little white truths

I've used a few Lanolips products before (this is the fourth) and it's safe to say that they just don't work for me. Sure, they're not awful - but none of them has hydrated my dry lips and I also find them to be very slippery so they move around a lot and don't stay where I need them to.

It's annoying, I must admit, because they obviously work for a lot of people but they don't gel with my lips. More on that below.

Lanolips claims/product details:

• A superstar hydrating balm that nourishes lips as well as tinting them in a range of delicious colours
• These rich balms work to condition and nourish lips while painting them in a beautifully sheer tint of colour
• Made from a blend of lanolin, pigment and SPF 30
• Available in three shades: Rose, Rhubarb and Nude
• RRP $14.95 AUD for 12.5ml

Light and heavy swatches, direct sunlight:

 My bare lips for reference:

Wearing the product, natural light:

Indirect sunlight:

Verdict

This isn't a terrible product but I don't love it and it's therefore going to be a hard one to get through because it contains so much product. Indeed, I may end up passing it on to a better home, because I would rather see someone enjoy it, as opposed to having it wind up on my Project Pan list and watching myself suffer through it.

It's a rose-coloured balm with a sweet scent that's not overpowering. The texture is quite thick and slippery, and it does leave a coating I can feel on my lips so that's something to be aware of.

I'm not one for slippery balms, I must say: that's not how I like my lip products to be. Anything that's too waxy, greasy or slippery doesn't float my boat, and while this isn't greasy or waxy, it's definitely more slippery than most. For this reason it doesn't last well and it also has a tendency to slip into my mouth - something I try to avoid with my lip products. Just not a sensation I like.

On top of that, this product travels outside lip lines something chronic. It doesn't want to stay where it's meant to, so it looks very messy, very quickly, and I don't want something I have to babysit all day.

Also, it's not hydrating. What it tends to do is sit on top of my lips and stay there, without actually sinking in and nourishing them the way I need it to. As someone with dry lips, I need my lip balms to hydrate so that's another reason for me to avoid this product.

The shade 'Rose' is a standard rose that adds just enough colour to make me look polished without looking overdone. While it's a bit too pink for my personal tastes (pink generally doesn't suit me), I don't mind the colour and I can certainly get away with it. Indeed, I think it would suit most people.

Overall I don't recommend this product and I'll be glad to pass it on to a better home. Note, though, that these lip balms have had pretty good reviews (see eg Mecca's website), so it could just be that they don't suit me personally.

Not for me.