The Good: Easy to apply, Good taste, Does not leave color residue, Seems to protect!
The Bad: Offers very limited protection, Potential to melt, Relatively pricey, Waxy feel from residue.
The Basics: Charms Extreme Lemonade Blowpop tastes great and offers enough protection to lips to recommend, though it is not a regenerative product.
Last year, as I settled gladly into married life once again, I found one of the aspects I was enjoying quite a bit was having more things to evaluate. I'm not saying my marriage has been great for my profession, but that's just because I'm not saying that! As my wife and I get settled, I am discovering the true joys of being with someone who truly takes care of their lips. My wife takes great care of her lips and one of the exceptional aspects of that is she seems to pick up a ton of delightful lip care products that taste great and I enjoy testing - both by getting them off her and by testing on my own. More often than not, this works out well. Sometimes, as was the case with Spearmint Chapstick (click here for that review), I find myself quite satisfied. In the case of Charms Extreme Lemonade Blowpop lip balm, I came away pleased, though not feeling like this was the most exceptional product ever.
Charms Extreme's Lemonade Blowpop flavor lip balm comes in the standard .15 oz. tube. It is a discreet plastic tube measuring two and a half inches long by 3/8" in diameter. The lip balm it dispensed by simply removing the hot magenta cap (it pulls off easily enough) and twisting a dial on the bottom to push the remaining product up. The lip balm itself is a waxy bubble gum pink colored tube that is rubbed onto the lips and it offers a physical barrier to water and other damaging elements that could crack lips in winter and sunlight which could damage lips in the summer (or winter, whatwith the brightness of sunglare on snow). The product does not leave any coloring on one's lips, which is a plus. However, it does leave the sensation of the barrier that it is and the waxy feel is a definite downside.
The sunscreen properties of this Charms Extreme Lemonade Blowpop lip balm are more alleged than actual; I found no SPF rating on the container. Still, the lip balm worked better than some - like that Chapstick - at protecting my lips at the beach the past two days as my wife and I have visited it. Where the Charms Extreme Lemonade Blowpop lip balm falls down on the lack of an SPF rating, it holds up surprisingly well in winter. Tested in the rough Upstate New York and Michigan winters, this lip balm does adequately protect against chapped lips by forming a physical barrier that helps to retain moisture within the lips without exposing lips to freezing conditions. Similarly, it does a great job maintaining itself as one gets in and out of natural water in the summer. For several days of testing this product, my wife and I went swimming (with a lot of diving!) at Green Lakes State Park and while I noticed she had to reapply her lip balm every fifteen minutes lest she burn her lips, I felt the barrier from the Extreme Lemonade lip balm and did not reapply until after our post-swimming shower. So, this product truly holds up!
As well, this product is remarkably easy to apply. It glides on easy and creates a barrier needed to resist the elements. Unfortunately, in this regard comes one of the two biggest drawbacks to the product. This lip balm has a very waxy feel to it. When it is on my lips, I am very aware of its presence. Of all of the lip balms for lips that I have tried since I started kissing anyone again, this is the most waxy feeling, even more so than the Chapstick product. It goes on feeling waxy and it feels waxy when it is on. As a result, it is easy to feel when this product has been wiped thoroughly off one's lips as well.
Charms Extreme Lemonade Blowpop leaves no significant color on the lips when it is applied. It may feel omnipresent and thick when it is on, but it does not look pink on one's lips.
On the taste front, this is fair. The lip balm has a Lemonade Blowpop scent to it and it tastes generally like lemonade blow pops, a little tangy and very sweet. It has an initial fruity taste, then this Charms Extreme product becomes vaguely sugary and it retains a fruity/sugary flavor to it the entire time it is on the lips. Indeed, even after an hour after application, I could still taste it. Honestly, after three hours, I had to reapply, to get the taste back, despite still feeling the barrier on my lips.
The Charms Extreme Lemonade Blowpop lip balm has ingredients on the tube, so be sure to check the package before purchasing for any allergies you might have. But the primary ingredients are: oleyl alcohol, petrolatum and microcrystaline wax. This is more tasty than it sounds, but it is worth looking into one's food or chemical allergies before purchasing. It is noted that it is not intended for human consumption, so don't look to this for nutrition!
It is also worth noting that this semi-expensive little lip balm is not designed for moisturizing, only protecting. As a result, while it might prevent lips from drying out or cracking in winter and summer, it will not repair damaged, cracked skin on the lips. This is a stopgap product; it prevents damage, but will not moisturize already dried lips or heal damaged, cracked lips.
But for me, it succeeded just enough on the taste, given that it tasted enough like Lemonade Blowpop to be fun. But this is more of a fun product than a serious skin care/health product. But with that in mind, it's great for a taste of summer for those who love to kiss!
For other skin care products, please check out my reviews of:
Bath & Body Works Winter Candy Apple Anti-Bacterial Gel
Pleasures Edible Warming Oil Cheesecake flavor
Burt's Bees Hand Salve
5/10
For other health and beauty products, please visit my index page by clicking here!
© 2010, 2009 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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