Kiss me! (The Body Shop Lip Butter)

Member Name: carly_pussycat

Product:	The Body Shop Lip Butter
Date:	21/06/07 (116 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Heals cracked lips, natural ingredients, lovely scent/taste

Disadvantages: No SPF

I really like having soft lips but in the past I’ve always relied on things like Vaseline to keep them moisturised. I used to apply it every night and wake up and wipe it off to have soft lips but as my boyfriend doesn’t like the feel of it on my lips at night I started using other things during the day which was ok but I had to apply them every day otherwise my lips started getting dry. I then read somewhere that mineral oil (sometimes called Petrolatum in ingredients lists) coats your lips in a protective layer but once you’re not wearing it your lips don’t stay moist very long, so it’s better to opt for mineral oil free lip products as they will improve the condition of your lips and not create a vicious circle of applying it more and more often to get your lip fix!

I hunted down such a product in The Body Shop as their lip butters caught my eye and taking a quick peek at the ingredients I noticed Shea Butter was the FIRST ingredient which I was really pleased about as I’d used this on my body before to great effect and I know it’s a high quality natural ingredient, and it also contains beeswax which I know is meant to be an effective moisturiser (both alternatives to the evil mineral oil!) I did notice though, that it contains Lanolin, which a fair amount of people are allergic to so it’s worth noting before purchase. Being from The Body Shop of course all the ingredients are Fair Trade and their products are never tested on animals, which may ease some people’s consciences. There is a good selection of flavours, and I’m pretty sure everyone could find one that suited their taste. I chose Mango originally but have since decided that I prefer Coconut, other choices include Brazil Nut, Shea Butter, Pink Grapefruit and Passion Fruit.

The plastic pot is perhaps slightly bigger than standard lip balm pots but this is mainly only because it’s high sided (to match their body butter pots maybe?) not because it contains that much more, but at 10ml it’s more than enough. It’s neither eye catchingly beautiful nor ugly, but then for a lip balm to be used mainly at home, who cares? It just needs to work. It’s easy to screw the top on and off, will never leak, and will survive in a handbag so I have no complaints.

I thought I’d give this a go at night again – the purchase had been prompted by some horrible dry skin at the sides of my lips. Upon first use the balm was quite solid, but after smoothing my fingertip round it a few times it soon softened up and was easy to apply the right amount (as little or as much as you like). It’s colourless and slightly glossy (but not overly) once applied so would never need a mirror or anything if you chose to use it out and about. On your lips it can sometimes feel a little grainy if the balm was cold when applied but with the warmth of your lips and a few lip smacks it always softens quickly! I find this balm really pleasant to wear as it feels nice and moist but not overly thick as I don’t like it when you feel like you have some sort layer of lip armour on!

I have found that the scents are pleasant but not overwhelming, and the tastes are really true to life because they have the real thing in them rather than synthetic flavours. The mango one was really nice for application throughout the day as I love mangoes but I found that at night it was a bit bizarre because I would have just cleaned my teeth and then if I licked my lips, mango + mint = ew! Coconut and mint just about works so that won my vote as it could be used any time.

Anyway, most importantly, how well do they work? Well, in my opinion they work the best I’ve ever known a lip balm to work. I applied it quite thickly every night and within 3 days my horrible lip had fully healed itself. 3 days might sound longer than you’d expect but it was an actual crack in my lip (uugh!) rather than just dryness, so I was very impressed! Due to the fact that the natural ingredients are non-addictive to your skin I find that once every few days is fine for application and you don’t get that dryness in between that you experience when stopping mineral oil based products. Of course you can apply daily for extra softness but I just get lazy.

These lip butters are available at all Body Shop stores and online. £5 a pot sounds slightly on the expensive side, but when you try it you’ll know it’s worth every penny. Sadly I lost my Mango one, but the Coconut I’ve had for over 18 months and there’s still half left so it’s not like it gets used up quickly either. The one and only down side to this product is that there’s no SPF within it, which I like to have in my lip balm during the summer, but as I have found an excellent stick formulation by a local organic company called Yaoh, I have no gripes with this as sticks are easier to use out of the house.

I cannot recommend this enough!

Summary: The best lip balm out there with quality natural moisturising ingredients