PHEW!.. WHAT A RELIEF (for) CHAPS!! (Blistex Lip Relief Cream)

Member Name: Wee_Jackie_163

Product:	Blistex Lip Relief Cream
Date:	27/08/09 (81 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: IT WORKS!

Disadvantages: SEE REVIEW

The changeable weather we have been experiencing of late has really been playing havoc with my sensitive skin and my lips in particular have taken a right bashing! I have been trying out various lip balms and things but I do find that some of these have been a little harsh for my liking.

It was whilst I was in my local pharmacy collecting a prescription that my eye caught a little display near the till. On the display were various products aimed at curing chapped lips... There were the little metallic tins of Vaseline and a variety of chap sticks and lip balms.

Taking a closer look though, I did also notice that there were two 'Blistex' products on sale, one of which was the 'Relief cream'. Remembering that I had used this in the past and found it to be quite successful, I decided to give it another try and see if it would cure my chapped and tingly lips.

I paid £3.19 for the very small tube of cream, which is only 5g in size. I do realise this is more expensive than chap sticks and lip balms, but this didn't put me off, as I knew from experience that it was quite a high-quality product. Anyway, by this point in time my poor chapped lips were annoying me so much that I was just about willing to try anything!

I immediately tried the product on arriving back home. Removing the little tube from the cardboard packaging, I noticed that the little tube looked exactly as I remembered... Very small, with a bright red-coloured lid designed to fit perfectly over the small nozzle on the tube.

Taking the lid off the top of the tube, I squeezed a tiny amount of the Blistex cream onto my fingertip and was immediately aware that the smell hadn't changed one bit since I last tried the cream. The smell is a very clinical one, and quite medicated too. I did find that the smell put me in mind of an antiseptic cream such as Savlon or something similar.

The appearance of the cream looks exactly as I remember too; it is quite thick in consistency and has an off-white sort of colour.

Rubbing the little blob of cream into my lips, I was pleased to feel a 'tingling' sensation immediately afterwards... This always kind of assured me that the product was doing its job properly and was working its way into the surface of my poor chapped lips. I did notice that the cream was absorbed quite nicely into my lips and left a sort of 'pearly' look to them once applied.

I was aware of the smell of the product wafting up to my nostrils, which didn't bother me too much as I was just sitting around the house. I am not sure that I would be so laid-back about this smell if I was visiting friends or going out for a meal, though! The smell remained for the whole time I had the cream on my lips.

One thing I would point out at this stage is a word of warning. If you decide to give this cream a little trial, I would strongly recommend that you be conscious of the cream continuing to ooze out of the nozzle on the tube once you have squeezed a little of the cream on to your fingertip. This is quite a bad design fault in terms of the packaging, and I was quite disappointed to note that this element to the packaging had not been improved any since the last time I bought the cream. I have always found that this is a problem when using this cream and would have hoped by now that the manufacturers had come up with a solution to this problem. Given the price of this product, I certainly don't want to see any of it wasted in this way, which is quite inevitable unfortunately!

I would recommend that you replace the little cap back onto the tube of cream as soon as possible after dispensing the required amount from the tube - it does make a little mess by doing this, but I find a little residue being wasted on the lid of the tube is preferable to a whole splodge of the cream being wasted onto the side of my sink (or wherever I happen to be, when applying the cream).

Anyway, the cream itself cannot really be faulted, in my own personal experience. After only 24 hours of using it, I can already see a huge improvement in my lips in that lots of the cracks that were on my bottom lip have all but disappeared. Also, I do find that in general they are softer and have a much more moisturised feel to them. My lips have a bit of a 'sore' in the left hand corner, and this has begun to heal up quite nicely. I would point out - for the purposes of anybody reading this review - that this 'sore' is most definitely NOT a cold sore, just a badly chapped area on my lips. I wouldn't want to be responsible for anybody applying this cream to cold sores as I'm not entirely sure it would be beneficial. (Ouch...!)

I would point out that I found the 'tingly' sensation was intensified quite a lot when applying the cream to the 'sore' in the corner of my lips. I think this was mainly because the skin around this area is broken, unlike the rest of my lips which were just badly cracked.

The sensation was not pain exactly, but I did think it was quite an uncomfortable tingle. I am quite glad I persevered though, given the almost immediate improvement in both the appearance and feeling of this sore area.

I have used this cream in the winter time and find it to be hugely beneficial to my lips at that time of year. I personally suffer from dry and chapped lips all year round, but I do find that the winter months in particular play havoc with my sensitive skin. I think this is mainly due to coming in from the cold weather to a centrally heated house. I will most definitely be buying another tube of this cream in the winter months to help alleviate this discomfort a little!

I would highly recommend this cream to anybody who suffers from similar problems as me. It is more expensive than other products on the market, but by the same token I do find that it is more responsive to my sensitive and chapped lips and is therefore more effective at healing the area and doing so quickly! I personally feel therefore that the more expensive price tag is worth it!

The cream is readily available from all good chemists and pharmacies. You can also buy it from drugstores such as Boots and Superdrug and some supermarkets such as Tesco stock it too. The 5mg tube will cost you around £3, but is worth every penny in my experience!

I would award this product four stars out of five, with one star knocked off due to the rubbish nozzle and lid design on the tube... I am annoyed that any of this product should be wasted due to this flimsy and unsatisfactory packaging. Other than that though, I cannot fault the product itself and will continue to use it in the future.

Summary: Am impressed with the results from this product....