Lush Review: Ultrabalm

Lush make up a good 90% of what I use to bathe, shower, tone and moisturise with. The other night after going through 'The Lush Times' at home, I made a mental note of everything I wanted to stock up on again, or try for the first time. So yesterday I did a mini Lush haul during my lunch hour, knowing full well I’d go in for one thing and leave with more. Today I'm going back to get my free fresh face mask as I have a TON of empty black pots that I need to take back.

For every 5 empty black pots that you bring back to Lush [you must wash them out thoroughly] you get a free fresh face mask.

I came out with:

Dream Cream [body lotion]

Sultana Soap [moisturising soap]

Dark Angels Cleanser [sample]

Ultrabalm [Lip Balm]

A Ring of Roses [moisturising soap]

Glorious Mud [rhassoul mud body mask]

Jungle [solid hair conditioner]

9-5 Cleanser [sample – face cleanser]

Total £ 33.88

I also had a quick spray of Karma [try it you just may love it] and had my hands sampled on with different products about 3 times.

I will be reviewing the other Lush products in my mini-haul over the coming days.

A typical Lush day begins for me in the shower with Rub Rub Rub, followed by my feet moisturised with Pied Di Pepper (I add some Pure Australian Emu Oil to this as I found it a little less moisturising than I had done in previous years when I had bought it). To the body I apply Coco Lotion [I alternate between this and my faithful favourite Charity Pot]. Hands are assisted with Helping Hands and my face is washed with a soap I can’t remember the name of and toned with Tea Tree Water. I haven’t found a Lush moisturiser that I like so I don’t use one of theirs. I have tested a few, none of them gave me the results that I was looking for.

My bathroom consists of Lush body scrubs, solid bubble baths, a hair mask, a conditioner, a shampoo, soaps, some of which I’ve forgotten what they’re called.

Ultrabalm Review:

Ingredients: Organic Cold-Pressed Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Candelilla Wax (Euphorbia cerifera), Rose Wax (Rosa damascena)

How much can you actually say about a lip balm in a review?

I’m using a real crappy one at the moment, ‘Boots Essentials Tinted Lipsalve’ Absolute CRAP! I usually wear a layer of lip balm under lip gloss and always use lip balm on its own, but this is just pure rubbish to me.

The Ultrabalm was a last minute buy. Just as I was ready to type my PIN I spotted some dinky little ‘done in 2 weeks’ sized lip balms for £4.95….Errrr no! The girl behind the counter recommended a new lip balm for £7.50

I thought “WHAAAA? SEVEN POUND FIFTY FIYAH LICCLE RAASIN SIN TING FI PUT PON MI MOUT….”

Now before you skin up about the price…read on.

It’s £7.50 but think about how much some of you spend on lip gloss. The balm is a necessity in my opinion. Whether at home or out, awake or asleep lips need that extra TLC as they are one part of the body that produces no oil to keep them moisturised. Lips need all the help they can get, and you don't want to end up looking like Tyrone Biggums that's for sure!

Ultrabalm comes in a 45g tin, and let me tell you a tiny dab of this on your finger will go a very long way. Looking at the contents of the tin I can honestly say with about 10 applications a day [with all the eating and drinking throughout the day], this could last me close to a year or maybe even more than that, so the £7.50 is already a justified spend. It’s HEAVILY concentrated and the after effect doesn’t leave a horrible film on your lips. You definitely won't feel the need to re-apply time and time again.

Now for the downside. Oh you thought the price was the downside. The Ultrabalm is rather gritty on the lips. Ever so minuscule are the wax particles to the human eye, but the feeling on the lips can be annoying and leave you feeling paranoid that you have sand stuck to your mouth. I did have to check my mouth in the mirror just to see what this annoying feeling actually looked like. After a while the wax particles go away, but the initial feeling is annoying. Maybe I’ll get used it I don’t know. It’s the only thing I do NOT like about the product.

I opted for Ultrabalm over the others simply because you get more balm for your buck. Aside from the wax particles on the lips I’ll give it a thumbs up. Ask to try it in store before you decide on purchasing it. Never been a fan of Vaseline, but this I can deal with especially if it means I don’t have to buy another one until mid way through 2011 (which is when it actually expires).