Friday 25 June 2010

good things come in small packages

Here they are - three of the best lotions and potions around in my opinion. I obsess abut having moisturised lips - there is nothing that can ruin a look, and my day, more than dry cracked (and quite often painful) lips. I am also the type of person to hyperventilate if I do not have some form of lip balm in my proximity. I always like to try something new, and quite often get sucked in by the hype surrounding new products, but there are certain bathroom cabinet staples that I keep on returning to. And for good reason.

Firstly there is the utterly magical Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream, so versatile and effective you can use it almost everywhere! Originally I purchased this on a plane to use on my lips after almost hyperventilating at the lack of lip balm in my hand luggage. I was extremely impressed with the first application (and several more during the journey) as despite appearances the cream is lovely and light. It continued to prove it's weight in gold while we were on the holiday as I continued to test out it's various other uses - taking the sting out of sunburn, softening cuticles, performing what could be considered a miracle on very dry skin and even helping to heal cuts and grazes. The only potential negative point (as pointed out by a friend of mine who also uses it) may be the smell - just a little hint of anti bacterial cream, but personally I quite like it. Even though it could be considered a little pricey for a lip balm plus product at around £23 for a 50ml tube, a little goes a very very long way and one tube or tub lasts absolutely ages and if you shop around on the internet you can get it for around half that. There are several limited edition packaging options around too - my personal fave is the 60's style pot which you can get for £9.95 at Online Beauty Ltd.

Then there is the readily available and super affordable (I picked up my latest pot at the supermarket for £2.27 last night) Carmex. This is great for preventing and treating chapped lips and also cold sores. One application seems to linger on the lips for ages, without them feeling greasy. I also love the packaging, it comes in either a pot or a tube, personally I prefer the retro styling of the pot ... but people may find the tube easier to apply, and the bright yellow colour makes it easy to find in the depths of ones handbag. This is my personal handbag fave, although I do like to have a tub in the car too - just in case. Not one for many other uses this simply does what it says on the tin and I love it!

Finally - not so much a lip balm but a one tub does all product - Vaseline. I don't know where to begin my love letter to Vaseline ... I have small pots for use as a lip balm (one on my bedside table, one on my desk at work and another that seems to gravitate towards the car) and a large tub for everything else. I like to mix it with lipstick for a tinted lip balm, use on eyelids with eyeshadow to create a glossy look, use on my cheekbones (sparingly) for a healthy glow in the summer, slather on my feet and then put socks on before bedtime for extra moisturised tootsies the next day, use on elbows and the like before applying fake tan ... and breathe ... my personal fave is to apply to my eyelashes at night for strong glossy lashes - far better than any 'lash serum' in my opinion! And at around 99p for a pocket size it certainly fits in with my chiconomy mantra!! 


There you have it - my trio of goodies! What about you? Any staples that you swear by or have you found an alternative use for any of the above??

C x

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