Clinique Chubby Stick Two Ton Tomato - Yummy!

I love Clinique Chubby Sticks. They are an awesome lipstick- gloss- balm hybrid that sit on lips softly and comfortably, with just the right amount of pigment for me. And while not glossy, they aren't matte either. The texture is more of a lovely balm, which just feels lovely.

Swatched heavily & lightly

Applied without a mirror. Seriously (daylight)

And so it makes sense that my red-lippy for red-lippy shy people would come in a Chubby Stick as they are just sheer enough to add a punch of colour but not so thick that the application requires a mirror and my *cough* reading glasses. And liner. Yikes, that's where I lose interest. No need to worry though, Clinique Chubby Stick in Two Ton Tomato is a winner! It is one of their newer colours and I love it! 

Look at me! Red lips in natural light.

Clinique Chubby Sticks are available at Clinique counters for around $16.

Baby Soft Lips- Overnight!

Remember the gorgeous Kim Bassinger in these ads? LOVED Kissing Potion.

I'm a huge fan of La Roche Posay products. Cicaplast is actually miraculous at healing skin issues of any kind, and even though I used it on my lips, it really isn't heavy enough. So while standing in front of the wall of delicious La Roche Posay beauty products, I spied Ceralip. I whipped out my iPhone and used my handy dandy Make Up Alley product reviews app and wouldn't you know- Ceralip had a great rating. Do you have the free Make Up Alley app? Or, if you don't have the app, do you read reviews there? They are amazing and I don't go shopping without reading there first.

I can't really find any scientific explanation as to what it does and how other than it has "considerable lipid replenishing powers". It is recommended for people on Accutane or retinoids, which can cause extreme dryness and peeling, and apparently its designed to stop the peeling. I have been using it at night and LOVE it. My lips are definitely smoother and amazingly, the product is still noticeable on my lips in the morning. It is fragrance and paraben free, so perfect for sensitive skin as well. This will be amazing after a day in the sun this summer. 

I got my La Roche Posay at the drugstore for around $15.

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Bel Ami - Perfect For The Lipstick Challenged (like me!)

I was in a beauty conundrum. I wanted a lip colour that looked like, well, a colour. I am a YLBB (Your Lips But Better) woman at the best of times so this was indeed a challenge. My daughters are so brave and always sporting bright fun lippies and while I love colour, I just felt like they made me look old, weird and clownish. Not for moi. Chanel came to the rescue awhile back with their Rouge Coco Shine line, which is balm-like and basically gorgeous. All colours can be applied without a mirror (check), don't settle into lines or bleed (check) and condition your lips (check). So I wandered up to the Chanel counter with high hopes and was not disappointed. 

I had seen the pic above from Carolina Herrera on Beauty Editor  and had become obsessed with a slightly grape-y lip. Clinique Black Honey, you're thinking! For some reason, that shade just doesn't work on me. A tad too dark? I dunno, but it's not me. As soon as I said SLIGHTLY grape-y, the Chanel SA grabbed Bel Ami. I recoiled as it looks so dark and suspiciously like ACTUAL LIPSTICK in the tube but, lo and behold, I loved it. It is perfect. I feel like a real laydee now, with a (sort of) lipstick to call my very own. 

Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Bel Ami

Bel Ami swatched lightly on lower left, more heavily on upper right

I love the lipstick and Chanel trivia behind the name Bel Ami. Coco Chanel's modiste career started with her hat-making and really bloomed when theatre actress Gabrielle Dorziat wore her designs in the Noziere play "Bel Ami" in 1912. If you haven't seen the movie "Coco Avant Chanel" with the divine Audrey Tatou, you simply must. 

Gabrielle Dorziat in "Bel Ami" and her Chanel chapeau...

Safe in The Sun With Baby Lips

On holiday with my family I realized I did not have a lip balm with SPF with me (first world problems....I know...) so I borrowed one of my daughters. Both girls got Maybelline Baby Lips tinted lip balms in their Christmas stocking and I was happy to discover they had brought them along. They are precious little lip balms- kitschy, bright packaging reminiscent of the 80s- with lovely noticeable tints and SPF 20. They also offer 8 hour moisture and "lip renewal". Lip renewal to me implies some kind of exfoliant and perhaps hyaluronic action as well. So smoother lips as well!

