Product Review - A Tale of Two Lip Balms

Today is the day to review my Ipsy lip balms.  In my first post for the August Ipsy bag I showed you the lip balm I got with my bag.  Then a friend of mine who got a different balm in her bag sent hers to me to review as well.  So you get a treat, two lip balm reviews. :)

The first one I'm going to talk about is the one that came in my bag.  You're the Balm in Green Apple by Absolute.

This is a nice feeling lip balm, it is light, more a lip gloss actually.   It keeps my lips nicely hydrated and isn't sticky.  It also smells and tastes very nice.  It isn't something I would normally buy however for several reasons.  

The container isn't conducive to tucking into my pants pocket and taking with me.  The tin is about an inch thick and about 1.5 inches across, so it is fairly bulky.  It has a tight fit so takes two hands to open.  My last container criticism is that it is a canister, so I have to swipe my finger across it and then across my lips.  This leaves my finger sticky and germy and is unattractive to do if you are in a group situation.

Another thing I don't care for is that when I tried googling the manufacturer I couldn't find them online.  When I try a new brand of anything I like to read more about that item on the company website.  If the maker of this product has a website they keep it very well hidden.

Two more strikes against this product are that two of its ingredients are Petrolatum and Aspartame.  I am not someone who requires my makeup to be all natural and organic but there really are much better choices than petroleum byproducts and artificial sweeteners in a lip balm.  Petrolatum is a petroleum distillant which acts as a moisturizer and uv absorber and listed by EWG.org as a low to moderate hazard risk.   Aspartame is a sweetener.  Do we really need sweetened lip gloss?  If your product tastes bad enough you feel the need to sweeten it, maybe it is time to reformulate the product?  Aspartame is a known migraine trigger to many people and has no cosmetic value so why is it in there?

I give this product 3 stars.  It does its job but there are better choices out there for me.

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Next up is the lip balm my friend got in her Ipsy bag.  She is allergic to rosemary which is one of the ingredients in this product so sent her sample to me.

This is Jersey Shore Sun's Mongongo Nutrient Dense Anti-aging lip conditioner in Mandarin Green Orange Ginger.  No, don't worry, as far as I can tell it is not that Jersey Shore.  :)

I REALLY like this product.  It keeps my lips soft and moisturized without being sticky.  It smells and tastes good.  Best of all, none of my concerns about the previous product are concerns with this one.

The product comes in a traditional tube form so is easy to stick in a pocket and apply one handed without getting your finger all sticky. 

There are not one but two web addresses on this package.  The first one is www.jerseyshoresun.com the home page for the manufacturer of the lip balm, the second is www.tilth.org, the home page for the company that certified the product as being organic.  Yes, that's right, this one is Organic!  I realize I said earlier that I didn't insist on my products being organic but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate it when they are.

The third concern I had about the previous product was about some of the ingredients.  All of the ingredients in this one are easily recognizable.  Sunflower oil, beeswax, cocoa butter, etc...  The only one I had to look up was Mongongo oil.  It comes from the seed of the Manketti tree which grows in sub-Saharan Africa.  It is used for uv protection, reduction of redness and inflammation, and it is used because of its long term stability in formulations.  The fruit and seeds have been eaten for hundreds of years by the people and animals of Africa so it is known to be very safe.

This product I give 5 stars.  I would definitely buy it again.

Product Review and New Ipsy Bag!

Today I will be reviewing the last product from my July Ipsy bag and giving you a look at my August Ipsy bag which I got in today's mail.

I saved the best for last in the July bag.  This is my favorite product of everything that came in that cute pink pouch.  It is the Soy Renewal Beach Spray from Sexy Hair.  It says it is a beach look conditioning & texturizing spray with Argan oil.

I frequently use a beach spray on my hair but normally it is Aquage Sea Salt Texturizing Spray which I got from my hair stylist.  However, I think I have found my new favorite beach spray.  This spray has a pistol grip type of dispenser rather than the standard pump button so it is easier to use if your hands are damp.  It also smells better than my usual brand and IMO my hair feels better when I use this verses my usual brand.

This is what my hair looks like if I don't use anything on it.  This is just plain old me, washed and air dried.

This is me with the Sexy Hair Beach Spray.  I gave my towel dried hair a good spritzing and scrunching, then another spritz and scrunch when my hair was fully dry.

And here is the sample bottle.  Isn't it cute?

This is definitely a product I will be buying again and gets a 5 star rating from me.

Next we have the Ipsy bag for August.  I am absurdly excited about this months bag.  It contains -

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara

Costal Scents Forever Blush sample duo

Dr. Brandt Pores No More pore refiner and primer

Lord and Berry Black Silk mini kohl liner

Absolute You're the Balm in Green Apple

I already use and love a lot of Urban Decay's products, I love facial primers, have fun with eyeliners and blushes, and go thru lip balm like it is going out of style so this is an awesome bag for me.

And it all came in a cute little white bag with orange polka dots.  Keep checking in and I will tell you what I think of this months goodies.

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If you have a question you would like answered or a product you would like reviewed feel free to email me at hhertziger@gmail.com or leave a comment on the blog.

Product Review - Ipsy lip balm and tanning oil

My new Ipsy bag will be here any day now so I need to take a moment to review two more products from the last bag.

The first one is the Pixi tinted brilliance balm in Pretty Pink.  This is a nice and light feeling product.  My lips don't feel sticky, greasy, or slimy.  The color is shear, and it smells and tastes, slightly minty.  This is a much pinker color than I would have picked out for myself but it doesn't look that bad.

Before

After

This color won't become a normal color in my makeup drawer but it doesn't look bad at all.  I also like the feel of the product so I would definitely pick this up in a different color if I were to see it in the store.  It gets four stars from me.  I would buy it but I would pick a different color.

The next product is Hang Ten Dark Tanning Oil.  

I don't tan so I can't tell you if it works for helping improve a tan.  However, I do have dry skin so I can tell you it works very well as a moisturizer.  Plus it smells good, I smell like a pina colada when I wear it.  This product says it is Oxybenzone free, Paraben free, Retinyl Palmitate free, synthetic fragrance free, non-greasy, and non-nano.

For those of you who are like me and wondered what the heck non-nano means I found a link that explains it here.  This product has no zinc or titanium oxide so this would be a non-nano product.  As for non-greasy, well, it is an oil so until it is absorbed it does feel a little greasy.  However, once it is absorbed the greasy feeling goes away.  This product also has an SPF of 8, and is made in the US.  This product gets three stars from me.  It is nice but not something I would ever buy for myself.