Do you have any bedtime beauty rituals you like to do right before you hit the haaay? I have a few. First, I slather lotion all over my crocodilian hands and feet. Then, I slip on a soft, stretchy headband (because I can’t fall asleep if I can feel my hair all over my face) and apply a moisturizing lip balm.
Speaking of balms, I’ve been cheating on my go-to Clinique Superbalm lately with the new Burt’s Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm with Kokum Butter ($4).
Superbalm will always have a special spot on my nightstand, but sometimes you just gotta have variety, ya know?
Burt’s new colorless lip balm is 100% natural, cruelty-free and contains some interesting ingredients. Along with the usual balmy suspects like shea butter; cocoa butter; and sunflower, coconut and olive oils, it also has something called kokum butter. I’d never heard of it before, but apparently it’s derived from the seeds of the Garcinia indica tree, a plant indigenous to western India and believed to have some medicinal properties, although I couldn’t find much on the benefits of its use topically.
Ingredients: cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed wax, persea gratissima (avocado) oil, olus (vegetable oil, huile vegetale), cera alba (beeswax, cire d’abeille), sclerocarya birrea seed oil, soybean glycerides, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, garcinia indica seed butter (kokum butter), butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter) unsaponifiables, cymbopogon martini oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) oil, salvia sclarea (clary) oil, tocopherol, myroxylon pereirae (balsam peru) oil, vanilla planifolia fruit extract, illicium verum (anise) fruit/seed oil, cananga odorata flower oil, glycine soja (soybean) oil, citric acid, geraniol, linalool, benzyl benzoate
Whatever kokum is or isn’t supposed to do, I’ve been applying the balm before bed every night for the past week and waking up the following morning with soft, smooth lips.
I love, LOVE the way it feels on my kisser — like I’ve just eaten a really rich, buttery pasta dish (or like I made out with a stick of butter) — and it’s not sticky or waxy at all. It also tastes and smells faintly of tart lemons, which in this case I like.
Just to see how it would work with a nude lip liner, I wore it a few times on top of MAC Subculture, for a natural lip look with a hint of color and sheen. LOVED IT!
All in all, I adore this $4 balm. If you’re looking for an untinted, all-natural, hydrating lip balm, Burt’s Bees Ultra Conditioning Lip Balm with Kokum Butter hits the spot.
PRICE: $4
AVAILABILITY: Available now at drugstores, many grocery stores and also online
MAKEUP AND BEAUTY BLOG RATING: A+
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
This looks like something my lips will love too! Must go check out Burt’s Bees soon 🙂
I’ll have to try this! I’m on a mission to own one of every lip balm in existence, haha.
Hahaha! I’ve felt this way before! 🙂
I like shea butter lip balms better than beewax. I’m going to keep an eye out for this at Rite Aid.
I’m hanging out with my fellow makeup addict friend Gloria tomorrow. I think I’m going to pick up Sable e/s and Cosmo lipstick at the MAC store when we get there. I can’t wait to try it out!
Ooo I really like Burt’s Bees! If they could transition to organic they’d be diamonds, haha.
Oh my goodness… I want this! I just bought a new Burt’s Bees original, but since I recently found someone I like to smooch regularly, I might have to pick up one of these little guys the next time I’m out!
Ironically I just bought this last night! I really really really like the feel and lasting power but I’m having issues with the smell. It’s a little overpowering in my opinion, but I’m hoping I can get use to it because I really like this balm otherwise!
I have to check this out :). Especially with cooler weather heading our way…Cleveland, OH winters are not nice to your lips :(.
This sounds so great! My last lip balm was a total bust, greasy and too strong of a scent, ugh….Maybe this will be the solution to all my problems! Thanks for the post!
I’ve seen Kokum butter around DIY skincare suppliers and have always been tempted to add it to a cart already full of essential oils and mango butter. It sounds like it works well in lip balm form!
Will need to check this one out.
I can’t wait to try this! I don’t know why it hasn’t caught my eye, I always love Burts Bees products.
Haha I remember breaking up with a guy once because it felt like making out with a stick of butter. From your description this balm sounds a heck of a lot better than being slobbered on by a grimy highschooler 😛
This sounds worth checking out, although I’m a devotee of Kiehl’s mango lip balm. I’m not sure I can shift allegiances.
the tube of lipbalm (currently aquafina) by my bedstand just ran out … im going to grab this to replace that!
im a huge devotee of a swipe of lipbalm on my lips before sleeping!
Groovy! I have one of their standard balms that smells like mint. I like it but feel like the more often I use any balm, the drier my lips seem to get. Weird, I know.
yay! thanks, my lips hurt! no matter how much water i drink or honey or scrub i apply they crack and peel like the sahara desert
I love the Burts Bees Acai berry balm- and I have one in my bathroom drawer and one on my nightstand. I put it on every night and every morning too. I have the Mango one too but this one is my fav! I will have to try this Kokum butter one. Thanks for the review Karen!
Loved the post! Kokum is a plant that’s so local to Western India that am surprised and thrilled about Burt’s Bees actually coming across it and using it in such a fab product. I just did a post on kokum – you can read it on http://sandalwoodandjasmine.com/2011/08/23/kokum-comes-of-age/ for more info on what’s considered a magical product in this part of the world
I’m a lip balm ADDICT & this happens to be one of my recent favorites, too! If you love that “buttery” feel, you have to also try their Mango Butter balm, which is awesome. Others with that “buttery” texture you can try are Yes to Carrots Lip Butters (I love it in Mint), Herbacin Kamille Lip Balm, and the Love + Toast Lip Butters (not to be confused w/ their balms in the tins) that come in a bunch of yummy-licious flavors (I’m partial to Ginger Fizz & Green Tea Mint. Candied Apple is good, too). I’ve only just discovered your blog this year so I’m not sure if you’ve already tried/reviewed these products, but in case you haven’t 🙂 OH! Speaking of Love + Toast, their Handcremes are also to die for! Have you tried them? I especially love in Gin Blossoms, but they have an awesome variety of those, as well.