. If you use the bookmarking feature on your browser, you might as well change it to this new link. I will post a couple more reminders that I am changing to The Lip Balm Wrangler. I just don't want anyone to be surprised when they are expecting The Chapstick Wrangler!

Let me know what you guys think about the new look for this blog!

I want to thank you all for being so patient and joining me in this new venture of my life and hope you continue to read and find new balms you love.

--The Lip Balm Wrangler (boy, that's weird!)

Balms of the Week 7.1.12

Here we are again, this week the balms I'm really into are:

Chamomile Pear by Jadewicks

(review can be found here)

Coconut Lemongrass by Fresh and Natural Co. (previously Lush Lip Candy)

(review can be found here)

Vanilla Mint by C.O. Bigelow

(review can be found here)

This balm is seriously fabulous for chapped lips, instantly moisturized and nourished. This has truly been my fall back lip balm whenever I'm in need of balm.

Creamsicle by Orange Thyme

(review can be found here)

This has been a balm I've been using nightly. It may be because of convenience, it's been the first one on top of my lip balm container by my headboard. But I think it's also great because it's summer.

What balms have you been using lately? Have you tried any of these balms before?