Review: Carmex medicated lipbalm

Item Reviewed: Carmex original lipbalm (tub)

Price/pack size: US$1.49

Available at: Sadly, not in Singapore!

Ingredients:

* Camphor alleviates pain
* Menthol kills germs and relieves discomfort
* Phenol gently numbs your sore lips and removes old, dead skin

OTHER INGREDIENTS

* beeswax, cetyl esters, flavor, fragrance, lanolin, paraffin, petrolatum, salicylic acid and theobroma cacao(cocoa) seed butter.

Description:

• Available since 1937, with over 1 billion jars sold
• Original lip-tingling formula
• Relieves the symptoms of chapped lips and cold sores
• Non-addictive and not tested on animals
• Available in .25 and .5 oz. sizes
• Available in larger 4 oz. and 8 oz. jar sizes

Review:

I’ve always complained about dry lips, especially since having braces! So my sister passed me a jar of Carmex one day and asked me to try it. Now, if my sister says Carmex is dope, I’ll believe her. She has the driest lips of all, one of the side effects of being a smoker.

So I tried it one night when my lips were peeling and no amount of lipbalm could save it, and I was impressed! My lips were restored back to its usual state of softness and smoothness after 2 nights of intense Carmex therapy. Now I know why Carmex has constantly won awards and gotten the thumbs up from many users. Even my male Ang Moh boss uses it and loves it!

Now, if only Carmex will produce its award-winning original lipbalm in a twist up lipbalm tube… it would be most convenient and hygienic. They currently produce it in a squeezy tube, which is what my boss uses, however I don’t like squeezy tubes because the rounded tip often causes product to go all over the perimeter of my lips, and they melt in our humid and hot weather. They have the SPF15 lipbalm in twist up tubes, but me being troublesome me, I can’t use SPF lipbalms as they cause my lips to peel even more… only the original lipbalms without colouring, flavouring and fragrance work for me.

Rating: 5/5

Would I buy again: Yes, anyone going to the US soon?

Review: Mentholatum Deep Moist Natural lipbalm

Item Reviewed: Mentholatum Deep Moist Natural lipbalm

Price/pack size: S$7.90

Available at: Watsons only

Ingredients: Key moisturizing ingredients: Hyaluronic Acid, Shea Butter & Jojoba Oil.

Description: Deep Moist was launched in 2008 in Japan and quickly became the top selling lip balms in Japan, strengthening Mentholatum as the #1 Top Selling Lip Balm brand in Japan.

Deep Moist lipbalms boast an incredible ingredient, Hyaluronic Acid – one of the best hydrating ingredient in the cosmetic industry. It also contains shea butter and jojoba oil to provide long lasting hydration for your lips.

Review: Mentholatum is, without a doubt, the world’s #1 lipbalm manufacturer. I’m not saying this because they sent me a bunch of samples, but rather, this is my honest opinion. I have, on and off, used Mentholatum’s lipbalms because they have a wide range and different types to suit various needs. However, I have stopped using them in recent years because I don’t like menthol on my lips (I find that menthol dries my lips more, though the cool feel is a plus point) and I dislike scented products. I was quite skeptical when I saw some scented products in the review package when I was blog surfing. Luckily, there were 2 ranges sent in the same package, and I naturally chose the non-scented one to review first. My lips were in dire need of a lipbalm!

The Deep Moist range of lipbalms have quite unique packaging, in the sense that they don’t come in the run-of-the-mill round twist up tubes. As you can see from the photos, they come in a rounded rectangle tube, which is quite uncommon. The shape takes a little getting used to. But I can see the pros to the unique shape. One thing for sure, the lipbalm stays where I place it and won’t roll all over the place! It’s also easier to photograph since I don’t have to hold it in place.

