Care, gloss and stick to everything in sight (Nivea Lip Care Caregloss and Shine)

Member Name: Emily_09

Product:	Nivea Lip Care Caregloss and Shine
Date:	26/09/09 (11 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small and compact,price

Disadvantages: Leaves lips feeling really thick, tastes horrible, doesn't absorb

One thing that I can't stand is having sore and dry lips and so I am constantly trying new things to try and keep them moisturised and supple. I am also a bit of a make-up addict and tend to go for more subtle lip shades during the day so when I saw Nivea Caregloss and Shine, which promised to combine improving my pet hate with making my lips look glossy I just had to have some.

In the past I have paid ridiculous amounts for lip gloss, including on designer ones that I've realised are completely the wrong colour when I actually put them on, so when I saw this gloss for just £3.03 on the Superdrug website when buying a few other bits I thought why not?

Unfortunately, when I actually received the gloss part of me was left wondering why as opposed to why not! The first thing that peeved me was the fact that the gloss came attached to a bit of cardboard that, in a world where we are all encouraged to recycle and use the least amount of packaging as possible, really wasn't necessary. I've bought loads of lip balms before that just come loose and as someone who likes to recycle as much as possible, it annoyed me to think of how many tonnes of cardboard must have been wasted.

The gloss itself comes in a 10ml tube which is tiny enough to fit into your bag or purse or, if you're like me, to slip into your drawer at work to reapply when the boss isn't looking. The tube is a pale pink colour with a screw on lid which is quite difficult to screw on and off when your hands are sticky from the lip gloss.

The end of the tube is slanted with a tiny hole in the middle that is intended to allow you to squeeze out just the right amount of gloss but I found that you had to squeeze the tube only a tiny bit too much and a massive blob came out of the end. This was a real waste of gloss as I often ended up having to wash my hands after the product squirted all over them so I was effectively just washing it down the drain.

So I wasn't exactly impressed with this balm before I even got it on my lips, and unfortunately my opinion of it didn't change even then. As soon as I slicked some of the gloss onto my lips they felt extremely sticky and not in a nice glossy way but in a heavy, uncomfortable way. The gloss just seemed to sit on the top of my lips and I felt as if they were massive due to how thick the gloss was. I thought that maybe I'd applied too much so squeezed the tiniest amount possible onto my finger before rubbing it on and it still felt horribly thick.

Another thing that I didn't like about this gloss was the taste. Although I don't actively eat my lip gloss (well not unless it's chocolate flavoured!), its inevitable that you will get a taste of whatever you put on your lips and I definitely didn't like the taste of this. The balm only had a very light fragrance but tasted really artificial and as if it had loads of artificial ingredients. I really didn't like the taste and even after rubbing it off I could still taste a bit of it on my lips. Yuck!

As for whether it improved the condition of my lips? I honestly couldn't tell you as I couldn't stand it on my lips for long enough to find out. In the future I think I'll stick to separate balms and glosses to avoid feeling like I'm going to stick to everything I touch!

Summary: 1 star - not for me