11.50 / 30ml
Recyclable, lightweight tin. A generous size: about 5-6 times as much product by weight as in the average lip balm/tube, yet perfectly small & compact for on-the-go use.
This must-have delight of a balm has an interesting history (see ‘story’ below!)… Originally made for a different purpose entirely, it is now my all-time favourite lip balm (a serious claim coming from a self-diagnosed lip-treat addict). I use it morning and evening and love the gentle scent of spike lavender essential oil balanced by the medicinal, herbal counterpoints of rosemary and peppermint. Petroleum-free, it softens and soothes dry or attention-seeking lips like no other. It’s said that peppermint can help to pump up the lips.
Uses & Directions:
This little wonder-in-a-jar loves multiple parts of you deeply; as well as making your lips feel incredible, it performs its skin-loving miracle on small areas of your body, such as knees, elbows, cuticles, bruises, unruly eyebrows, Achilles heels and even does a stellar job of brightening up tattoos. You’ll want to take this funky screw-top pocket-rocket everywhere with you. I have one at home (small lie; I have three at home) and one in my handbag.
For a face product, see the anti pore-blocking Overnight Face Food with Mandarin, Carrot Seed & Neroli.
Key ingredients/benefits:
Organic, raw, extra virgin Coconut Oil: Anti-viral, anti-bacterial (FYI: I haven’t had a single coldsore in the years since I started using this, though I used to get them occasionally in the past when very run down; horrible things), moisturising, soothing, melts in beautifully.
Cold Pressed Camellia (Tea Seed) Oil: Healing, softening, nourishing, packed full of micro-nutrients… See this page!
Cold Pressed Olive Oil: contains Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, proteins, minerals and anti-oxidants. A traditional, infamous ingredient for beauty and healthcare.
Candelilla Wax: a vegan alternative to beeswax, this succulent plant from the Chihuahan desert is full of nutrients and gives good shine.
Rosemary: a favorite of Paracelsus, a renowned German-Swiss physician and botanist, who made significant contributions to the understanding of herbal medicine during the 16th century. Anti-bad-breath and concentration-boosting, it has antiseptic and anti-microbial qualities.
Spike Lavender: A European hybrid of Lavender which produces many of the same properties of Lavender without the drowsy effects. Lavender is gentle, soothing and, amazingly, a study released in 2007 said that inhaling rosemary oil and lavender oil for five minutes significantly reduced the levels of cortisol in the test subject’s saliva, which could seriously decrease the dangers inherent from chronic stress.
Peppermint: Cooling, refreshing and menthol can help clear the respiratory tract; it adds some ‘zing’ to the mix.
Due to the nature of these natural ingredients, a small amount of crystallisation may occur if the balm is exposed to changes in temperature – this doesn’t affect the quality of the product even remotely, and any possible crystals will melt away upon rubbing into your lips.
History:
The original hand-written title for this was ‘BMITW’s Stop-banging-into-things Crash Bang Wallop Bruise Balm’. I made it for my Mum (AKA Best Mum In The World), who seems to enjoy rather too much walking into inanimate objects and coming up purply-blue. I researched ways in which mother nature can assist in the healing of said multi-coloured thigh-art, and the ingredients I’ve used here all came up trumps. Now, this formulation is one of my all-time favourites – it really is brilliant. The fact that it smells so wonderful (lavender, peppermint and rosemary are a dream team!) doesn’t hurt either.
Having little excuse to use it myself (I don’t tend to walk into things quite as often as my Mum, though am definitely jinxing myself by writing this…), I tried it once as a lip balm. It is now the only lip balm I use (and I’ve tried several thousand lip balms in my time!).
Funnily enough (as a side note), I discovered afterwards that lavender, peppermint and rosemary are the exact components of the trio my Grandma added to the ‘headache cream’, she made me once and which I still treasure (its scent is as incredible as its shelf life!) so obviously there is something extra magical about this blend of essential oils.
Either way, whether you use it as a lip balm or soothing body salve, this stuff is deeply nourishing, the perfect texture for sinking decadently into your skin, non-greasy, and smells absolutely wonderful. Multi-purpose is the future. (As is not banging into things.)
Ingredients:
Cocos nucifera (Organic Raw Coconut) Oil, Olea europaea (Olive) Fruit Oil, Camellia Olifera (Camellia Tea) Seed Oil, Candelilla cera, Rosmarinus officinalis (Rosemary) Leaf Oil, Lavandula latifolia (Lavender) Flower Oil, Mentha piperita (Peppermint) Leaf Oil, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Coumarin*, Geraniol*, Linalool*, Citronellol*, Limonene* (*Naturally occurring in essential oils)
Final note: When I was at school, lip balm was currency. Friendships could be formed over the convenient possession of the good stuff. I remember one girl, who shall remain nameless, getting enormously upset when someone else (maybe I) pressed my finger into her pot of lip balm hard enough to make a dent. She preferred to slide her finger around the top, not messing up the smooth plane of the waxy gloss. I put this to you: is there no greater joy than breaking the surface of a new lip balm, digging in deep and getting the full reward? Whichever camp you fall into, it’s your balm, your rules.
All prices are in GBP.