Essential Care Organic Lip Silk

Disclaimer: I have to confess, I am a lip balm junky. I adore the stuff, to the extent that if I don’t have any balm with me I go into panic mode and have to find the nearest shop to get some. I do apply copious amounts throughout the day as my working life involves me constantly switching from indoors and outdoors, so I get blasted with air con or heating, then cold winds or baking sun on a regular basis. Over the years I have found a wonderful balm that is a very firm favourite of mine, so when I was asked to test something else, I was a little dubious…

I was right to be, as it turns out. I could only bear to use Essential Care Organic Lip Balm for two days, after which I gave up and went back to my favourite brand (I think it might be an addiction, but I wasn’t prepared to go cold turkey for this…).

Firstly, the good points.
The balm comes in a very neat and handy stick, which like normal stick balms, you twist to increase the balm. All good so far.
It smells lovely, almost like an orange scented candle I thought upon first sniff. Closer inspection revealed that the ingredients contain beeswax and orange (as well as Rosemary and Coconut Oil).
The initial application was lovely – the balm lived up to it’s name in that it felt very smooth and silky when applied to the lips.
It even tasted ok, slightly waxy with a hint of citrus.

However…
I didn’t find the silky nature of the balm was particularly long lasting. I needed to re-apply the balm about an hour after first use (without having eaten but having had some cups of tea) and then repeatedly after that. In fact, far more regularly than my balm of choice. This was disappointing as I realised the small stick would soon disappear.
At £5 a stick I felt this was simply too expensive, given the longevity of the balm would be pretty minimal.
Within 12 hours my lips felt drier than they usually are, and I was beginning to build up small chaps and patches of peeling skin. I persevered but had to revert to my favourite balm to save myself!

As well as the drying effect of the balm, it is quite hard to get hold of. Essential Care have an online shop, where the stick is £5 with postage of £3.95 on top; that makes a teeny tiny lip balm for almost £9!! For it’s small size I feel that is far too expensive, especially when there are other organic makes on the market for about the £3 mark. It can be bought in natural stores such as the Natural Grocery Store (one of which I have near me) and some organic pharmacies, but stockists are limited (there is a list on the Essential Care website).

So, sorry Essential Care, I have to say I most definitely will not be buying this balm for myself and neither will I be recommending it to anyone else. I am breathing a sigh of relief as I apply my trusted favourite…