Eco Lips Review and Giveaway [CLOSED]

I love lip balms!  I think I've mentioned that before.  When I was approached by Eco Lips to host a review and giveaway, I jumped at the chance because it presented the perfect opportunity to highlight a fantastic organic, cruelty-free company as well as allow myself and one lucky reader to try their products!

The labels are ripped because the photos I took before using the balms came out poorly

I have used a few Eco Lips products before and they've worked amazingly well.  I'll take a natural lip balm over a synthetic one any day (what I mean by synthetic is the ones that contain ingredients like petrolatum, etc) because they just work.  I hate the major-brand ones you can get at any drugstore because they just coat your lips and end up making them feel worse.  Natural lip balms made from organic ingredients have always felt better and performed better to me.

There are so many amazing things to say about Eco Lips that this post could get a little lengthy.  In an effort to keep it from getting tl;dr, I'm going to use bullet points:

• Eco Lips recently reformulated their products (on 10 October 2012) in an effort to better support fair trade.  They've increased the FTC (Fair Trade Certified) ingredients in their products and are purchasing more FTC raw ingredients.  What does this mean?  By supporting fair trade, Eco Lips is helping to promote ethical business practices by helping fair trade workers earn a living and providing awareness to consumers.
• Eco Lips products are USDA certified organic.  A USDA certification is only gained when the ingredients used are food-grade quality, meaning you could eat them.  I wouldn't recommend eating one of their lip balms whole, but it makes me feel a lot better knowing that I'm putting organic ingredients on my lips instead of chemicals.
• Eco Lips has vegan options available that don't contain beeswax.
• Last, but definitely not least, my favorite aspect of Eco Lips is that they are an entirely cruelty-free company.  Absolutely no animal testing has been done on these products at any stage!

So, in a nutshell, Eco Lips is awesome.  Here are the balms that I was lucky to try:

The Renew: Orange Spice balm from the ONE WORLD collection is perfect for me!  I love all things spice and orange and spice is one of my favorite combos.  This is a nice big, chubby stick (.25 oz) that's made from 40% recycled content.  It's Fair Trade Certified and feels so smooth and wonderful on my lips.  The base is FTC cocoa butter, and it also contains argan oil "to revitalize skin and neutralize free radicals."  I love this one.  The scent, the recycled packaging, the fair trade and USDA organic certifications--what's not to love?  The other scents/flavors are Restore (Coconut Ginger) and Relax (Lavender Lemon).

The Dagoba: Mint balm is my favorite out of the pack!  I was so excited to receive one of these because I received a Roseberry one in an Eco Emi box, but I left it out in my car and it melted (I tried re-freezing it but it just wasn't pretty).  I didn't know until recently that Dagoba is a chocolate company, and Eco Lips paired with them to create this line of lip balms.  The other flavors are the aforementioned Roseberry and also Lavender.  This is mint chocolate heaven!  I absolutely love the scent, and it glides on just as smoothly as the Renew balm.

I really wanted to love the Mocha Velvet EcoTint as much as the previous two, but the shade just isn't flattering on me.  It's a deep chocolate that is in itself beautiful, but it was just a little too dark on my yellow-undertoned skin.  I could definitely see this on someone who wanted a dark, dramatic look.  But aside from the color, it's unscented and still felt smooth and moisturizing.  The other shades available are Moonstone, Sugar Plum, and Coralyte.  All of them contain over 90% certified organic ingredients.

The Eco Lips Gold balm is for the lip balm purist.  It's unscented and colorless, and it's fantastic at providing long-lasting moisture.  I think this one is great for year-round use, but especially for the approaching winter months.  I live in a climate that sees lots of snow and harsh winds, so chapped lips can come easily if you aren't prepared.  I would recommend this balm to anyone and everyone; I promise that it's going to last you much longer than the petrolatum-based junk that you might be using currently.

Bottom Line: I love Eco Lips for providing consumers with organic, FTC, and cruelty-free lip balms.  Even if you don't care about any of those things (ah!), I'm certain you'll still love these balms as much as I do because they just flat-out work.  There's nothing better than an organic, natural balm because they don't just sit on top of your lips, their ingredients work to soothe and last.

• Visit Eco Lips and view their full line of products, including balms made from Honest Kids flavors!
• Connect with them on Facebook and Twitter

Well after reading all of that, would you like a chance to win a prize pack of Eco Lips balms?  Their awesome team was kind enough to provide eight of them for one of my readers to win!  Enter using the Rafflecopter form after the cut.

