Just call me Marie Antoinette - I love this! (Lush Let Them Eat Cake Lip Balm)

Member Name: slinkyindieninja

Product:	Lush Let Them Eat Cake Lip Balm
Date:	11/08/09 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Consistency great, easy to use, makes lips softer

Disadvantages: Strong smell will put a lot of people off, Christmas-only product

I received a Let Them Eat Cake lip balm as a Christmas gift, however, I already had one Lush lip balm on the go, so I put it into the cardboard box with the rest of of my Lush "stash" to use when I had run out of the other product. However, a couple of months ago now, Lip Squeak was discontinued, and as I loved that product so much I decided to put it into the stash and bring out my Let Them Eat Cake to use instead.

LTEC comes in a little round tin, smaller than the tins or jars for a lot of other lip balms on the market. It has a sticker on both sides, on top is the name of the product, what it is, and the Lush logo, on the reverse is the ingredients list, and use-by date. The tin twists off - I remember the first time I opened one of these tins, I thought you had to pull it off, wasted a lot of time trying to work it out...

I wasn't sure I would like Let Them Eat Cake, the smell is fruity, quite sweet and very strong, it is a very accurate facsimile of Christmas cake In my opinion. I don't eat Christmas cakes and I wasn't a huge fan of the Christmas Cake soap, so I expected LTEC to be a product which I used up as quickly as possible so that it would be over and done with.

Then I actually tried it. I learned to love the smell after experiencing how soft and moisturising LTEC is, especially compared to Lip Squeak, which has to be carried around in a pocket for a while or warmed on a radiator before it can be used. It is really gorgeous. I apply it with one of my little fingers, just rubbing it lightly on the surface picks up enough balm for both lips I find. It's clear and goes on especially well over lip stains (e.g. Benetint), which is great as I Benetint my lips most times I leave the house!

It doesn't taste of anything in my opinion - great, as it can't clash with food. It doesn't make my lips glossy - it's just a balm, but I think it makes them a lot softer. If I kiss anyone whilst wearing LTEC I'll have to edit this review and report the results!

It is also really great as an emergency moisturiser - I've rubbed it over dry patches of skin and over fingernails that I haven't had time to polish before. The soft consistency makes it so easy to use.

If I had my way this product would be available year round and I hope it is part of the Lush Christmas range next time, however, even if it isn't I won't be saving it like Lip Squeak for a while. LTEC seems to be a Marmite product - you either love or you hate it, because of it's scent, and so there are loads of people who hated it selling/swapping their spare new and unused tins on the Lush forum!

I'm afraid I can't comment on price as this was a gift and as it was part of the Christmas range at Lush it is no longer listed online, but I suspect it was just under £5 mark going from the prices of Lush's lip balms at the moment. I think this is a bit expensive but it is a vegan product, so a lot of people will have bought it because of that.

I received LTEC as a gift without smelling it first, because of the divided opinions I've read I would recommend you don't buy any LTEC without having had a good whiff of the stuff first!

Summary: A brilliant lip balm from Lush