Onto the actual product, the texture is not oily, not waxy either. It’s a comfortable creamy texture that melts slightly upon contact with skin. It glides on easily, without causing an oil slick on my lips. There isn’t a scent, nor colour to the lipbalm – just a basic, no-frills lipbalm that does its job. The matte finish also makes it easy to apply lipstick without fear that colour will run all over. Despite me applying layers of lipbalm, there isn’t any visible product buildup (I hate that white lips look…). There is no taste to the lipbalm, unlike Carmex (weird medicinal taste). Another plus point!

Results-wise, it definitely remained on my lips and moisturized it well overnight. I had dry peeling lips when I went to bed last night, and this morning, the dry patches were gone. Instead, I had soft lips!

Edit 23 Sept 2010: After using Deep Moist consecutively for a few days, my lips peeled really badly, way worse than before using it. I think my lips are not suitable for beeswax-based lipbalms – the same thing happened to me when I used Burt’s Bees! Rating now revised to 2…

Rating: 2/5

Would I buy again: Most probably yes, if there isn’t anything more interesting that catches my eye when I run out of it. No… my lips cannot tolerate beeswax.

*BONUS!!! I’m going to give away one of this lipbalm to a lucky reader in a mini giveaway later this week! So come back for more goodies!

Review: My Lip Stuff lipbalms

Item Reviewed: My Lip Stuff lipbalms

Price/pack size: US$2/regular balm

Available at: My Lip Stuff

Ingredients:

Description: My Lip Stuff lip balm is the perfect blend of butters, oils, and beeswax to moisturize dry lips! Over 400 flavors currently available and new flavors added all the time.

Review: I fell in love with it fast, and also fell out of love with it fast.

Here’s what I like about MLS lipbalms: wide variety of ‘flavours’, fast shipping, affordable pricing, able to personalise, doubles up as a gloss.

Here’s what I don’t like about them: oily (or rather, they melt very easily in our humid climate), doesn’t really moisturize, the flavours get me on my nerves after some time.

Rating: 3/5

Would I buy again: No

Nivea essential lipbalm

Please contact me via email (madaboutsprees@gmail.com) if you’re an international reader interested to buy.

Review: I’m on my 2nd tube this year. I’m using Nivea Essential (the dark blue tube) and it’s really good! I never thought I’d find HG status in a drugstore brand (I’m pretty much a brand snob.. haha).

This lipbalm does not contain menthol (bad for lips), does not contain colouring, does not contain fragrance. It also does not have SPF which suits me just well cos my lips don’t take SPF well (it makes my lips dry and peel).

It goes perfectly well under lipsticks and gloss, moisturizing my lips but does not interfere with my lipsticks and gloss too.

Overall rating:

Lucas Papaw Ointment

Product brand: Lucas
Product name: Papaw Ointment
Product price: ~AUD$5-6 (tube) at Australian pharmacies
Product quantity: 25g tube, 75g and 200g tubs

Description (from http://www.lucaspapaw.com.au/):

Lucas Papaw Ointment may be used as a local topical application on the following.

Abscesses Boils Bruises Burns
Carbuncles Chafings Cuts Cysts
Dry and Cracked skin on hands and feet
Gravel rash Heat rash Insect stings
Mosquito bites Open wounds Pimples
Scalds Sunburn Swelling associated with injury
Splinters and thorns Tinea Whitlow

also:

Nappy Rash and Cracked Nipples
Temporary relief of the symptoms of dermatitis and eczema
Temporary relief of the discomfort of haemorrhoids by local application.

Review: After reading rave reviews of this ointment for the 2 years that I was in Australia, I finally decided to try it when I was about to graduate. Big mistake. I should have tried this product when I first went to Perth! It’s so wonderful for my dry lips and eczema patches on my body. It’s up there, sharing HG status with Smith’s Rosebud Salve (which I’ve now neglected).

Texture is a thick oily texture in humid weather, a balmy texture in cold weather. It is easy to apply and lasts a long time. Its antiseptic properties makes it suitable for every skin problem you can think of! A huge 25g tube lasts a long time too.