Lip Balm Favourites

I am a bit of a lip balm junkie - for me it's an essential, so I always have one with me. I've tried lots of different lip balms in the past and I tend to switch it up quite a bit but I do have my favourites. 

Nuxe Reve de Miel - Ultra Nourishing Lip Balm

This is one of those products you hear so much about and I'm sure many people will be familiar with this brand and product. I put off purchasing this due to the price, being just under £10, it isn't the cheapest. Although I have to say I really enjoy using this product. This product has a sweet honey scent to it which smells lovely! This balm is a very thick consistency so a little bit goes a long way. It's very nourishing and feels almost like a face mask for the lips as it stays put and seems to almost melt in to the lips slowly. Due to the texture I use this in the evening before bed as it's quite matte, it doesn't offer gloss or colour to the lips as it's more of a nourishing treatment. 

Blistex - Intensive Moisturiser

This is another product that I'd refer to as like a bit of a treatment. It's one that I always like to have about and only tend to ever pick up and use when I feel that my lips need a bit of help. When my lips are looking really dry and chapped a lot of lip products don't seem to actually help. When my lips are sore this is the one. I recommended it to my brother and he loves it!  I only use this product on the odd occasion that my lips need it. Intensive Moisturiser has a menthol scent to it and at times there is a slight gentle tingling sensation on the lips when applied but I don't find it irritating. This product resembles a cream but is quite a thin consistency.

Blistex - Med Plus

This is a clear coloured balm which feels really moisturising on the lips. It adds a slight sheen to the lips and like the Intensive Moisturiser, it feels soothing and has a slight tingle to it when applied to the lips. It also has a menthol type scent, but it somehow seems slightly sweeter in scent compared to the Intensive Moisturiser. This is a must have in the colder months as it really feels like it's working in to the lips and it stays put longer than most lip products- it also feels very soothing and protective.

Soft Lips - French Vanilla

Although this product may not be as effective as the three lip balms above, it is a favourite as I love how it looks on, and the feel of this balm on my lips. This adds a subtle shine to the lips and feels so soft and lovely on. I love the sweet vanilla scent to this as well as the light packaging. 

Palmers - Dark Chocolate & Peppermint Lip Butter

This lip balm is an old favourite of mine! I've been repurchasing this for years now and couldn't be without it. My friend introduced me to this back in sixth form and I fell in love with it. It's no surprise really as it ticks most of the boxes; smells absolutely delicious, feels lovely on the lips and gives the lips a lovely shine. My only gripe is that it doesn't feel as moisturising or hydrating as some of the others- at times it feels as if it just sits there as it's slightly glossy in consistency. But for me I love this balm mainly for the gorgeous scent and how it looks on the lips. 

I do tend to mix it up quite a bit, especially as I tend to pick up new lip balms on a regular basis, but this little handful have consistently been on my favourites list. There are a couple of others that I use on a regular basis and love such as, Burts Bee's Beeswax Balm and Vaselines Rosy Lips.

Do you have any lip balm saviours or favourites?

Red Lips | MAC Lipsticks

I've always admired how beautiful a red lip can look on others, but felt that such bold colours don't look quite right once on my own lips. Although I hadn't particularly tried many, those I had tried I felt were too bold and definitely weren't for me. After receiving a Debenhams voucher for Christmas I decided I'd pop to the MAC counter and take my time to search for a red lippy that I could (hopefully) see myself wearing. I did just that. I actually ended up with two as I couldn't decide which one I preferred! I took home a Lustre Lipstick in Lady Bug and a Sheen Supreme Lipstick in New Temptation (both of these were recommended by one of the MAC ladies). I also purchased a Lip Pencil in Cherry. 

Lady Bug is a buildable sheer red which has some orange tones to it. I find this red is very wearable, adding a subtle pop of colour. New Temptation is also a buildable sheer red but is more vivid in comparison to Lady Bug and I would say more of a cherry red. Due to the formula New Temptation feels very smooth and moisturising once applied. I love how New Temptation can be patted on to the lips to create a softer more subtle look. I think of the two New Temptation may be my favourite shade. 

