I am going to begin this post by saying that I absolutely hate having dry lips. I have a theory that perhaps my lips get overly dry due to a bad habit I have developed of biting them but I would love to hear from any readers of my blog whether you are similarly afflicted. As such I am eternally searching for a really good lip balm, I have even tried using shea butter but this didn’t have the required effect at all on my lips. I hate the fact that a lot of the conventional lip balms use petroleum, mineral oil in their formulation which I have heard just covers your lips in a kind of plastic layer which stifles your pores and I believe actually contributes to their dryness ultimately. So as any regular readers can probably already predict……my next move is to begin the hunt to find a natural lip care regime that I can use to combat this affliction.
As with all of your skin, exfoliation is an hugely important step to keeping good condition. This to me is a massive part of maintaining their good health and so the first thing I want to discuss is a lip scrub that I tried out. This is the vanilla sugar Lip scrub from Lone and it came in a very handy little tube. It is made from a blend of cane sugar and fine oils so I presume that the granular nature of the cane sugar is what actually does the exfoliating and the vanilla infused coconut oil, hazelnut oil and meadowfoam seed oil work as moisturisers and flavouring. There is then Beeswax and Cocoa butter which are both great ingredients for moisturise and protect lips so all in all these certified organic ingredients seem to be a perfect selection for what the scrub is trying to achieve, soft luscious lips. I have to say that after using this scrub I found that it removed all my dead dry skin from my lips and left them so soft, smooth and totally prepped and ready to apply either a balm or a lipstick. Another great point about this scrub is that it comes in a tube, which means not only can you pop into your handbag and apply anywhere and then (after massaging it in) just remove it with a tissue, but also means it is far more convenient than a pot which always seem to get messy. I really like this lip scrub and think it is amazing, it costs $6 (as Lone is a US based company) and will now be a firm fixture in my handbag.
To accompany the scrub from Lone I also tested their Lemon Mint Soothe balm but it comes in a range of 4 different flavours. I was again very pleased to see that it also comes in the same handy tube ready to take up its slot in my handbag……if i like it as much as the scrub of course. Again this range was scoring highly due to the fact that everything seems to be made from certified organic ingredients. This time it’s quite a similar composition of coconut oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, grapeseed oil, meadowfoam seed oil, jojoba oil, peppermint oil, lemon oil and melissa oil so a few favourites of mine in there too. I found this balm to not be sticky at all (which is a personal peeve of mine when it comes to lip balms) and also lasted several hours without needing to reapply. It soothed and softened my dry chapped lips instantly and the citrus/mint flavour combination was really refreshing. I was also informed that supposedly coconut oil helps to fight off split lips and cold sores so I am sure there is a whole strata of the population who would love to know that and of course use this really light and soothing product! This balm will definitely be joining its scrub sibling inside my bag from now on as the two together are even better when you use them in conjunction.
Lastly I tested out The Mini Care Lip Balm from Akar Skin which comes in a pot and I always like to have one by my bed side to use before sleeping. Its texture was completely different to anything else I have tried before and it intrigued me. This balm is far creamier and not the usual solid texture of lip balm I am used to. It’s quite a thick consistency still though and once applied to your lips it just melts into a silky butter as it warms. I only really use this balm at night even though I really like it and this is due entirely to the container. In aesthetic terms I absolutely love the design and the glass pot seems so luxurious and expensive however it is just not feasible to take a pot out and about with you and there is just too much scope to make a huge mess as well as it all just becoming quite unhygienic. This seems like a bit of a shame though as this could quite easily contest the Lone balm for the illustrious handbag position if only it were in different packaging. However the flip side to that would be that it might lose some of its prestigiousness so I am in two minds on this one but hopefully they start producing a nice handy pocket version at some point in the future!
So now every morning when I wake up my lips are so soft and smooth thanks to this new addition on my bedside table. This Akar Skin product promises to be made from 100% organic or Wildharvested completely natural Castor Seed Oil, Beeswax, Almond Oil, Camellia Seed Oil, Baobab Seed Oil, Red Raspberry Seed Oil, Seabuckthorn Fruit Extract, Rosehip Seed Extract, Orange Peel Oil, Sunflower Seed oil, Rose Flower Oil, Peru Balsam Resin and Rosemary Leaf Extract. Overall this product rates really well with me but as always there has to be a downside and for this product it’s the price……a whopping $33! Maybe this won’t be getting the coveted handbag space after all but then again it could probably take the place of my purse as that would become non existent very quickly.
So what is your lip care routine and which natural products would you recommend to me in an attempt to usurp the positions of these three in my regime every day? Get in touch and tell me which ones I should put to the test!
