lip balm

I probably got the tube of Pur~Lisse Pur~Lip Comfort in a Beautyfix box and put it aside for a time of need. Recently that time arrived- a day of not drinking enough water combined with extra unpleasant weather resulted in dry and cracked lips. The perfect setting for testing a new lip product.

The Good: It worked very well. The rich cream smoothed and healed my lips in no time. Using it for a couple of days left me with soft and healthy looking lips.

The Bad: All the oils and emollients don't make a good base for lipsticks.  Pur~Lip made every lip color I tried slide and migrate. Not a good look.

The Questionable: Pur~Lip's ingredient list is full of good-for-you ingredients. This Pur~Lisse product is full of natural butters and oils, vitamins and nutrients. It's the fragrant ingredients that make me raise an eyebrow. Both orange peel oil and linalool have been targeted by IFRA as possible skin allergens and are supposed to be restricted when used in perfume. I'd think that if that's the case, maybe skin care products that go directly on one's lips should be just a little more discriminating. 

Pur~Lisse Pur~Lip Comfort ($22) is available from purlisse.com. I received mine in a press kit from Beautyfix.

Disclosure - PR sample

LBR is a little late to the party with these lip balms, which have previously been featured on several other blogs. We wanted to add our shout out to the generally positive coverage anyway, firstly because we love a good quality indie brand and secondly because Bon Bon Balm are offering a quite ingenious service to their customers - a lip balm club (Club Bon Bon) which works as a subscription service. Customers sign up to receive a new lip balm each month in one of many mouthwatering flavours. The picture to the right shows the lovely packaging you can expect. Sadly this is a "coming soon" service, but we will be keeping an eye on the site for an announcement of the launch, billed as "coming summer 2010" (i.e. very soon).

Founder Sally works as a plant scientist and has based the Bon Bon formula around natural oils and waxes. Personally I'm not a "natural is always best" kind of consumer (I don't necessarily agree with the Bon Bon view that ingredients such as paraffin "suppress the lips' natural ability to function"), but I have found the Bon Bon Balm I tried to be softening and pleasant to use, with a non-greasy (in fact almost matte) finish and a soft, smooth texture that's easy to pick up with a fingertip. Also Pina Colada, the variant I tried, smells absolutely divine. The scent alone is quite addictive.

Bon Bon balms come in 5g glass jars with a screw top lid and a printed sticker on top. Simple but functional. If the jars were slightly lighter and maybe made of plastic I'd like them even more, but given that my handbag is already swimming with a heavy clutter of products, I'm not going to complain too seriously about the weight of one little jar.

Gemma tried out the Mojito variant, and she found the texture of her balm to be slightly gritty. I didn't have this problem, so I think it's possible that these vary by batch or maybe by flavour.

Bon Bon Balms are available from www.bonbonbalm.com and cost £5 each.

I'd vaguely heard of Kiehl's rather famous lip balm but I didn't properly pay attention until a very generous swapper sent me a brand new tube.  Meh, I thought.  It says petroleum on the tube.  It is essentially the same as Vaseline, but more expensive.

Well, I was wrong.  I cracked it open one morning when I couldn't find my usual balm and have applied it every morning since.  While it does contain petroleum, that's not all - it contains cotton seed oil, and a physical sunblock which helps to provide an SPF 4.  It squeezes out of the tube into a thick, almost solid form, which quickly warms up and spreads easily over the lips.

The initial effect is pretty much the same as any other lip balm, imparting a natural glossy shine and a slippy feeling.  What makes this product stand out is the amount of moisture it injects into the lips within a short period of time.  Left on, it eventually sinks in after about an hour or so, but when wiped off after fifteen minutes, it leaves the lips feeling beautifully soft and ready for lipstick.  Which makes it a perfect product to apply before you start work on your face, leave on while you apply your makeup, and then remove just before applying lipliner/lipstick/gloss.

Yes, at £9 it's a little bit expensive, but given how little is needed, the 15ml tube will undoubtably last a fair old while.  For me, the best indicator that I love a product and its effects is that I reach for it unthinkingly on a regular basis - and I reach for this unfailingly every morning.

If you'd like to try it for yourself, you can grab it from Kiehl's online or in store at the price of £9 for 15ml (and if you go to a store, be sure to take advantage of the complimentary hand massages - bliss).  We're also giving away the vanilla version in our giveaway, if you've not already entered!

I had a lip emergency. Between the weather outside and the dry heat in the house (I keep things toasty), I've been going through tubes and pots of lip products. I didn't notice I was running low until I found myself on a cold NYC day with painfully chapped lips. Dryness is even worse on my bottom lip because of the stupid tiny scar that runs across and starts bleeding if not moisturized regularly. It's not pretty and my lipsticks deserve better.

The day was saved by a small sample of Kanebo Sensai Total Lip Treatment I had tucked somewhere in my purse. I had a few of those around- one came from the company and another one or two were a Bergdorf GWP that arrived in the nick of time. It only took minutes for the balm to start hydrating my lips and restoring them to a soft and healthy look. A good lip treatment also plumps- not by stinging or irritating but by making your lips look their natural best. It's an excellent starting point for a dark lipstick (you can't wear red if your lips are pruny and peeling) or a simple gloss.

Bottom line: This is real skincare for lips. Worth every penny.

Total lip Treatment ($65, 15 ml) and the rest of Sensai by Kanebo products are available online from Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. In store they are exclusive to Bergdorf. One can also place the order on kanebo.com and have a rep call you to confirm and consult. Not exactly my way of doing things, but I can see why it would appeal to some.

Image: blog.modernmechanix.com