{L-R- Cherry Lip Pencil, New Temptation & Lady Bug}

{L-R- Lady Bug & New Temptation}

Both of these lipsticks are, in my opinion, very wearable reds and are definitely shades that I feel I can confidently wear. Of course being the type of girl that normally wears more subtle shades it initially took a little getting used to but I'm pleased that I've managed to find reds that I feel suit me! The lovely thing is these reds are so versatile and easy to work with, both work well as an everyday colour but are still pretty enough to wear on a night out. 

What do you think? Any red lippy fans... if so what are your favourite's?

Nars - Easy Lover

A few weeks ago my lovely boyfriend treated me to a lip gloss which has quickly become a firm favourite of mine. I don't own many products from NARS, in fact currently this gloss and a blush is all I own from the brand. When I initially spotted Easy Lover I wouldn't have picked it out as a shade that I would have particularly lusted after. However, after swatching it I fell in love.

The packaging for this lip gloss is a soft plastic, it's simple and lightweight. The shade resembles a hot pink but has a very subtle hint of purple, although once applied Easy Lover is sheer which I love! This lip gloss is quite long lasting compared to many of my other lip glosses, it feels very smooth when on the lips and isn't sticky or gloppy. There is a slight scent to this gloss which I would struggle to describe (an almost plastic type scent - it isn't the best smell). This scent personally doesn't bother me as I can barely notice it, it isn't strong at all and doesn't sway my opinion on this gorgeous lip gloss! But it may bother some people.

I think this lip gloss looks very flattering when on the lips, whether it's on its own or on top of a lipstick. NARS lip glosses retail at around £17.50. These definitely aren't the cheapest of glosses but they are a great quality so if you're after a decent lip gloss it's worth the money. What are your favourite lip glosses?

Balmi Lip Balm

I am a lip balm obsessive. I always struggle to resist picking up new lip balms - particularly those that are new or that I haven't spotted before. That is why it took me less than five seconds to spot Balmi in Boots and sling it in to my shopping basket. I hadn't heard anything about these lip balms prior to picking this up so had no idea what to expect. Although to be honest, I was expecting it to be a bit of a disappointment. Only because I have discovered how difficult it can be to grab a decent lip balm that actually does its job.

Anyway I picked up a Balmi - in Raspberry for just under £5 in Boots (for around 10g of lipbalm). The packaging and product is different to the standard lip balm tubes or little pots. Balmi is actually the size and shape of a bouncy ball and includes a little chain which you could easily attach to your keys. The product twists open to reveal a ball of lip balm. You can hold the bottom of the product and just apply the lip balm directly to your lips or you could use your finger. Due to the size of the lip balm ball it feels that it's not only going to go on to your lips but all around your lips - and on to your face. But this isn't actually the case.

The lip balm is actually quite moisturising and soft on the lips and also contains SPF 15 which is great. It isn't like some lip balms which are too dry or just sit on the lips doing nothing. Once applied your lips have a slightly clear glossy finish on the lips which I like. I also like the quantity of lip balm that is available as well as the quirky packaging. The lip balm itself smells gorgeous - like sweet raspberries. Overall I do like this product and was surprised by the quality. But as nice as it is, in my personal opinion I believe that there are other lip balms that work a lot better for me, so this isn't going to be a lip balm favourite for me. But I think this product is nice in itself. I do love that you have the option to attach Balmi to your keys as sometimes things can get lost in the bottom of your bag, so at least with Balmi you'll never lose it.

Have you tried Balmi yet? What are your favourite lip balms?

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

Hello lovelies. Thought I'd share my thoughts on Revlon's new balm stains. I've seen quite a few posts on these floating around and quite liked the concept behind them so thought I would check them out myself. After having a mooch around the Revlon counter I ended up with the shade Honey. I picked this up over a month ago now so bit late on the post front.

