[Review] Kiehl's Lip Balm #1 - Mint

Almost all of my friends own at least a tube of Kiehl's lip balm, and everyone's heard of them! There's been so much hype over this product - I've seen it featured in high profile magazines, TV shows and some celebrities swear by it. So I bought into the hype, and purchased their "mint" flavour.

In a word? It's overrated. 






Product description
Temporarily protects and helps relieve chapped or cracked lips. Helps protect lips from the drying effects of wind and cold weather.

Prices
Kiehl's: $8.50 USD, without tax
eBay: $8-15 USD
Amazon: $7-13 USD
[This lip balm is sold in a variety of other places, including Nordstorm and Saks Fifth Avenue)




Packaging and ingredients 
This product can be purchased in the 15mL tube (pictures of that shown below), and a 15mL tub. Some may say that the tube packaging is boring and dull, but I actually like it! It says what it needs to say, without any frills or dandy stuff. 

As shown below, the active ingredients are 1% Octinoxate, which serves to protect your lips from the sun. 89.5% is petrolatum - it's another word for Petroleum jelly, which is... Vaseline. 

There's a whole bunch of inactive ingredients, but I won't go into those details - they're shown in the pictures below~



The tube format is meant to be hygienic - I don't have to dip my fingers in any jars. However, the flatness of the tip, where the hole is, isn't easy to use. It's not easy to squeeze the tube and apply it directly on the lips. I have to get some on my finger and rub it myself; this takes away the "hygienic" idea of the tube packaging. 

The product comes out fairly easily, and I've noticed that the consistency of the product can vary a lot. Even if it's just a tad, tad bit warmer, the lip balm will be extremely liquid-y (almost like water), and ooze out of the tube, getting itself all over me.



Using it


1 and 2. "Before" pictures of my chapped up, gross lips. (...and yes, that's a bit of blood right there. Ew, sorry~ ;n; )
3. Applied Kiehl's lip balm 
4. After 4-5 applies, this is the outcome




My thoughts 

After all the hype over this product and using it, I'm not convinced this is anything near "holy grail". This product works as well as a tub of plain 'ol vaseline - it works, but it ain't anything special. It's also a bit pricier than other lip balms. I don't think that it's worth such a price, because it's mostly just petroleum jelly. I can buy that stuff for cheaper in Walmart (or anywhere, really), and it'll have the same effects.

In my personal experience, I find that Blistex "Lip Medex" is way more effective than the Kiehl's lip balm. In just one use, there's a signifiant improvement to my chapped lips. Kiehl's, on the other hand, takes more applications to achieve almost-similar results. It (Kiehls) absorbs too quickly, and vanishes on my lips soon after applying... without leaving much of a positive difference.


Pros:
- It works, but you need to apply every so often
- A tube lasts a fairly long time
- Easy to find

Cons:
- Packaging isn't the best, nor hygienic
- Expensive (compared to other lip balms)
- Contains parabens
- Mostly just petroleum jelly, nothing special

Repurchase? No, I'm sticking to my trusty 'ol Blistex!




What about you?
Have you used this lip balm? What what your experience with it? Do you think the hype is well earned? 


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