The glove compartment of my car is like an extension of my handbag. There is always a pair of sunglasses, a charger for my phone, a hand cream , notebook and pen. I generally like to keep my car clear of clutter so anything I need before, during and after the journey will either be in the boot, or in my glove compartment…. apart from lip balm. I am not someone that generally does my make up on public transport and the same goes for my car… apart from lip balm.
The car lip balm lives in the cup holder and I have three strict criteria for the car lip balm.
1 – must be in a tube not a jar… because I don’t want to be dipping my fingers into a jar during my journey.
2 – must have a hoof applicator… so that it is easy to apply en route
3 – must not be strongly scented or flavoured… the car lip gloss is going to be there for a long time. I tend not to change it on a whim as I would do with the gloss in my car. It generally stays there until it is finished so it needs to be a product that I am not going to get bored with quickly.
I was very happy to see the Estelle and Thild lip gloss in the Selfridges Beauty Box as it arrived just as my car lip balm of the time was coming to an end. The box is really pretty, decorated in what appear to be hand painted flowers wild flower. The organic and Eco Cert status are clearly important to the brand as they are printed on the front of the box. The tube itself, is opaque in colour and matt to the touch which means that it is less likely to fall though the fingers when driving and is decorated in stems and leaves
The raspberry scent are not overpowering. It is not sweet like raspberry jam! Strawberry quite a common flavour in lip products, and for me quite a young (tweenie) addition to a lip product often associated with a red colour . Raspberry feels like a more grown up, elegant flavour. The slight acidity of raspberry’s is somehow reflected in the fragrance. I also like the fact that his balm does not really taste of anything when you lick your lips. In the lid of the balm there is a spoke which fits into the hole in the hoof of the balm, which means that the hole is in effect plugged when it is not in use, which means that it is not going to be all over the lid of the product during the course of it being used. A simple but genius touch.
The balm is very rich and I soon discovered that less really was more, it is full of good ingredients, including jojoba oil, shea butter and olive oil. It gives a lovely sheen to the lips and is not at all sticky and makes a good base for dryer lipsticks like MAC Ruby Woo. Estelle and Thild have a range of face and body products too so I will be trying some other products in the range.