Revlon's new balm stains look very similar to Clinique's Chubby Sticks - in other words the packaging is rocking the chubby crayon look. I quite like this as it's different to your standard lipstick/balm packaging. Although some may find this a bit too bulky. By twisting the bottom you are able to push up more product. Revlon's balm stains have a minty/dental floss scent to them, but I struggle to notice this scent once applied to my lips as the scent quickly fades. Due to the crayon tip of the balm stain this product is so easy to apply especially if you're on the go and want to apply some colour quickly. It can be quite low maintenance in that respect. I found this product to have great pigmentation which is easy to add to and build depending on the look you're going for.  

On application these balm stains offer a lot of colour and a slight glossy finish. It feels very soft and moisturising when applying, not like some lip products which can feel quite dry. The lovely thing about this product is the colour really does stay on your lips. Although the gloss fades the colour/stain sticks around for hours.

The shade I picked up - Honey - is a rosy pink/nude shade. In my opinion it leaves quite a natural dark pink finish when on the lips, so when the stain does fade it still looks lovely on. I'm not too sure what the other shades would look like on the lips after an hour or two. 

I'm really impressed with this product. I love the longevity and the colour pay off that you can achieve with these lip stains. I think they're affordable and great if you want a bit of colour but don't want to have to keep applying every ten minutes. I love how soft this feels  when applying on to the lips. But once on the lips, after a while I did find my lips felt quite dry, but as the stain stays on well I just popped a lip balm over the top which did the trick for me. Overall I think the colour pay off and longevity is brilliant for the price.

Have you tried Revlon's new kissable balm stains? Will you be trying these balm stains?

L'Oreal Caresse Lip Butters

I've been meaning to write a blog post on this for quite some time. Over the last couple of weeks I have accumulated a handful of L'Oreal's Caresse Lip Butters. I had heard lots of different things (mainly good) about lip butters in general and decided that I wanted to try some! Lip butters, if you didn't know, are said to be a cross between a lipstick and a lip balm. Therefore offer colour and moisture to the lips. Over the last few weeks I've been tempted by the selection of lip butters from L'Oreal - and have somehow ended up with 5 of their lip butters (I blame the offers that seem to be floating around in some stores!). The shades that I own include; Fashionista Pink, Aphrodite Scarlet, Tempting Lilac, Sweet Berry and Nude Ingenue.                                                                                                                                                                             

                                                                     

L-R - Fashionista Pink, Aphrodite Scarlet, Tempting Lilac, Sweet Berry and Nude Ingenue.

L-R - Fashionista Pink, Aphrodite Scarlet, Tempting Lilac, Sweet Berry and Nude Ingenue. (2/3 coats)

                                                                                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                                                                  

Now where to start... the packaging is sleek and makes identifying the lipstick very easy.  This is really handy as it can be a bit difficult sometimes to remember what is what, so it's a bit of a time saver. The lip butters themselves have a slightly sweet scent to them which is always nice. They are lovely to apply and feel soft and moisturising on the lips. You can achieve a nice colour on the lips as these lip butters are very buildable. One light coat adds a little bit of colour and shine, but after applying more coats you can build a more opaque look. I find the finish is more glossy and gentle on the lips than your regular lipstick. 

Personally I quite like the look you can create with these lip butters as I often shy away from bright lipsticks as I feel that they don't particularly suit me. But with these lip butters a softer finish can be achieved, so colours such as Aphrodite Scarlet do not come out on the lips as a bright matte red, as oppose to other red lipsticks. Instead it comes out as a more subtle red which is buildable and glossy... and for me, more wearable. I adore these lip butters, they're lovely and lightweight which is great for the Summer months ahead. The only flaw is that due to the formulation of lip butters they do not stay on the lips as long as a regular lipstick would. I have found that colouring the lips with a lip pencil beforehand does help in giving the lip butters something to cling to which helps with keeping the colour on for slightly longer. But other than that I can't fault them. I absolutely love all of the shades that I have picked up, I think they look lovely on - tempting lilac has to be one of my favourites! 

These are priced at around £7.99 and can be purchased in places such as Boots, Superdrug and many larger supermarkets. 

Have you tried any lip butters yet? - Have you got any favourites?