Salt and Glow Be Still

Image from Salt and Glow

Texture: Lumpy, probably from the shea butter.

Flavour: A little bitter

Fragrance: Lavender and sweet orange.

Finish: Glossy.

Lasting power: Two hours.

Colour: Clear

Longevity: 24 months

Size: 4g

Price: $5.80

Availability: Salt and Glow website, various stockists.

Website: www.saltandglow.com

Rating: 3

If you like this, try: 

Ingredients: macadamia seed oil, avocado oil, candelilla wax, shea butter, coconut oil, cocoa seed butter, rosehip seed oi, vitamin E, lavender oil, sweet orange oil.


I really wanted to like this balm but the shea butter lumps and lavender scent really put me off. On paper this looks like the type of balm that I'd love, it's natural, vegan and made in Australia.

Salt and Glow say that this would be the ideal night time balm as the lavender and orange are calming, but it's just not a scent I can wear on my lips. The balm itself is quite night, it's lightly hydrating and feels pleasant on my lips. The lumpiness makes it unpleasant to apply. No doubt this could be fixed by melting the balm down, but it'd probably get lumpy again once the weather cooled down.

Despite not liking this balm, I'm still interested in trying other Salt and Glow balms. 

Alaffia Everyday Coconut Purely Coconut Lip Balm

Image from Alaffia

Texture: Smooth and creamy

Flavour: Awful

Fragrance: Coconut

Finish: Slightly glossy

Lasting power: A few hours

Colour: Clear


Size:  0.15oz 4.25g

Price: $3.06

Availability: Alaffia and iHerb

Website: alaffia.com.au


Rating: 1

If you like this, try: Crazy Rumors, their flavours are so much better.

Ingredients: coconut oil, candelilla wax, cocoa butter, natural coconut flavour.

I threw this balm in the bin. That's not something I do very often, usually my unloved balms go to the boys, but this one tastes so bad that it went straight into the bin. I have no idea why it tastes so bad, it's not off, it smells good and the ingredients look fine. Perhaps I got a bad one. 

It's a shame the flavour is so awful because the balm is nice. It's soft, creamy, hydrating and feels lovely on my lips.

Vapour Organic Beauty Lux Lip Conditioner

Texture: Smooth and creamy

Flavour: Apricot

Fragrance: Apricot

Finish: Slightly glossy

Lasting power:Two to three hours

Colour: Clear


Size: 0.135oz/3.82g

Price: $28.75

Availability: Vapours website and various natural/organic stores

Website:  http://www.vapourbeauty.com

Discontinued: No

Limited Edition: No

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

If you like this, try: Burt's Bees Mango Butter lip balm.

Ingredients: jojoba seed oil, beeswax, coconut oil, castor seed oil, fig flavour oil, plum and apricot flavour oil, helichrysum arenarium flower extract, lemon balm leaf extract, calendula officinalis flower extract.

Vapour says : Pure relief and comfort for lips with Lux’s heavenly, emollient formula. A synergistic organic botanical blend of Coconut, Fig, Plum and Calendula soothes and protects delicate skin in one creamy, luxurious swipe.

I'm a bit on the fence about this balm. Whilst I like it, it's not love. For the price I want to love it more than I do. It's nice but when you compare it to other similar balms such as Burt's Bees, I just can't rate it very highly. Despite that, it is a lovely balm and one that I enjoyed using. 

The fruity fragrance and flavour it lovely, it leaves a beautiful sheen and is hydrating enough to keep my lips in good condition.

Chantecaille Lip Potion

Image from Mecca Cosmetica

Texture: Very soft.

Flavour: None.

Fragrance: Rose.

Finish: Glossy.

Lasting power: A few hours.

Colour: Light pink, not enough to be noticeable if you have pigmented lips.

Longevity: 24 months.

Size: 016 oz/4.5g

Price: $64.

Availability: Mecca Cosmetica in Australia, Chantecaille website.

Website: www.chantecaille.com

Rating: 4

If you like this, try: By Terry Baume De Rose, Vaseline Rosy Lips.

