I'm Sbitten!

One of the things that really annoys me, and I assure you, there are MANY things, is when I see a new product in a magazine and can’t find it ANYWHERE. Such was the case with Revlon’s new Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stains.

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.

Labbra di Lusso

 

I’ve written before about the joy I get from a fancy lip balm. My go-to has been Fresh Sugar Rosé for quite some time now. It’s been enough time that I thought I might mix it up a little.

I had heard about (and continued to hear about) Olio Lusso, the amazing and expensive oil blend by Linda Rodin, an ex-model, stylist, skincare maven and 63-year-old-lady-who-is-definitely-way-cooler-than-me. Olio Lusso means “Luxury Oil” in Italian, and it’s a $150 blend of essential oils derived from flowers and other botanicals that are “legendary for their soothing, softening, glow-giving, emollient and protective properties.” It is a blend of legendary oils that I will not be able to experience in the foreseeable future. However! The promise of jasmine, neroli, and other magical oils was enough to get me to try their (relatively) more affordable lip balm as my new fancy lip treat.

Having A Ball

My new favorite drugstore impulse buy isn’t really an impulse buy at all. I had been checking out the eos lip balm for months, maybe even a year. The first few times, I knew nothing about it, but the shape grabbed me. It’s a ball! Why is it a ball? But I resisted. I didn’t need any new lip balm. Eventually, I started seeing ads and learning more about it. It has all the important “frees”: gluten-free, paraben-free, petrolatum-free, phthalate-free. And it’s 95% organic, 100% natural. It’s made with shea butter, vitamin E and jojoba oil. It really sounded like my kind of lip balm. Still, I resisted. I already have plenty of lip balm.

Color Change Glows On

Hmm. Well, it seems like I could have dedicated a week to glowing instead of changing colors, because our final product for the week has Glow in the name too. Dior Addict Lip Glow.

Headline

As I mentioned yesterday, I’m vigilant about protecting my face from the sun. But what’s holding my face on my body? Is that important too? Well, it's my head, and most of the time I consider it to be important and useful. Let's put it this way: I certainly wouldn’t want to be without it! Here are the things I use to protect my head, and it’s parts, on the beach.

Does This Lip Stick Make Me Look Fat?

Clinique’s new Chubby Sticks, shown here with what appear to be the most delicious knox blox ever, will make your lips sneaky-pretty.