From top: Grape Vine, Pink Punch & Cherry Me (my fave)

At any rate, they are brilliant little lip balms. They do indeed offer beautiful moisture- lips feel plump and soft with regular use. The colour is not a stain, per say, but it does seem to linger and does not build up in a weird way with continued beach or poolside applications. The website says after 4 weeks of use one will see visible improvement in their lip condition, and this doesn't seem far fetched to me. There is a mild scent that matches the name but it is gone in no time flat, and I could not discern a taste of any kind.

I hate photographing my lips but here I am poolside in Cherry Me!

The younger one, Biddy (@kittybiddy), got Cherry Me, a bright cherry popsicle shade that leaves the lips a soft but bright pink, and the older one, Em (half of @BSDropouts, The Beauty School Dropouts), got Grape Vine, more of a deeper colour. Grape Vine actually reminds me of the old standby, Clinique Black Honey. If you loved Black Honey, get this Baby Lips shade asap. Once we arrived I realized I needed my very own. So I got Cherry Me as well and Em got herself Pink Punch which is more of a bright light pink- perfect for Florida as it's very Lilly Pulitzer! They also have a peachy one, called Peach Kiss, and two clear ones with different "flavours". I am totally getting a clear one as well.

Playing with my iPhone - this is my poolside view...ahhhh...

I've been using my Baby Lips non-stop for over a week and have to say, I love it. The name is a bit funny and the packaging and advertising seem to be aimed at the under 25 (under 16 even?) demographic but I think they are missing a huge market by not marketing to grown ups as well. These are lovely tinted lip balms that feel wonderful, makes your lips soft, and protect them from the sun. Oh yes, and they are under $5 where Maybelline is sold. What's not to love? 

Biotherm Lip Butter Makes Me Love My Lips!

Jane's Lip Balm Obsession, Chapter 1 million, continues. And the latest I have tried is a new offering from Biotherm, Beurre de Lévres, aka Lip Butter. I love the Biotherm line, it is gentle, the products smell good, and they don't make outrageous claims. I used a lip gloss they made a few years ago- it was a clear jelly with sunscreen and it smelled like oranges. I loved it and went through 2 tubes, but it may be discontinued as it is not showing up on any searches and I don't recall the last time I saw it in store. Spending my summer days cruising in a convertible means I have gone the extra mile to protect my hair, skin and of course, lips. The skin is quite thin on our lips and they take a beating from the environment.

It has a creamy consistency but melts right into the lips upon application

This new Lip Butter claims to smooth and plump the lips, and it does indeed do this. Its not the electric tingly plumping, but it definitely makes the lips fuller and, dare I say, juicy. The active ingredients are the five oils used to nourish the lips are apricot, coriander, jojoba, passionflower and macadamia. There is a gentle scent of peach with a bit of lemon and rose but it is barely discernible and there is no taste to speak of. It is recommended for women or men due to wonderful fact it leaves virtually a matte finish, and it literally just melts into your lips leaving them soft and smooth. I love this! Sometimes I want a moisturized full looking lip without the gloss. It also doesn't catch my hair as a breeze blows by as opposed to gloss which grabs on to every hair that strays by, which is fantastic. This new Biotherm Lip Butter is beautiful and has a place of honour in my bag. Which doesn't mean it isn't on the bottom of the bag, requiring much digging and cursing to get at, but that is a whole other issue. Verdict- love it!

I got my Biotherm Beurre de Lévres at Shoppers Drug Mart for $22.

YSL Volupté Sheer Candy Gloss is a Beautiful Balm, Too!

No2 Dewy Papaya second from right

I'm a sucker for a lip balm. I am also a sucker for luxe packaging and pretty colours. But, I am also quite colour phobic and tend to wear sheer glosses or my lips but better non lippy lippies. I was perusing the YSL counter and thanks to most delightful SA had fun trying this and that. She could tell by my next to bare face that I was skeered of colour and whipped out the Volupté Sheer Candy Gloss in No2 which is Dewy Papaya. It is a super sheer pink coral that looked very pretty and not scary at all swatched on my hand but she had me at "Did I mention it's a balm too? My lips just feel so good when I wear this!"Well, she was gorgeous with beautifully applied make up- I always trust those SAs to sell me something I will actually use. 