Ingredients:hydrogenated polydecene, dicalcium phosphate, hydrogenated polyisobutene, triisodecyl trimelliatate, hydrogenated styrene/isoprene, copollymer, polyethylene, disteardimonium hectorite, triisostearin, propylene carbonate, octyldodecanol, mica, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, euphorbia, candelilla wax, hydrogenated palm kernel glycerides, squalane, shea butter extract, hydrogenated rice bran wax, tocopherol, sweet almond oil, macadamia ternifolia seed oil, isopropyl myristate, caprylic/capric triglyceride, hydrogenated palm glycerides, hydrogenated castor oil, fragrance, hydrogenated vegetable oil, phytosteryl isostearate, pentaerythrityl tetra-di-t butyl hydroxyhydrocinnamate, lavandula stoechas extract, aloe barbadensis leaf extract.
May contain: titanium dioxide, iron oxides, red 7 lake, citronellol, limonene, geraniol, eugenol, linalool, citral, farnesol.

This is a truly beautiful balm. It's a luxury product but worth every cent. Mine was a gift from my beautiful Emma, I used it sparingly to savour it, until the boys discovered it and fell in love. They used it up within a week!
As much as I didn't want them using my precious balm, it did wonders for Chai. He licks his lips so gets really dry, sore lips that usually take weeks to heal, even with lip balm applied every few hours. Using the Chantecaille balm his lips were healed in five days, the fastest they've ever been healed. Magic!

Rich in macadamia oil, shea butter, vitamin e and aloe, with rose and lavender flowers, Lip Potion heals and regenerates. It's one of the best healing lip balms I've ever used.

The texture is very unique, it's so soft that you'd expect it to be in a tube. It would be so much better if they did release it in a tube, the pot is bulky and the lid opens easily so you can't carry it around in your handbag. I only used mine at home, due to those factors. If it came in a squeeze tube it'd be perfect. 

If you're in the market for a luxe lip balm or searching for a present, Lip Potion is worth a look!
 

The Body Shop Cocoa Butter Lip Care Stick

Image credit

Texture: Smooth, slightly waxy but not in an unpleasant way.

Flavour: Chocolate!

Fragrance: Chocolate.

Finish: Softly shiny.

Lasting power: Three to four hours.

Colour: Clear.

Longevity: 36 months

Size: 4.2 grams

Price: No idea, it's not listed on The Body Shop website for some reason.

Availability: The Body Shop

Website: www.thebodyshop.com

Discontinued: In Australia, yes. It's still available in the US though.

Limited Edition: No.

Rating: 4.5

If you like this, try: Burt's Bees, Suraya Brazil.

Ingredients: hydrogenated coconut oil, beeswax, olive fruit oil, candelila wax, cocoa butter, flavour, sweet almond oil, tocopheryl acetate, propylene glycol, water, matricaria extract, ammonium glycyrrhizate, calendula officinalis extract, tocopherol.

Whilst living in Australia is awesome, the lip balms that aren't available here is not awesome. The Body Shop's Cocoa Butter Lip Care Stick is one of the great products that we can no longer get here, I have no idea why. It's a cruel world.

If you live in the US you can still buy these balms and I suggest you do, especially if you love chocolate scented balms. It has a very light chocolate flavour and smells amazing.

Buddha Balm Burnt Sugar Fig

Texture: Smooth and creamy

Flavour: Burnt Sugar Fig

Fragrance:  Sweet sugar

Finish: Slightly glossy

Lasting power: Two to three hours

Colour: Clear


Size: 4.25 grams

Price: $2.50

Discontinued: Yes, Buddha Balm is no longer available, apparently the company has closed down.

Limited Edition: No

Rating: 5 stars.

If you like this, try: Crazy Rumors, Ladybug Jane.

Ingredients: soybean oil, coconut oil, shea butter, lanolin oil, carnauba wax, candelila wax, beeswax, ozokerite, caprylic/capric triglyceride, vitamin e, saccharin, flavour, CI 77947 (zinc oxide), Karma Creatives Proprietary Herbal Blend.

If I had to choose my top ten lip balms my Buddha Balm would be one of them. Unfortunately it's been discontinued and I'm down to my second last tube. Sad days.
Those of you who like super sweet lip balms will love Buddha Balm. They're still floating around the interwebs, so if you see them, grab a few whilst you can.

Clinique Superbalm

Texture: Smooth and creamy.

Flavour: None.

Fragrance: None.

Finish: Glossy.

Lasting power:  Around two hours.

Colour: Clear.


Size: 0.24 fl oz/7 ml.

Price: $24.00.

Availability: Clinique counters and online.

Website: www.clinique.com.au

Discontinued: No.

Limited Edition: No.

Rating: 4

If you like this, try: Sukin Lip Treatment.

