When I think of the holidays, I think of lip balms. Actually, I’m kind of obsessed with them. But when Winter arrives, the dry heat, the chilling wind and the cold can really make your lips feel well…awful. Ditto constant mask-wearing. While lip balms are inexpensive gifts, they are always one-size-fits-all and welcome ones. Some of the major brands are packaging their products in really clever ways. Whether you’re into organic or looking for festive flavors, these lip balms from Chapstick, Carmex, Lip Smackers, Eco Lips and the Vellum St Soap Company will give you great ways to hydrate your precious lips.
“Holiday Ready” Chapsticks to Covet!
For the holidays, there are a wonderful and wide variety of gift-able Chapsticks to make every member of the family feel loved. The Flavors of the Season Storybook (in the middle of my photo), features two (my photo just shows one) Chapsticks each of Candy Cane (Peppermint), Sugar Cookie, Pumpkin Pie, Holiday Cocoa, and Vanilla Latte.
Then there are the adorable cardboard ornaments Chapstick packs to hang on a tree, stuff in a stocking, or tie on a package as an extra gift. Left to right (top photo): The red holiday and green tree ornaments each have 5 “Candy Cane” Chapsticks. The blue snowflake stocking has one each of Holiday Cocoa, Vanilla Latte, Candy Cane, Pumpkin Pie, and Sugar Cookie. The red Santa ornament (top right) has 2 Chapsticks in Candy Cane. The two snowflake packs feature “Total Hydration” with coconut and sunflower seed oils and shea butter. The “snowflake” in the middle of my photo has flavors of Coconut and Soothing Oasis lip balms. The other snowflake includes “Cooling Peppermint” and “Soothing Vanilla. ”
These are classics made modern and you can’t go wrong with any or all! What’s a stocking without some Chapsticks in it??! Prices range from $3-$5 for the 2-pack and 5-pack Chapsticks plus the Total Hydration Duos. The 10-count Storybook is $20. Find them in a variety of mass-market retailers, grocery stores, and drugstores. for more information visit www.chapstick.com
Luscious Lip Smackers:
If you read our reviews, you know that we’re crazy about Claire’s. They offer all sorts of fun and glam items to make each day “merrier and brighter” all year long. While geared towards the younger set, for the most part, there are wonderful finds to be had for people of any age. For example, This Coca Cola Drinks Lip Smacker Lip Balm Set $19 gives you a taste of all your favorite Coca Cola drinks.
Although not vegan or organic, this set is a whole lot of fun for all. This set has Original Coca Cola, Coca Cola Vanilla, and Cherry. There is also Sprite flavor, and four Fanta Flavors (strawberry, orange, grape, and a really yummy pineapple). At under $2.50 per lip balm, you will be moisturizing and making your lips smooth for many months to come. Or, split up the set and stuff a bunch of stockings for happy smiles.
Exceptional Eco Lips:
EcoLips isn’t just a name, they mean it! They have a USDA certified organic facility powered by renewable energy and solar energy. Eco Lips sources all of its ingredients sustainably and ethically from trusted sources around the globe. Their products are Fair Trade Certified™, Non-GMO Project Verified, Leaping Bunny Certified, and gluten-free. For the purist, EcoLips Lip Food is a nutrient-dense organic lip balm, A 3-pack of nutrient-dense Lip Food Lip Balms (“Plump, Nourish and Protect”) detoxifies, nourishes, and hydrates. Globally sourced & minimally processed plant-based ingredients offer moisturizing golden jojoba oil combined with cocoa butter and coconut oil and a host of other good for your lips ingredients.
Fun to try is the color-changing, iridescent shimmer, Mongo Kiss Shimmer Lip Balm featuring organic mongongo oil, with moisturizing coconut oil and cocoa butter. We checked out a set with a Mongo Kiss Lip Balm in yummy “Strawberry Lavender” and a Mongo Kiss Lip Scrub in “Vanilla Honey.” Mongongo oil is a fruit that grows on the Manketti tree, native to southern Africa and used for centuries there to nourish hair and skin.
The Brazilian Lip Tints are vegan. They have a satin finish featuring ethically sourced Babaçu and Pracaxi Oils and moisturizing Cupuaçu Butter. There are five mineral tints offering a matte coverage. I tried the “Blissful” color paired with a vegan vanilla lip scrub. For the holidays, Eco lips also have some flavored lip balms such as Candy Cane, Gingerbread, and Raspberry Truffle. The spicy-sweet slightly gingery flavor of Gingerbread is made with certified organic coconut oil, beeswax plus ginger, vanilla, and brown sugar. This is my favorite because it’s so holiday perfect.
You Can Count on Carmex:
Your lips really can get seriously chapped in the Winter. Therefore, I’ve always counted on Carmex Daily Care products to make things better. For the holidays there are two cute packaged sets: A Limited edition Carmex Daily Care with SPF 15 4-pack (from $6) with tubes featuring Sugar Plum, Vanilla Icing, Wintergreen and merry berry Which is the most delicious? I can’t tell you because they’re all tasty but I’ve always loved Wintergreen.
I like the limited edition Carmex Classic Lip Balm (medicated) set ($3-$6) with three of their iconic little jars decorated with snowflakes. The medicated Carmex lip balm has 1.70% camphor and 45.30% white petrolatum. The minute I open one of these little (and now, decorated and festive) jars I know Carmex is going to work its magic. If you like Winter sports, or wear long-wear liquid lipsticks the classic lip balm is great.
I like the packaging, but in a pinch, break up the sets and put one each in a stocking. The packs are welcome little thank-you gifts. For more information visit the Carmex Website.
Vellum St. Miss You Set:
The Vellum St Soap Company products are clean and green, featuring upcycled materials from locally and organically based food-grade and upcycled materials that otherwise would be thrown away. The products are crafted from Tallow. It’s from sustainable humanely raised animals that have already passed the farm to the table. If you’re vegan, these aren’t for you. However, tallow can be a really good thing for your skin, It’s rich in Vitamins A, D, E & K as well as the lipids that we can find in our own skin (especially youthful and healthy skin).
The MISS YOU gift set above features two mini soaps and two .25 oz. all-purpose lip and body balms tins in a cute wooden mini crate ($22). The balms are for all of your skin and the tins make it travel-friendly. This set has “Banana Lime Hibiscus” and “Rosemary Potato Chamomile.” One soap is “Cherry Wooder Ice.” The scent is crushed cherries, not too sweet, or too tart. The other is Black Pepper Bergamot (There is actual pepper in the soap! and it has a warm spicy scent).
The Miss You Box is a great way to send your love to someone any day of the year. However, you can buy individual items for yourself. For more visit the Vellum St. Soap Company website.
