Balms Away!

I got a full-size sample of Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm as part of the Neutrogena Bzz Kit (from BzzAgent.com) I mentioned on Monday. It’s available in six different shades, of which they sent me three. I chose “Sunny Berry” which was the darkest of the group, and passed the rest on to two lucky friends. Sorry, Other Friends!

The Sunny Berry color is nice. It’s actually similar to my favorite Clinique Chubby Stickshade, Super Strawberry, which, for the record, does not taste like strawberry. I am a grown-up. Sunny Berry is a bit more opaque and not quite as quenchy. (Not a “real” word, but a real feeling.)

The shape of the balm, a narrow oval tube, is a little funny. I guess it’s mostly because I’m not used to it? Still, it’s like one direction is too fat and the other is too skinny. This would be better in the thin kind of lipstick tube that has an angled top. (Says me, very specifically.) I also don’t like that the branding is a rectangular sticker glued to the side. Declassé! What’s UP Neutrogena? Unless their real packaging wasn’t finished so they sent out mock-ups? The sticker part has been photoshopped out of all the promo shots, so maybe. I want printing right on the package if you’re trying to sell me an $8.99 lip balm. This ain’t Chapstick.

On a brighter note, it has SPF 20, which is always awesome. And thanks to its "ion2complex" it’s supposed to make your lips look “softer, rosier, fuller and more defined” after one week of use. I did not notice any long-term effects, but it certainly looks that way while you’re wearing it, which is kind of good enough.

One thing you may or may not care about is that this has petrolatum in it, and it is in no way an “all-natural” product. Though, products that promise to make long-term improvements seldom are.

Overall, it’s a nice tinted-balm for a natural look if you don’t care about using natural products. I prefer a bit more shine, but if you like your natural look to be more natural-looking, this is a good one to try.