Lipbalms I use

Lipbalms I love...

Down through the years, like everyone, I've dabbled in lipsticks, lipglosses, lipbalms.  The latter was something I used mostly sulkily, because (a) my lips were frequently in rag order, and applying lipstick wouldn't help and would most likely show them up.  Also, (b) because of the nature of my job/business (IT) I was mainly surrounded by guys who were confused when I wore a lipstick (and confirmed that, yes, in fact, I was a girl) - so I tended to stick to the balm, and eschew the stick and the gloss.  The balms in question were invariably cheap drugstore purchases; Nivea or the like.

Onwards, I now know that I can mix it up.   I've whispered a quiet farewell (for now) to my IT career path and with it, the confused geeks (although I'll always be one of 'em, really), so I can feel confident wearing weird and wonderful lip colours with abandon.

Balms can be used at night (especially heavier duty balms) to get my lips into condition for the 'sticks and 'glosses the next day.

Balms can be used as part of a makup routine as a preparation for lip products.

Balms can be worn over lipliner if you have a lipliner colour you like - the balm seals in the colour and helps it stop drying your lips out.

Balms can be mixed with glitter or shimmer products and worn as a kind of lipgloss analogue, minus the high shine and inherent gloopiness.

Balms can be used on their own, purely to protect lips, or if you don't want a coloured lip.

Here are the ones that I've settled on using...

The Daddy of Them All
(or The One I use by Night)

Creme de la Mer lipbalm

One balm to rule them all...

If there were one lipbalm I had to choose that I had to live with for the rest of my life, eschewing all others, it would be this.  I am a devoted CDLM user and this offering delivers every bit as much as the rest of the range.  Clear coloured, faintly scented with sweet lemon and mint, this is expensive (around €55-€60 ish mark in Brown Thomas or Harvey Nichols).  But it really really really really works.  It's not remotely sticky.  It glides onto lips and makes them feel instantly soft and nourished.  It also works as a treatment for really dry or chapped lips, and it lasts forever and then some.

This contains petrolatum, which may or may not be an issue for some.  Doesn't contain SPF as far as I'm aware.

Ingredients

Mineral oil, petrolatum, glycerin, isohexadecane, microcrystalline wax, lanolin alcohol, sesame seed oil, magnesium sulfate, paraffin, decyl oleate, aluminium distearate, octyldodecanol, citric acid, magnesium stearate, panthenol, fragrance, methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, alcohol denat

The Fancy One
(or The One I use by Day)

ByTerry Or de Rose Baume Précieux

The ByTerry Or de Rose Baume Précieux is a beautiful product, there's no doubt about it.  It is a faintly glossy pink offering with very evident pink-gold sparkles (from the 24k rose gold flakes!) and a medium-strong rose scent.  I use it on its own as a cute lipgloss or over a brown or mauve toned nude lipliner, or mixed with lipstick for amping up a plainer lipstick.  I occasionally use it for tops of cheekbones for a slightly sparkly highlighter.

Close-up.  So pretty!

It's not cheap, I think I paid €45 or €50 (??) for this in Harvey Nichols, in a rush of retail whimsy.  I don't find my lips particularly plumped up with this product; if they start out flaky, this helps a little but no more than other lipsticks or lipbalms.  I use it because I like the smell, the taste and the look.

It runs out quickly (in a few months I've gone through nearly a third of it with reasonably regular use) and am a bit hit-and-miss as to whether or not I'll replace... but from a purely aesthetic viewpoint, I do love it.

It has an SPF of 15, also contains petrolatum and parabens (lots of them.  Hmmm).  Also contains a wheat protein, so probably not a recommended product for coeliacs. 

