Combatting the Winter Winds

As soon as winter sets in and the weather gets colder and drier, my lips are the first to know and out come the heavy duty lip balms.

One of my favourites for when my lips are in need of a lot of love is Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula. It has a lovely warm scent and- as the name might suggest- it has a buttery texture that means it goes onto the lips very smoothly. Once it's on, it lasts ages but doesn't leave any sticky or heavy residue. It's very moisturising and healing for chapped or dry lips.

The Body Shop Lip Butters have been a long term favourite of mine, owning my first one at 10 years old as the cool kid on the balm block. The two scents I have at the moment are Pink Grapefruit and Mango. Pink grapefruit is one of my favourite smells and has a very crisp, clean, citrus-y scent whereas Mango is slightly sweeter and more fruity. As far as moisture goes, these are great: they last well and tend to do the job of dealing with dry lips. The only problem with these is the whole sticking-your-finger-in palava that leaves you with a sticky (but nice smelling) finger.

The infamous Elizabeth Arden and her 8 Hour Lip Protectant couldn't go without a mention here. Mine is sadly coming to an end after a long life (can't you tell by the retro packaging?!), and will be missed dearly until replaced. I find that this is the ultimate 'quick fixer' to any chapped or dry lips, leaving them feeling soft and supple. Admittedly, it does smell quite medicinal which I'm not a huge fan of- but this is easily overlooked as the balm is so great.

When they first became popular a few years ago or so, I eagerly rushed out to purchase the EOS lip balm in Sweet Mint- and I have not been disappointed. It has quite a strong peppermint scent that is fresh and clean. More recently, I received Lemon Drop as a gift, which has a much sweeter, citrus-y smell that I find nice but a little sickly at times. The staying power of these is average, as is the moisturising ability- but what sets these apart is the shape of the balm: a spherical dome allowing for easy and quick application.

And last -but certainly not least- is the Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm. This is a product that is very hard to fault in my opinion. It smells like honey (obviously), lasts ages, is nice to apply without leaving any sticky or heavy feeling on the lips, and it leaves lips feeling soft and moisturised. I've written more about this in my 2014's Most Loved post if you want to find out more about it: but in short, this is a real winner!

So there you go, a few hundred words dedicated solely to things that make your lips less dry- I must be going balmy (haha, ok I'll stop, step awaaaay from the computer Anna). 

Feel free to leave any opinions, recommendations, questions or thoughts in the comments- I love hearing what you have to say!

xo, Anna