Isn't the tube pretty?

So I gave it a try and loved it. It does have a fruity scent and mild taste but both disappear and are not over powering at all. It just glides on and does feel soothing and gentle on my lips which I love. I have fairly good colour in my lips and always have. Actually I used to put foundation on them in high school because I thought they were too pink! Imagine. But that makes these sheer lippies so perfect for me!

Ok I realize this just barely qualifies as a colour...but I love it!

Unlike my trusty pot balms, which I also love, this one would look gorgeous being pulled out of a purse and subtly applied in public. Did I mention the packaging is stunning? It's in a glossy shiny silver tube with a golden YSL symbol wrapped around the middle. Oh sure, you pay for that but I can justify it (can't we all justify everything?) because I don't wear lipstick so I never buy fancy lippies. That works, right?

Pardon my pores on the close up :)

I got my YSL Sheer Candy Gloss Volupté at Holt Renfrew for $31.50.

Beautiful Natural Lips by Clarins Lip Balm with Essential Rose Wax

I am continually on the hunt for the perfect lip balm. I am fairly lucky, in that my lips have good color so when they are bare, they are not invisible. In the 80s, when light pink frosty lips were de riguer, I used to put foundation on my lips to tone down the colour before applying my mauve-y grey frosted lipstick- Annabelle I think? Can’t recall the colour but I’m pretty sure it matched my nailpolish. Yikes. My mother always said my lips were such a pretty color and could never understand why I would cover them up. As usual, mother was right and now I am happy for their high colour.

Back to balm. I’ve used it all. From $9 Aquaphor- which, is fantastic, although has zero pretty purse appeal in it’s institutional white plastic tube- to $45 La Mer lip balm. La Mer is slightly better packaging wise, but I have never been keen on pot lip balm and having to dip my finger in to apply. Not hygienic and not easy peasy to apply. And it was thin, barely noticeable on my lips at all. La Mer saw me coming a mile away with that one. I’ve owned all the flavours of  the cult favourite Smith’s Rosebud Salve. Seriously? It’s basically Vaseline with a few drops of rosewater & a loud synthetic rose scent. Awful stuff and lasts seconds on the lips before it disappears. Clinique Repairwear balm was OK but I went through it so quickly and again, it just did not last on my lips. And by last I mean that my lips will still feel moist. For example, when I apply Aquaphor at night, I can still feel it on my lips in the morning. A lifesaver on those cold winter nights when the drying heat is on full blast. But I won't dwell on the products that did NOT live up to my exacting expetations.

My friend Tara and I were chatting about lip balms last month, as I was ready to go out and try yet another $45 one (Dior I think…) and she said she swears by a Clarins one with rosewax. Doesn’t rosewax sound like a lovely thing to put on your lips? I thought so. The next time I passed a Clarins counter I got it. Bingo! It is fantastic. It’s in a tube with a slanted top making it easy to apply and hygienic. It has a barely there subtle and soft rose scent and if there is a taste, I haven’t noticed it. The consistency is thick without being gloppy. It is smooth and glides beautifully across the lips. It slowly sinks in and becomes barely noticeable. There is not a lot of shine, and no frost or reflecting agents, yet it really compliments the lip nicely and makes them feel plump and moist. The most amazing thing for me is how long it lasts. I haven’t timed it but I only have to apply a few times a day. I even notice a slight reduction in the minor (very minor!) vertical lines above the lip while I wear the Clarins balm.

The Clarins balm contains hyaluronic acid, which is a natural skin component capable of retaining  moisture and helps to give a plump moist look to skin and lips. Rose wax, for which it is named, is a product collected from the surface of rose petals, and which forms a silky, soothing protective and moisturizing barrier on the lips. Wow!

I have been using this in lieu of my perrenial faves, Lip Fusion & Smashbox O-Plump, as I am lately craving a less shiny lip. A few drops of the fantastic Benetint rubbed into my lips and the Clarins Balm on top is a perfect every-day lip.

It’s not an inexpensive product at $28 but from what I can see so far, a little goes a long way.

Available at Clarins counters, online at their site, and from Sephora.

Disclaimer:  this review is for a product I purchased