Blistex Relief Cream: An Oldie, but a Goodie! (Blistex Lip Relief Cream (Healing))

Member Name: Teteenlair

Product:	Blistex Lip Relief Cream (Healing)
Date:	01/06/09 (211 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great value, smells and feels lovely and really works on sore lips.

Disadvantages: The over-enthusiastic tube! And it does not work on my cold sores.

I've written a few reviews on lip-related products now, so you may know I'm a bit of a lip balm junkie and cold sore sufferer. I thought I should write a review of Blistex Relief Cream because it's one cream I always have to hand and one which I always find works on my sore lips.

Blistex, in the form of Blisteze, has been around ever since I can remember and it's something that was always in the bathroom cabinet when I was growing up. As I grew up, and especially in my teenage years, I branched out and went for the more expensive and higher-end products, but as I've grown older and wiser (!) I've reverted back to Blistex because it just can't be bettered.

The products in the Blistex range seem to have been rebranded and repackaged into similar boxes fairly recently to make a more coherent range. They all come in a little box attached to a card for hanging on the rack in the shop. Each has a different picture of a pair of healthy looking lips and a pop out word relating to each individual product, such as "Care", "Hydrate", "Drench" or in this case "Healing".

According to the box, the Relief Cream provides "Medicated relief for occasional cold sores, cracked, chapped and sore lips". Now first off I have to say that I do not use this cream for cold sores as it has never worked for me. It does not contain the active ingredient aciclovir which is found in other creams such as Zovirax and widely accepted to be the thing you need to kill a cold sore.

On the back of the deep blue box is an image of the tube with some text explaining how to use the cream, i.e. every hour if you're using it to treat cold sores or just "apply frequently" if you want relief from dry, sore lips. The cream is not to be stored above 25C and must not be used after the expiry date printed on the box. Seems silly to me to put the expiry date on the outer packaging which will most likely be thrown away, but as the date on mine is a good three years away I guess it'll be used up by then no problem anyway.

The cream itself is in a small 5g metal-type tube which can be rolled up as you use it (a big plus in its favour I think). It is mainly white with a blue block of colour at the end and a red screw cap. The directions for use and active ingredients are printed on the back.

The only bad thing about this product is the fact that no matter how gently you treat the tube, and how little pressure you apply to squeeze, the cream always comes oozing out really fast and will continue to do so until you quickly jam the lid back on trying to avoid a sticky mess (though you just end up with a sticky mess in and around the lid). And then the next time you open it, you'll find that it hadn't quite finished oozing last time and will carry on where it left off. This is frustrating not only because of the mess you're left with but because of the amount of cream that gets wasted this way. (This is the only reason I haven't given this five stars).

Anyway, do your best to squeeze out a small amount onto your fingertip and you will be well rewarded. The cream is fairly thin and runny and quite a dark cream colour. It smells really fresh and zingy (it contains peppermint oil) and this is exactly how it feels on your lips. You only need a small amount as a little goes a long way. I find Blistex Relief Cream feels the nicest out of all lip creams - it doesn't sit on top of your lips feeling all greasy like Vaseline, nor does it disappear to nowhere like a certain Boots Protect and Perfect lip care product (reviewed separately by me). It coats the lips nicely and sinks in straight away but without leaving lips dry. My lips feel cool and fresh straight away, almost as though you can feel it working, though I know it's just the peppermint oil at work again. It gets to work on any chapped areas and soreness straight away and in just a few applications my lips feel back to normal again.

This retails for £2.19 in Boots and I've seen it elsewhere for £1.99 - a total bargain in my opinion and I can't recommend it highly enough.

More info can be found here: www.blistex.co.uk

Summary: A definite medicine cupboard staple.