two problems have always plagued me ever since i was a teenager - the first being the issue of persistently dry, chapped lips no matter how much water i drank, and the second being a complete inability to find a lip balm I liked enough to use consistently and not lose it after a week.
separately, each of these would be slightly more than a minor issue, but together, it got so bad that i vividly remember one overseas trip when i was younger - i was crying in agony after my lips cracked and bled quite badly after a hot liquidless afternoon out.
so it was against this backdrop that i happened to notice lip balms in stock when i was making an order from Sugar & Spite for perfumes a while back. i had ordered Hunny Bunny (realistic, true honey) together with a dragon's hoard of scents, and received an unexpected free gift of another lip balm in Choco Chupeta (orange lollie with a chocolate center) with my order.
aesthetic-wise, Sugar & Spite's packaging is unrivaled among all the other indie houses i've tried (though Stereoplasm comes in a very close second). i reused some of the packaging (the beautiful tissue paper wrapping and woven cord) for this shot, and simply cannot get over how adorably kawaii the bunny and vampire are on both tubes.
Hunny Bunny was a light yellow beeswax colour. when i first smelled it in the tube there was barely any scent at all, but as i applied it i began to catch a light whiff, then a stronger aroma, then i was just breathing in a super-rich amazingly decadent honey. i really loved this one and it now occupies a permanent spot in my purse. i would have ordered another one as a backup to replace it when it runs out, but Sugar & Spite has its lip balm flavours on rotation and there's naught to be seen of this newfound favourite of mine for now. once it returns, you bet i'm going to swoop in straight on this for replacements.
Choco Chupeta was a sort of peach-pink colour, darker than Hunny Bunny. it also barely had any detectable scent from the tube, but on application this one blossomed into a nice yummy scent of orange with a tiny smidgen of chocolate fudge. i like this a lot and rotate it with Hunny Bunny from time to time in daily use. while the scent is true to the listed notes and is real nice, i must admit that i just have a slightly sweeter spot for the more natural honey scent of Hunny Bunny.
both lip balms arrived wrapped in plastic to protect them on their journey, which was real nice. i suspect that Sugar & Spite has been experimenting with new wrapping methods to great success - i much preferred the wrapping on Choco Chupeta. the one on Hunny Bunny had a vertical perforated line to remove the plastic, which resulted in me having to irreplaceably remove the entire plastic cover (including from the body of the tube) in order to open it, while Choco Chupeta had a horizontal perforated line matching the join at the cap of the lip balm, which allowed me to remove only the plastic on the cap and retain the rest over the cute label to protect it. Hunny Bunny is now slightly worse the wear than its counterpart, and i hope that Sugar & Spite would implement the horizontal plastic wrap consistently to do justice to these awesomely cute labels.
the lip balms are lightly flavoured with stevia to make them sweet - but only slightly, not to a level where i end up licking it all off again after applying. the scent lasted about an hour and a half, and i could still taste traces of stevia at least three hours later. i like the addition of the stevia, as taste is a good indicator of the lip balm's lasting power and a great way to quickly 'check' whether it's time for round 2 of application. also, big plus for them being vegan!
neither lip balm transferred colour to lips, in line with what is stated on the website. i was pleased that when applied they gave a slight sheen and gloss - there have been some days when i didn't feel like wearing lipstick and a quick swipe of this lip balm was sufficient to look good enough on its own.
both lip balms were firm in the tube and easy to apply, being neither sticky nor goopy. i was pleasantly surprised that they were nicely moisturising with a satisfying slip that felt "barely there" when applied. the balm was relatively resilient even when i drank water or ate small snacks while wearing it, which was good. i had been afraid that i would have to keep re-applying or avoid drinking too much water (which would have been counterproductive for dry lips) but my fears were unfounded.
the lip balms also don't require too much to be useful; even over the half a year or so that i've been using both of these, i haven't even gone past the 1/3 (or is it half?) mark on the length of each of these in its tube. on a conservative estimate, i would say that these would last me until at least the end of this year, so a panned-post would have to wait a while more.
10/10 overall, i'm really glad i got these two lip balms. it's been a great experience using them so far and i'm very pleased that i haven't had any issues with dry or chapped lips since. i like them so much that with a six-month survival rate they've both completely eclipsed my previous three-week record of "days without getting lost" for lip balms. both of these Sugar & Spite products have, and are still, setting a new record which will be a formidable challenge for any other lip balm to beat.
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Sugar & Spite's lip balms are available here in five different flavours. i had purchased mine for US$3.50 (before shipping) though the lip balms are currently sold out until materials are replenished and the pricing (which may or may not have changed) is therefore unavailable on their website for the time being.
all information correct at time of publishing.
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