Ingredients

Castor seed oil, synthetic wax, diiosostearyl malate, tridecyltrimellitate, methyl hydrogenated rosinate, hydrogenated polyisobutene, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate (octinoxate), polyethylene, C10-30 cholestorol/lanesterol esters, petrolatum, butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) extract, stearalkonium hectorite, C20-40 acid, rosa centifolia flower wax, rosa damascena flower wax, triticum vulgare (hydrolyzed wheat protein), caprylic/capric triglyceride, parfum, tocopherol, titanium dioxide, propylene carbonate, pentaerythrityl tetraisostearate, lanolin, sodium PCA, aqua (water), polysorbate 85, trihydroxypalmitamidohydroxypropyl myristyl ether, alumina, polyhydroxystearic acid, mica, silica, methylparaben, propylparaben, silica dimethyl silylate, butylene glycol, carmine, phenoxyethanol, butylparaben, ethylparaben, isobutylparaben, benzyl benzoate, citronellol, eugenol, geraniol, linalool

The All-rounder
(aka The One I use in my Kit)

Elizabeth Arden
Eight Hour Cream

Cult favourite, Elizabeth Arden's Eight Hour Cream is brilliant for just about everything.  With one small caveat - it has a smell that people either love or detest.  Unfortunately, I fall into the latter category, so I don't use it on me personally (although I believe it will now be available fragrance free, so it may just get bumped up to my own personal stash if that's the case).  This is a slightly yellowy-orangey shade but mainly shears out to clear.  I use this on lips at the start of a makeover to get them moisturised.  Similarly, if a client has really dry or flaky skin, this can be applied and left for a bit prior to base.

This purports to be one of those miracle balms for "everything" but the reality is, all of these slightly waxy slightly unctuous products are good for "everything" (dry elbows, cuticles, lips, dry flaky skin, eyebrow grooming, serum for frizzy hair, scrapes, burns, insect bites, protection from the weather etc).

I believe it's around €25, which makes it more interesting from a price perspective.

This, like the two before it, contains petrolatum.  It contains parabens and has no SPF.

Ingredients

Lanolin, vitamin E, salicylic acid, mineral oil, castor oil, corn oil, propylparaben, iron oxides, petrolatum.

Also Ran #1
(A mid-priced alternative to Creme de la Mer)

Molton Brown
Vitamin Lipsaver

The Molten Brown Protecting Vitamin Lipsaver is a close second (for me) to the Creme de la Mer offering, or if you don't like the smell of Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream.  It's a clear, waxy like lipbalm, technically part of their Men's range of products, but I've found it better than their Women's range of lipbalms.  As far as I know, it's priced around €15.

Ingredients were impossible to find for this product, but I do know from the packaging that it contains honey, beeswax and vitamin E, and I think it has an SPF of 8.  It's slightly honey-beeswax flavoured, but nothing offensive.

I have two of these, and my other half also uses it as a lipbalm.  It does what it's supposed to do, but it's nothing exciting.

Also Ran #2
(A budget version of Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream)

Carmex Original Lipbalm

Carmex Lipbalm (available in pot or tube form) is a good budget alternative to Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream.  Personally, I don't like the scent or the taste of camphor and menthol on my lips.  I really think it's yuck, but this is available now in other flavours/scents (vanilla, lime, cherry, strawberry).  It does the trick, and certainly softens your lips.  It also contends to be a miracle catch-all product for a bunch of ailments (like Eight Hour Cream) and it certainly works - I have both in my kit and use Eight Hour Cream by preference (and by reason of perception) but I have some Carmex as a backup, or if people really can't stand the smell of Eight Hour Cream

This is cheap as chips, at around a fiver (€5).

It contains petrolatum and has no SPF.

Ingredients

Camphor, menthol, phenol, beeswax, cetyle esters, flavour, fragrance, lanolin, paraffin, petrolatum, salicylic acid, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter. Some of the other flavours may also include: aloe butter, vitamin E, shea butter.

Also Ran #3

(Mid-priced Kit Offering)

MAC
Prep+Prime Lip

MAC Prep+Prime Lip is technically a lip primer, not a lipbalm, intended to be worn under lipstick, rather than a treatment in its own right.  The idea behind it is that it prepares your lips for product, extends the life of that products, prevents the product from drying out and from feathering on your lips.  This is a good idea for reasonably good condition lips, especially with more drying lip products (some matte lipsticks or lipstains), to prevent them from drying out and flaking.  I use it underneath matte lipsticks and on clients who don't need a very heavy balm to prep their lips, it's not great for excessively dry or chapped lips.

This is not strictly a necessity, especially if you already have a good lipbalm, but if you don't, this really does help your lipstick last and look good while it's doing it.

I think this rings in at around €15, so not cheap, not expensive.

Ingredients were hard to find for this one but I believe it contains vitamin E, and given its feel, it most certainly contains silicone.