Badger Balm Review

This review is for one of my all-time favorite organic companies, WS Badger Company, or as they're more popularly known as, Badger Balm. Their slogan is "Powerfully Pure Body Care," which is so true.
Badger sells a ton of products, from soaps to lip balms to sunscreen...basically any kind of body care product you could ever need. Even bug spray! Their most famous products are their balms, which I absolutely love.



Badger Balms are oil-based, so they are a little different than what most people have probably tried. But they're very potent; a little goes a long way. The tins that I own are the Stress Soother, Original Balm, and the Cheerful Mind balm (not shown above), as well as the Sweet Orange Cocoa Butter Lip Balm (more about that one later).

Certified Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil is the main ingredient in the balms. These products are not vegan, however; they do contain beeswax. The scents are added using a variety of ingredients. The Stress Soother has a tangerine and rosemary scent, while the Cheerful Mind is made up of lemon and sweet orange. I actually bought the Cheerful Mind and Sweet Orange lip balms in a gift set.



Here are what the balms look like inside. You can tell from the shine that they're olive oil based. That may sound odd, but it doesn't smell like cooking oil at all. The balms may feel overly greasy to some, so I don't recommend them for people who already have well-moisturized skin. But my hands get really chapped, especially my knuckles, and these work wonders for extra dry skin. They're perfect for the wintertime. The original balm, "For Hardworking Hands," is especially good for calloused skin. The other two also can be used for aromatherapy. I like to rub the stress soother one on my temples when I need to relax.



The Cocoa Butter Lip Balm is divine. I love orange chocolate, and this smells so delicious that I want to eat it! The stick is also really hefty, so like the balms, it lasts a long time. I've had all of these products for months and I've barely put a dent in any of them. The Cocoa Butter Lip Balms come in a variety of different scents.

Bottom Line: WS Badger Co. is a fantastic skin care line with organic (but not vegan) products. They are very affordable (each balm costs around $7) and they last a very long time.

Even Better: Badger announced on their Facebook page today that they are holding a Thanksgiving sale with free shipping very soon! It's the perfect opportunity to try them out!
Learn more about Badger Balm and check out their online store here!

A Bevy of Balms

Well, maybe not a bevy, but more than one. I've always been a hoarder of lip care products; in middle school/high school I was all about the lip gloss, but now I've moved to balms. I will buy any kind of lip balm, especially if it smells nice. Here are some that I've picked up recently.



First is the eos balm in summer fruit. I've been wanting to try one of these for a long time, but never picked one up until just this past weekend. I think the packaging is really cool, and it smells amazing, pretty much what you would expect a summer fruit to smell like. To me it makes me think of watermelon mixed with a hint of citrus. It goes on smoothly, too, and keeps my lips moist for a while.



Here's what it looks like opened. eos, which stands for evolution of smooth, products can be found at any drugstore. I picked this one up at Wal-Mart for something like $2.69. Very budget-friendly!



These three are some of my all-time favorites. I think most people have probably heard of Burt's Bees, so I won't spend a ton of time reviewing this one. It's the original Beeswax Lip Balm, which I love because it leaves that tingly feeling after you put it on your lips. It is certified by the Leaping Bunny program, meaning they don't test on animals. But, it's noted on the Leaping Bunny site that Burt's Bees is a "Cruelty-free subsidiary of parent company that does not comply with the Leaping Bunny Standard." Something worth noting if you want to buy only cruelty-free products.


The two balms flanking Burt's are by Crazy Rumors, another Leaping Bunny certified company (that is not owned by a company that doesn't comply!). I actually found out about them via Leaping Bunny, which is cool. The green one is from their Candy Cane collection and is "Pear and Peppermint," the orange is from the Brew line and is "Spiced Chai." I actually got these for free; I won them in a giveaway that Crazy Rumors did on their Facebook page.




These lip balms are fantastic. They go on smooth and hydrate well, and they smell great! The Pear & Peppermint leaves just a little bit of tingle, but not nearly as much as the Burt's Bees. The Spiced Chai (one of my favorite scents and flavors ever) is delicious. Crazy Rumors has a ton of yummy flavors to try, all of which cost $3.49. They also have a line of colored lip products, check it all out at their website!


Bottom Line:

• eos - smells great, fun packaging
• Burt's Bees - love the tingly feeling, is cruelty-free, but owned by a company that does not comply to Leaping Bunny's standards
• Crazy Rumors - deliciously-scented vegan, cruelty-free lip balms with great hydration