e.l.f. Essential Soothing Lip Balm Review

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I bought all the variants of the Essential Soothing Lip Balm from my second e.l.f. site haul for 50¢ each during one of their half off sales. They were inexpensive, so why not try them out?

What is it?

The e.l.f. Essential Soothing Lip Balm is a "salvation for parched lips. This innovative lip balm coats lips with natural nutrients and skin soothers to condition even the most sensitive lips. Infused with Shea Butter and Vitamins A & E for long lasting protection."

Ingredients

Paraffinium Liquidum (Mineral Oil), Polyisobutene, Silica, Synthetic Beeswax, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Tocopheryl Acetate (VE), Retinyl Palmitate (VA), Fragrance(Aroma), Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Iron Oxides (CI 77491 , CI 77492 , CI 77499), Manganese Violet (CI 77742), Mica (CI 77019), Red No.6 Lake (CI 15850), Red No.7 Lake (CI 15850), Red No.28 Lake (CI 45410), Blue No.1 Lake (CI 42090), Yellow No.5 Lake (CI 19140), Yellow No.6 Lake (CI 15985)

Mineral oil is a great occlusive moisturizer that I tend to like as a skincare ingredient. The synthetic beeswax and shea butter give emolliency to the skin and are solids that provide the lip balm with structure. I do see tocopheryl acetate, which is a stable form of Vitamin E and has antioxidant and emollient properties. Retinyl palmitate is another antioxidant, but is the weakest retinoid, and I think it's in the formulation just to say they they have Vitamin A in the ingredients. There's nothing really spectacular in the ingredients.

There's also not much on the irritation or comedogenicity of the ingredients that will affect me. I check for comedogenicity because I smear lip balm on my lips and the surrounding skin. I also use it as a salve on dry patches when I am on the go. Even then, it is up to test and trying the product out to know what will happen to my skin.

Packaging

The tubes come in a cardboard and plastic packaging with 0.07 oz or 2g of product per tube. The lip balms are in a twist tube applicator, which feels very cheap and looks like it's about to break at any moment. Plus, when you twist the lip balm up and you want to twist it back down, sometimes the lip balm does not go down beyond the top of the tube. The text also rubbed off on the twist tube when I photographed the products new, which is a shame. The only way to identify the product is the through stickers at the bottom that states their color, given that they are readable and present.

Scent

All these balms have a light scent.

Vanilla Crème doesn't smell like straight vanilla. More like a lightly scented vanilla cake batter.

Strawberry Crème does smell of strawberries in a lot of whipped cream. This is the second most scented balm.

Blackberry Crème leans closer to an artificial grape scent, but not the kind of grape scent that is reminiscent of cough syrup. This has a sweeter smell. This is the strongest smelling balm out of the three.

Appearance

Vanilla Crème looks like a cake batter golden yellow color.

Strawberry Crème is pink, reminiscent of strawberries in cream.

Blackberry Crème is colored a blue tone purple.

Texture

These are so soft! The slightest touch will deform the lip balm, so make sure to only twist the amount you will use so the lip balm won't end up smearing due to the twist tube not twisting down all the way once you twist up the same amount from the terrible mechanism. Once on your lips, they feel oily. It feels even slicker than petroleum jelly that I usually use as a lip balm.

Application

The swatches of Vanilla Crème, Strawberry Crème, and Blackberry Crème from bottom to top.
Just smooth this onto your lips. Twist the tube for more product to come out. As you can see from the above arm swatch, there is a distinct oily shine from them, but it makes the lips look moisturized. There is also the ever so slight amount of pigmentation that shows up on the arm with the Strawberry Crème and Blackberry Crème, but all the balms apply sheer on the lips.

Performance

The lip balms are so oily and it makes my lips so soft and glidy. They give a hint of shine that might lean on the greasier side if you apply too much but I don't mind it. It looks more like moisturized lips.

Do they actually moisturize? Yes! I really like the oily feel of it because it makes your lips smooth over each other so easily, unlike some thicker lip balms I've tried that are so heavy, sticky, or gunky that all my head hairs decide to attack my face. In some instances, though, these balms can be too oily, so skip it if you want a thicker balm. I even tested them out during the nighttime right before bed to see how well the balm holds up during the night on my lips. Well, it stayed on for the whole 8 hours, so I think it performs pretty well as a nighttime lip balm if you smear enough on.

Like I mentioned before, the caveat to this is that during higher temperatures, these lip balms do not hold up so well and is rather oily on the lips. The Strawberry one is the one that stays the most intact in its solid form, while the Vanilla Crème is the biggest offender of melting off in the tube, but it is not quite runny.

Conclusion

Pros:

• Inexpensive during half off sales for 50¢ per 0.07 oz or 2g.
• Buttery feel on lips that is neither sticky or heavy.
• Soothing to lips.
• Moisturizes lips.
• Compact size.

Neutral:

• Can give off a shiny or greasy look on lips.

Cons:

• Terrible twist tubes.
• Labeling on twist tube rubbed off with the slightest touch.
• Can be too oily feeling when applied too heavily.

I don't really care for these lip balms, but the Strawberry Crème one does the job and smells good and I would probably repurchase it because it is a thicker formula than the rest. They are only worth it if they are 50¢ because the Chapstick Classic style lip balms are $1 for 0.15 oz whereas these e.l.f. lip balms at regular price are $1 for 0.07 oz.

Where to Purchase

Website	Price	Deals
e.l.f.	$1.00 USD	Use Ebates for some cashback at e.l.f.!
Shop Miss A	$1.00 USD
iHerb	$2.00 USD