Lush maple taffy Lip balm - aka my 400th review :)

I love lush (I don't know anyone who doesn't, well apart from my sister but she doesn't count) and I went to lush when they had their christmas product sale and I bought a few things and one of them was this product. I bought my palmers cocoa butter lip balm after this one as in my opinion it is not very good for lush. I bought this after christmas and it expired about a week ago so I though I would do a review of it before it is completely useless!

*About the product*

It comes in a small metal tin which makes me not like it instantly, but as it is lush I thought I would give it the benefit of the doubt. It is a 10g tin and as the name suggests it is supposed to smell/taste like maple syrup. This product is suitable for vegetarians and vegans (A good thing I have to say) and lush do not test there products on animals, I don't think bunnies would like maple syrup either.

*Ingredients*

Extra Virgin Coconut oil (Cocos nucifera), Maple Syrup, Japan Wax (Rhus succedanea), Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii), Illipe Butter (Shorea stenoptera), Carnauba Wax, Flavour, Glycerine

*My opinion of the product*

-Packaging, scent and texture

As I said before I hate the packaging, I don't like any product whatever it is, if it comes in a tub or jar, as it is less hygienic and especially with this product as you have to put your fingers into the lip balm to use it - I have tried using it with a lip brush and that works until it starts to get hard and not very nice.

The main thing that I like about this product is that it smells really nice. It is supposed to smell like maple syrup but I don't really know what maple syrup smells like, so I have to say that for me it smells like treacle, golden syrup and honeycomb - so I love the scent and taste of it.

I also don't like the texture of this product, it is not easy to get some of the product out. I leave mine very close to the hot radiator or in a warm place for a little bit before I want to use it to make it less hard - otherwise you can't really use it.

-Application and Results

I don't like the application of this product as it is quite hard and it is difficult to use the product as it does not work with a lip brush and it has to be used with your fingers. I find that it is easier to get out and apply if it is a bit warm, but other than that it is not great.

Once you get some of the product out, it applies well, it feels really quite waxy on my lips but it it ok. It feels really smooth to apply and it feels nice on my lips.

The scent of the product stays on my lips for as long as the lip balms stays on, which is not that long. But the scent and taste is really nice (Although my sister hates the smell of it), the treacle and honeycomb scent is gorgeous, but I think it mainly smells/tastes of golden syrup. Some people have said that it smells like coconut and coconut is first on the list of ingredients but I don't really smell any coconut (well not a lot anyway).

I find that this product does moisturise my lips well, but the fact that the product does not stay on my lips very long means that it in turn does not keep my lips moisturised for a long time. And also as my lips are usually quite dry this product does not help a lot, which is why I bought the palmers balm.

The product is really moisturising but I also find that it feels really quite waxy on my lips, which is not very nice. My lips look hydrated when I use this, but they don't have any glossy finish or shine at all with this product.

*Price and availability*

I bought mine from a lush store and this product is a limited edition version, which is only bought out at christmas time, which is probably a good thing. I bought it for £2.50 I think which is a ok price and it does last a long time - I still have loads event though it is past its expiration date, so most of the product has been wasted.
Conclusions
Good points

*all natural ingredients
*Moisturising while it is on my lips
*Not tested on animals, suitable for vegans and vegetarians
*Smell/taste (although not to everyones liking)

Bad points

*Waxy feel on my lips
*Tin container
*Difficult to get the product out
*Wastage - a lot of the product has not been used and it has gone past its sell by date
*Does not stay on my lips for very long therefore it does not keep my lips moisturised for very long
*Month long usage time

Thank you for reading my review