July was a good month for freebies from magazines….. but for some strange reason, the ones I picked up all seemed to be rose fragranced.
As I established in my NEOM hand cream post – I don’t like the smell of roses in skincare. The NEOM hand cream surprised me so when it was time to buy another magazine, (Glamour this time) and I saw Balance Me lip balm – I thought I would give it a go. I like this type of applicator (slanted hoof type ) for lip salves that I keep in the car. They are less messy than having to dip my finger into a jar at the traffic lights and the small plastic tube is not going to rattle around as I make my way over pot holes and roundabouts. I thought I might be onto a winner, but…. this is a rose that smells like roses. One of my sisters is a rose aficionado and when I told her that I got a rose lip balm freebie that I was not so keen on, she promptly corrected me. It is not just rose, she said, it is Rose Otto, as she slathered her mouth in the stuff, inhaled slowly, smiled and then exhaled. My sister loves roses and she loves the smell of this product.
Moving away from the smell, this is a good lip salve. Shea, mango and coco butters, coconut and jojoba oils and hyaluronic acid are all good ingredients. The pale yellow salve applies very smoothly, has excellent slip and leaves the lips moisturised and with a slight sheen. It works well on it’s own or with a lipstick and it could multitask and be used on eyebrows and cuticles.
This product got me thinking… I am not sure how I feel about such a strong floral scent in a lip salve. I know that I don’t like the smell of roses, but thinking about it – I am not convinced that I would enjoy a tuberouse/white floral fragranced lip balm. The thing about fragrance that you wear on your wrists is that the smell wafts past your nose as you gesticulate or move you head, but it not there constantly under your nose. when you light a scented candle, the smell is not so intense, not is such close proximity to your nose. Maybe that is why manufacturers tend to stick with food fragrances? Balance Me are a lovely brand British aromatherapy brand (www.balanceme.co.uk) and I have enjoyed other products from their range. If they were to produce a fragrance free or citrus version of this, I would definitely buy it (hint hint)
How do you feel about floral lip salves?