Kora Vitamin Enhanced Lip Balm

Texture: Smooth, non waxy

Flavour: None.

Fragrance: This has a light, pleasant floral scent.

Finish: Glossy. It looks great worn over lip liner or a matte lipstick.

Lasting power: About four hours.

Colour: Clear

Longevity: 12 months

Size: 6.5ml

Price: $24.95

Availability: Chemmart, Terry White Chemists, David Jones and online.

Website: koraorganics.com

Brand Contact: Via their website here.  


Ingredients: castor oil, beeswax, castor isostearate beeswax succinate, jojoba oil, coconut oil, cetyl palmitate, sorbitan palmitate, sorbitan olivate, d-alpha tocopheryl acetate (soybean derived natural  natural vitamin e), avocado oil, rosehip oil, lime oil, vitamin c, acerola cherry powder, maltodextrin, noni fruit, limonene.

Kora says: The ultimate lip balm for smooth, soft, moist lips. The highest quality jojoba, avocado, rosehip and nutrient rich extracts have been organically flavoured to taste and feel simply sublime. Our vitamin enhanced formula contains vitamin C and E to soothe and smooth and renew even the driest of chapped lips leaving them soft and kissable.

This is the lip balm that didn't end! I was trying to use it up forever, just ask Emma. I was constantly complaining to her that the lip balm fairies kept on refilling the balm at night when I was asleep. Through sheer persistence I finally managed to finish it! Whilst this is a nice lip balm it's not one that I'll purchase again. It does a great job of keeping my lips hydrated, it smells nice, has no flavour and is a good balm, but there is nothing about it that makes it worth the $24.95 price tag. In my opinion Sukin's Nourishing Lip Treatment is a much nicer balm and it only costs $8.95. Added to that, the Kora balm comes in a pot and I find potted balms so much more inconvenient, they don't fit easily in a pocket so are the type of balms that I only use at home.

What I do love is that 100% of the total ingredients are from natural origin and 88.8% of the total ingredients are from organic farming. 

Chapstick Mixstix - Australian Edition.

Texture: Smooth.

Flavour: There are 2 (but, really, 4) – Lemon Berry Sorbet and Strawberry Banana Smoothie.

Fragrance: Lemon, Berry, Strawberry and Banana.

Finish: Slight gloss.

Lasting power: An hour if you don’t eat/drink anything.

Colour: Lemon – Light Yellow, Berry – Light Purple, Strawberry – Pink, Banana – Yellow, but all apply clear.

Longevity: Doesn’t say on the packet but usually 24m for a balm.

Size: 2 x 4.4g net.

Price: $6.99

Availability: Woolworths, Chemist Warehouse, Priceline, although they are limited release.

Brand Contact: We have had the best response with their Instrgram and Facebook pages.

Ingredients:

Lemon Berry Sorbet- petrolatum, paraffin, mineral oil, octyldodecanol, arachidyl propionate, phenyl trimethicone, beeswax, isopropyl lanolate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax, tocopheryl acetate, flavor, isopropyl myristate, lanolin, triacetin, hydrogenated vegetable oil, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, methylparaben, saccharin, titanium dioxide, propylparaben, red 7 lake, yellow 10 lake, lecithin, blue 1 lake, yellow 6 lake, red 40 lake

Strawberry Banana Smoothie - petrolatum, paraffin, mineral oil, octyldodecanol, arachidyl propionate, phenyl trimethicone, beeswax, isopropyl lanolate, copernicia cerifera (carnauba) wax, tocopheryl acetate, benzyl benzoate, isopropyl myristate, lanolin, flavor, caprylic/capric triglyceride, hydrogenated vegetable oil, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, methylparaben, saccharin, propylparaben, titanium dioxide, yellow 10 lake, propylene glycol, lecithin, red 7 lake, yellow 6 lake, red 40 lake, blue 1 lake

As packaged.

What’s not to love. The brand. The flavours. The texture. The smell!

I was super excited to see these at the supermarket so popped them in the fortnightly shop. As soon as I got home, I ripped the packaging open and smelled. As I do with any product. Then I had to decide which one to apply first, as there are 2 sticks in every packet and each stick contains 2 flavours. It was a lovely experience when I did. And I actually can’t remember which flavour I tried first!

They have been a staple in my bedroom and handbag for a while now and I have just picked up another as a back up!

They are lovely on your lips. Smooth, lovely fragrance which isn’t overpowering. They have a bit more staying power than the regular Chapstick and also feel a bit ‘thicker’ than the regular Chapstick too.

Mmm... Berry goodness...

Lemony sorbet.. my fave!

These are the only flavours that have been released in Australia, I’d LOVE to try the Apple/Caramel one that they have in the US.

Do yourself a favour. Get these while you can.

Be kind. 

Hello!

Well, hello.

This post has been a long time coming, thinking, planning, chatting about it. Now, I feel like I need to start!

I was asked by the lovely Anissa of Beautifully Glossy if I would like to help her with a blog that she has wanted to start for a while and of course I said yes!! Plus, who wouldn’t want to ‘work’ with this lovely lady?

A little about me –

I am in my middle 30’s, I live in Central Victoria. I am recently separated and have no children. 

I LOVE LIP GLOSS, LIP BALM, LIPSTICK... Do you now know why Anissa and I get on so well?! (I also have a little obsession with Stationery but we won’t go there today!)

Ever since I was a child I have loved lip products. I think it stareted when a friend of mine’s Mum was selling Avon. Do you remember those lip glosses that had rolling balls at the end and smelled like strawberry or cherry? One smell, I was hooked. And that first application – I knew that I had found something special. Something that would stay with me all throughout my teenage years and now, as an adult. The trouble is, that now, it’s not just Avon. My fave brands – Lanolips, Chapstick, Lancome, Dior, Chanel. Anissa has introduced me to some more and I am so glad that she has. Have you tried the burnt fig lip balm by Buddha balm? DIVINE.

So let’s continue this journey together. We will review the balms that we can get our hands on. And be honest about it.

Are you along for the ride?

All my love,

Cup_Cakr – also known as Emma, Em, whatever you’d like. Just be kind.

Hello and welcome!

Hello! Welcome to our new blog!

I've been looking for a lip balm blog for years. Chaptastic was great but they stopped blogging in 2010 and I haven't found another great lip balm blog since. 
So I decided to start one. That was two years ago and I only got as far as writing a welcome post. Then I met the beautiful Emma who is also a fellow lip balm addict. We chat daily about lip balm (and other things) and decided we'd write this blog together. I'm sure between us we've used hundreds of different balms. What's the point of being a lip balm addict if we can't share our knowledge?

If you know of any great lip balm blogs, please let us know in the comments. Also, as we are a new blog, if there is anything you'd like to see or any balms you'd like us to review, please let us know and we'll do our best to oblige (it'll give us a great excuse to buy a new lip balm).

Coming Soon!

Stay tuned because Balmcyclopaedia is coming soon!

In the meantime you can follow us on Instagram.