The girliest thing I own - and that's saying something (Rose & Co. Apothecary Rose Petal Salve)

Member Name: louiseypees

Product:	Rose & Co. Apothecary Rose Petal Salve
Date:	26/09/08 (99 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It's lovely.

Disadvantages: £5 may put some off - but it's worth it.

My make-up free face, frizzy hair and scruffy clothes are hiding it very well today, but at heart I'm a girly girl. Hey, it's only because I've got a cold, honest. When I'm on my own I love nothing more than doing my hair and make-up, or trying on loads of clothes, or dancing around my house to really cheesy girly music. I'm addicted to perfume, I love cute furry animals and I have that inexplicable attraction to all things pink, glittery or fluffy which men will never fully understand or appreciate.

Take a quick look at the picture of this product above. With packaging like that, I don't think I really need to explain much more about my initial attraction to this cute, pink, flowery little tub...

Being a girly girl, I have a life-long love of roses. Naturally, when I was little, I used to try and make rose perfume in the same way all little girls do, by getting a load of rose petals, mashing them up in a bowl, and then being disappointed that the resulting brown mush smelt like, well, foliage. Nevertheless, I've always appreciated the humble rose as a flower and its essential oil (which is definitely not made using the method outlined above). I was thrilled when I received my first bunch of roses, and this is a thrill that never goes away - I just love them. About a year before I'd found this gorgeous little salve, I'd gone on a one-woman mission to find a rose perfume before settling on Crabtree and Evelyn's rosewater. I loved the retro cuteness of the scent and I didn't care that everyone I met told me I smelt like their Nan - I was happy.

I also have a not-quite-life-long-but-at-least-5-year-long love of Rose & Co. I went to university in Leeds, where Rose & Co used to have a shop (they may still do, but I'd heard a nasty rumour it had closed down!). This shop pretty much saw me through the Leeds years with its cramped interior, kitsch product range, glorious smell, friendly staff, great service, fantastic packaging and general feel-good factor. It's fair to say it was a shop crush.

I think, then, I have legitimately justified my willingness to pay £5 for what is essentially a small tub of lip balm. Now, this isn't even approaching the irresponsible spending level of some of my impulse buys, but it's still a little bit steep for what it is, which is essentially a scented petroleum jelly - so, er, vaseline.

There are a lot of good things about petroleum jellies - they are barriers rather than moisturisers, and work by not letting moisture escape from the skin underneath them. They also prevent environmental nasties from drying out your poor skin, allowing your skin to sort itself out in its own way. This is why a petroleum jelly will never properly sink into your skin and will always feel tacky until it is wiped/washed/licked off.

However, a quick study of the ingredients list on the bottom of this gorgeous little pink tub reveals that this salve also contains Beeswax and Almond Oil, both of which do have moisturising properties. Ah-ha! So this stuff does have one-up on vaseline in the lip salve stakes after all!

But onto the important stuff (for me at least): did it live up to my unreasonably high expectations? Well, yes. On opening the tin, I was struck by the delicious fragrance - it's like rose turkish delight in sweetness, but a little more floral-smelling. Then I peered in and discovered that the salve itself was pink, and by this point I was in love. Putting the stuff on my lips, my impressed-o-meter shot right up - the delicious scent lingers on the lips for a while after application, putting me in a fabulous mood, and the application itself is like a dream. It feels smoother and silkier than vaseline to put on, but at the same time more substantial. It seems to stick around a lot longer than vaseline would too - possibly because of the moisturising ingredients which do sink into lips. It's a lovely lip balm experience.

I tend to use this mainly on my lips, but it is also suitable for soothing other dry patches and taming eyebrows. I have used this on my eyelids to give a slight sheen (a trick I have used with vaseline on occasion) and it looked lovely. It also works as a very effective "boyfriend salve" - I'm not allowed to use this in front of him without having the tub swiped from my hands and him taking a great lungful of the gorgeous scent. It cheers him up. Bless.

The tub is very generous in size, and even with regular use I'm still not really making a dent in it after 6 months.

This lovely Rose Petal Salve is available from larger branches of boots and retails at around £5. Highly recommended for girly girls everywhere.

Summary: Get thee to boots and buy some.