Bravo Weleda for launching this new lip balm trio (Nude, Rose and Berry Red). Good news for most of us. Brilliant news for the sensitive skin/lip crowd.
I remember buying a gorgeous, buttery lipstick one lunchtime when I worked in an office. Back at my desk just before the clock struck “2”, I slicked it on.
Mmmm? The rim around my lips felt irritated. Not good. A quick trip to the bathroom mirror and yes, a resemblance to The Joker in Batman was in development.
My lips had a faint reddish ring around them and were not happy with my new sleek, cafe au lait shade French brand lipstick (begins with “C” but it’s not Clarins). They felt raw and warm, as if I’d applied a chilli pepper lip gloss to them. My lipline was burning. Clang! Lipstick in the bin.
I’ve never had a problem with lipstick since, but because of that little drama any all-natural lip launches are interesting to me. In all honesty I find natural lipsticks have a bit of catching up to do with their more mainstream rivals – re. texture, taste, shades, packaging, pigmentation quality, across the board… They’re either too sheer, too hard (difficult to apply) or good but inconsistent for example if they’re made in smaller batches (Kjaer Weiss’s lip gloss I like, but I was a bit less thrilled by their lipsticks despite the cool packaging when they launched last year and when I told their PR this, she put it down to the “batch”, possibly, but batch or no batch, you’ve got to be consistent. We had this issue with a natural SPF brand that entered our Awards a few years ago).
We need more, better natural lipstick launches. (And yes I know ILIA, but again, mixed results from my personal experience, although their founder almost single-handedly forged the way for natural lip products so kudos to her for that). In fact I often think that if I had the funding and more spare time, I’d launch a natural, ethical lip brand myself.
For the sensitive souls reading this (and mums looking for a natural lip balm with some colour in it for their little girls) I think these Weleda Tinted Lip Balms will be lippy from heaven.
The main ingredients are castor oil, shea butter, jojoba and sunflower seed wax while natural essential oils give these creamy, light, subtly glossy lip balms a touch of rose/vanilla scent (full ingredients at the end of this post).
If you’ve been wanting to clean up your act this year and make the switch to non-toxic skincare, or you’re maybe just scouting around for a lip balm with a touch of colour then check these cute little Weleda tubes out.
They beat dipping your tube train bacteria-infested finger in a tin of Vaseline (rhymes with gasoline – and Vaseline is a byproduct of oil rigs…smack that stuff on your lips!), and they’re perfect for spring, so we’re in.
NEW: WELEDA TINTED LIP BALMS
3 shades, vegan
£6.95 each HERE
For swatches, head over to Nikki’s blog here, Nikki is a Weleda Wellbeing Adviser based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire
Ingredients: Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Olea Europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Wax, Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Polyglyceryl-2 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Mica (Cl 77019), Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, lron Oxides (Cl 77491), Titanium Dioxide (Cl 77891), Fragrance (Parfum)*, Citronellol*, Benzyl Alcohol*, Geraniol*, Eugenol*, Farnesol*.
*from natural essential oils
Suitable for vegans.