'I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry chapstick' these were the lyrics that really made me go searching for a cherry chapstick. I'd imagine most people young and older all went in search for the cherry version of the Chaptstick brand after hearing Katy Perry's cheeky song and if I'm being honest I had not come across it until that point.

I like my lips to be moisturised at all times especially in the winter when my skin and lips become really dry and wind chapped. I generally have a lip balm in my bag, drawer at work, bedroom and the kitchen. I loose things very easily and find that having so many all in different places makes sure I always have one or two to hand.

When I do go to grab my handy lip balm it has to meet my lip balm standards . Those being,

1. It must go on easily and quickly
2. It has to feel like it's moisturising, right from application
3. It can't feel sticky, hard or oily on the lips
4. If it's flavoured it can't taste foul, fake or plastic
5. Made from natural ingredients where possible.

So that's my lip balm standards, I don't think they are too strict and most people I know would agree that it's what their ideal lip balm would be like. ( I know it's petty but i'm a stickler for quality)

I'm a huge fan of everything cherry so the thought of trying a lip balm that tasted of cherry was something I couldn't wait to get my hands on, or lips on to be honest. I searched high and low and whenever I was out I looked for 'Chapstick'.

Chapstick was the lip balm of choice for my family growing up. My mum always carried her hankies, purse and the original blue tube chapstick when she went out and she always had one in the house to soothe those wind chapped lips.

Growing up I tended to go for the original blue stick but when I found that I had to press really hard to get a good application I started to look elsewhere. I found Etsy and have tried a whole host of 'natural' lip balms, lip conditioners and chap sticks. They were amazing!

Recently I really needed a lip balm and found Poundland had the 'cherry' chapstick. I was very pleased to find this and for only £1. I paid for it straight away and then popped off the lid, applied it and had to keep re-applying it as nothing really went on? I pressed it a bit harder, still nothing and eventually I started warming it up, pressing really hard and persevering, nothing was working. The Chapstick didn't have the same effect that it used to and the flavour tasted like plastic.

I was really disappointed overall and that is why I am awarding Chapstick only 2 stars. It didn't meet any of my 'standards' and was really a step back from some of the others I have tried.
I decided to list the ingredients so you can really see what's in your little stick. Also anything applied to the lips is ingested quicker. Take a peek, would you really want to ingest these ingredients?

*Brand: Chapstick
*Price: £1 from Poundland
*Range: The Cherry version comes from the Chapstick flavours range. Chapstick also have a flava craze, original, medicated and sun protect range.
*Flavour: Cherry, but this does come in 2 other flavours such as apple, cherry and strawberry
*Application: Apply this as and when needed to the lips only. I found the cherry was particularly hard to get an even coat on my lips as it was so hard, even when I held it and warmed up the tube it still didn't apply smoothly.
*Ingredients: Petrolatum, paraffin, paraffin liquidum, Phenyl trimethicone, cera album, Isopropyl lanolate, methyl paraben, propyl paraben.

*Ingredients and what they do in non-technical language*

>Petrolatum - By product in the same family as petrol.
>Paraffin/ paraffin liquidum -
>Phenyl trimethicone - Silicone fluid that stops products from foaming and is a skin conditioner
>Cera alba - Beeswax in other words.
>Isopropyl lanolate - Skin conditioner made from lanolin (sheeps wool)
>Methyl paraben- Is an anti-fungal consider a safer paraben
>Propyl paraben - can irritate the skin, is combustible. , white crystalline solid used in skincare

*True Fact and something to consider*

Did you know a study by Mutation Research showed that propylparabens were found in malignant breast cancer tumours? Parabens have had a lot of bad press and in my opinion rightly so, parabens in small doses are apparently ok for you but all of those creams, body lotions, body washes, shampoo and conditions all top up your daily doses of parabens all mount up to more than a 'little dose' I was really shocked that there were so many parabens in such a small Chapstick.


Overall: I don't think I will be using Chapsticks again and have already found an alternative, natural 'lip conditioner' that works so much better for me personally