Ingredients: petrolatum, polybutene, polydecene, bis-diglyceryl polyacyladipate-2, octyldodecanol, microcrystalline wax, tocopheryl acetate, polyclyceryl-2 triisostearate, aloe barbadensis leaf extract, cholesterol, barley extract, wheat germ extract, squalane, linoleic acid, retinyl palmitate, clary extract, soybean oil, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, stearyl glycyrrhetinate, birch extract, hexylene glycol, potassium sulfate, caprylyl glycol, phenoxyethanol, red 7 lake, yellow 5 lake.

This is the lip balm that I shouldn't like but I do. I say I shouldn't like it because it's all the things I don't like. Not natural, fragrance free, flavour free and contains petrolatum. That's a recipe for exactly the type of balm I don't like, yet here we are and I'm about to tell you why I like my Superbalm. 

It's a brilliant, effective, hydrating balm that keeps my lips feeling soft and hydrated. The tube is small enough to easily fit into my pocket, the slanted tip makes application a breeze and the glossy finish means it looks like I'm wearing lip gloss.

Models Prefer Creme Caramel Soothing Lip Balm

Texture: Smooth and sleek.

Flavour: Creme Caramel.

Fragrance: Creme Caramel.

Finish: Slightly glossy.

Lasting power:Around two hours.

Colour: Clear.

Longevity: 12 months.

Size: 7 grams/25 ounce.

Price: $3.50

Availability: Priceline.

Website: www.priceline.com.au


Discontinued: Unsure. They aren't on the Priceline website but are still in stores. 


Rating: 4.

If you like this, try: EOS.

Ingredients: I don't have an ingredients list for this one as it was on the plastic outer wrapping which I threw away, oops. 

How cute are lip balms that come in the ball shape? I love them. I find them totally impractical to carry around so tend to use them at home, but I still love them. When the boys were little I'd keep one in my nappy bag cause it'd keep them amused for ages.

It's so difficult to find caramel flavoured lip balms so when I see one I buy it straight away. Caramel and butterscotch are two of my favourite lip balm flavours, they also happen to be two of the most difficult flavours to find. Anyhoo, enough waffling. 

I love these balms. They're quite light so wouldn't work for really dry lips, but when my lips are in good condition this makes a lovely daily balm. I keep mine in the kitchen and use it every few hours. It's a miracle I finished this one, that was only because I hid it from the boys, usually they find my ball shaped balms and steal them.

Lush Strawberry Bombshell Lip Tint

Texture: Very hard and lumpy.

Flavour: Strawberry with a hint of mint.

Fragrance: Strawerry.

Finish: Matte.

Lasting power: At least six hours

Colour: Fuchsia pink.

Longevity: 14 months.

Size: 4 grams.

Price: $9.95 (AUD)

Availability: Lush stores nationally.

Website: lush.com.au


Discontinued: Yes.

Rating: 1

If you like this, try: Burt's Bees Tinted lip balm.

Ingredients: shea butter, kalahari melon oil, candelila wax, organic castor oil, organic illipe butter, extra virgin coconut oil, sunflower wax, cupacu butter, glycerine, caprylic/capric triglyceride, flavour, syntheitc flurophlogopite, organic agave syrup, fresh strawberries, silician mandarin oil, spearmint oil, ylang ylang oil, cetearyl alcohol polyvinylpyrrolidone. benzyl benzoate, citral, limonene, titanium dioxide, colour 77491, colour 45410:2.

I really wanted to love this balm but I can't, it's awful. I've held on to it and retried it for about eighteen months now but I can no longer deny the truth, it's a horrible balm. It's very hard, extremely lumpy and all round unpleasant. I tried melting it down to get rid of the lumps but it didn't work and it's basically an unusable waste of money. No wonder it's being discontinued. 

On the positive side, the colour is a beautiful bright pink that lasts for hours and it smells amazing. They had the right idea, hopefully they reformulate and bring it back bigger and better.

Bourjois Baume de Nuit

Texture: Very thick and rich.

Flavour: Rose.

Fragrance: Rose.

Finish: Shiny.

Lasting power: Overnight.

Colour: Clear.

Longevity: 18 months.

Size: 7 grams/0.25 ounces.

Discontinued: Yes :(


Rating: Five.

If you like this, try: Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask, Lanolips, By Terry Baume de Rose.

Ingredients: It's a mystery. They aren't listed on the pot and I couldn't find them online either. 

This is a beautiful balm and I'm so sad it was discontinued. I'm not sure it was ever available in Australia, I bought mine online from the US. It was a beautiful, rich night time lip treatment, I'd layer on a thick layer at night and wake up with soft, hydrated lips.

It's quite similar to the Bite Beauty Agave Lip Mask, so if you're looking for a good night time balm give that a go.