Carmex keep their promises simple - to keep lips and skin happy. With such longstanding products, surely they must be doing something right!

*Overview
The weather has a massive impact on your skin - not only can sun damage your skin but also the cold, harsh weather can cause your face and lips to take a beating. This results in dry, chapped skin that can appear at any time. It is for this reason that it is important to shield and protect as well as soothe the symptoms of dry, tired skin. Carmex have formulated a product for your lips that they believe does just that. This long standing lip therapy comes in a variety of forms and flavours; cherry being the most popular flavour among their product portfolio. They describe their Carmex Cherry Tube as "sweet and popular" and Boots describe the product as "A favourite with celebrities and make up artists all over the world, Carmex now comes in a new juicy Cherry flavour! Not only does this fruity balm heal dry, cracked lips, it also acts as a sunscreen with the added protection of SPF 15." But being indorsed by celebrities doesn't make it a product that actually works..

*About Carmex
Alfred Woelbing founded Carma Laborities Inc in the1930s. After experimenting with cosmetics, Woelbing created Carmex on his family's stove top. He continued to spread word about his new found product by selling it out of the boot of his car. He increased popularity byword-of-mouth because the product that he was selling was a quality product which worked to remedy problem lips. The liquid which he sold found its way into yellow capped tubs through the help of his wife - and they have kept this signature packaging ever since. In 1957, the family finally moved their business out of th0eir kitchen and into a rented building.
Carmex began producing the product in squeezable tubes in 1988, and shortly after this they followed it with a traditional stick form - that of ChapStick and Blistex (Carma's major competitors in the lip balm market. Carmex is a family driven business and Alfred Woelbing continued to head their offices until 1997, when he suffered a stroke. After his stroke, he continued to work in the office at least once a week until his death in 2001. In 2002, Mint flavoured Carmex with SPF30 was introduced and then in 2006 internet voters picked strawberry and cherry as the newest Carmex flavours. Carmex is still highly popular to this day and it still remains under the ownership of the founding family. Carmex have a great website which contains lots of useful hints and tips about lip and skin care along with descriptive list of all their available products (www.mycarmex.com/)

*What attracted me
In order to clear my problematic skin I began a serious course of medication that I was prescribed my dermatologist. The medication cleared your skin by drying up all the natural moisture that is transported to your pores. Unfortunately this meant that for sometime my skin, eyes and lips were dry and particularly sore. This meant that I needed products which would not only moisturise my skin but also heel the damage that the medication was causing for a short period of time. My mum and dad mentioned a lip balm that one of their employees used by they (annoyingly) couldn't remember the name of it. They described it with such enthusiasm that I pestered them for weeks to discover the name of the product which eventually transpired to be named Carmex. I rushed out to get some straightaway and I have never looked back since. I first purchased the original Carmex in a small tub. I loved the product but I found that the tub was relatively difficult to prise the product from and the taste was also slightly off putting (yet both these things were both made up for by the quality of the product and the results it produced).

*Price/Availability
I tend to purchase Carmex at Boots, simply because I do most of my cosmetics shopping there and I will often pick up a tube of Carmex as an impulse purchase at the counter. Boots charge £2.69 for a 10g tube (plus some trusty advantage points). However Carmex is widely available and therefore retails at Superdrug for £2.54, Tesco will cost £1.99 and ASDA charge £1.80. You can also buy Carmex Cherry online from ASOS for £2.55. I don't often see it on any price deals but I am guessing this is because it is such a successful product that they do not need to marketing their products through price promotions.

*Design
The thing that I love about the design of this product is that it eliminates the problem that I found when I first used Carmex. Because it was in the small tub this meant that it was really tricky to get out and I always ended up with lots left at the bottom that I couldn't manage to get to. I also found that because this design allowed a lot of air to get at the product it would often dry out quickly and means having to buy a new one. This particular Carmex comes in a squeezy tube and this means that it is kept fresh in the tube and you do not have to struggle to get the product out. The tube is the trademark Carmex yellow with red and white writing and a red lid. The Carmex is dispensed through a pin prick at the end of the rounded tube and this means that it glides along your lips smoothly. Precise and efficient application means that you lips receive a great conditioning treatment through the even application. The plastic is particularly flexible meaning that you will not struggle to dispense the product and you will be able to make use of the whole product throughout its lifetime.

*Smell
The thing that makes the cherry Carmex different from that of the original Carmex is that it masks its sometimes unpleasant scent with that of one which is far more in keeping with your regular lip balms. Though it will never smell as sweet or appealing as that of the Bodyshop Lip Butters, for a medicated product, I think that Cherry Carmex does provide consumers with a great product. I may not want to lick it from my lips but I am not finding myself squirming upon application while I wait for the lip balm to sink in. The Carmex does still have undertones of a medical product which is somewhat menthol, but it is masked by a classic cherry scent and this allows for those who find the original scent of Carmex unpleasant to take some comfort in its more regular appearance with a Cherry twist.

*Consistency
Carmex treatment balm has a thick consistency in comparison to most lip balms. Though this may at first appear to be a disadvantage, this characteristic actually proves to provide the product with many strengths; it means that the lip balm coats the lips well, it is absorbed by the lips effectively and it means that it leaves lips looking healthier for longer. The balm doesn't leave the lips looking greasy or feeling slimy and equally it won't leave your lips feeling sticky. This is perfect because mixed in with the SPF that it contains it is the perfect lip balm for use in harsh sunlight as it won't cause a sheen that attracts sunlight and burns your lips. So as well as healing you lips it is also protecting them.

*Use/Effects
The lip balm is particularly easy to use because the tube that it comes in is so easy to use and allows for the simplest of applications. There are no tricky instructions or precautions that you must follow and therefore you can just apply the treatment, rub your lips together and you are on your way to healthier, happier lips! The lip balm is very effective and I have found that when I am suffering with chapped lips, after just a couple of daily applications between 2-3 days my lips are back to their healthy norm. As the product states that it is for external use due to its medicated properties I will tend to use it around once every 2-3 days - only altering this temporarily to more frequent application if I find that my lips become dry for any reason. This allows me to have healthy lips all year round without having to shell out obscene amounts on high-end products which make false promises. I do not tend to suffer from cold sores however Carmex is also claimed to be medicated to relieve those who find themselves suffering from such. I also find that as your lips can sometimes become sticky and your lips colour/gloss becomes worn in parts after you have been wearing it for a couple of hours, Carmex can remedy this. If you put a layer of Carmex below your colour or gloss this enhances its longevity and can also give your make-up look a whole new image.

*Conclusion
Carmex - in each and every form - will always be one of my beauty must haves. It is an inexpensive product which I swear by to keep lips looking healthy and moisturised no matter the weather. With SPF and a handy compact case this means that your Carmex Cherry Tube is perfect for taking away and carrying on you all the time. As Carmex say "I am never caught without my Carmex" and it gets a huge recommendation from me!

Love Colleen
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