Carmex Classic Moisturising Lip Balm Tube: Review

The highlights: 

What is it?: Carmex Classic Moisturising Lip Balm Tube

Does it work?: Yes

Would I buy it again?: Yes, and I have, and I bought some for my mum, who also now uses it all time!

Other options?: Loads of lip balm options on the market – but Carmex is now my “go to”.  

Where to buy:  You can find this in lots of places, so keep an eye out for it if you’re on the high street. If you want to buy it online though, there are various places you can get it. You can, of course, get it from Amazon – here’s the link to the Carmex shop. This one is the link to the Carmex Classic lip balm tube that I have and the one that I am reviewing here.  

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I first discovered Carmex Moisturising lip balm when I started working backstage in theatre. By way of background, I had decided I didn’t want to practise law anymore as a solicitor (love the law, didn’t love practising it), so I left law and wanted a total change. I went to night school to retrain as a make-up artist, and after that I started contacting local theatres in Manchester (where I had moved to at the time as I was also working for my brother in Manchester) to see if I could get some work experience or a job as a make-up artist backstage. Anyway, one of the theatres came back to me and offered me a job as a dresser (not a make-up artist, but it still sounded exciting to be working backstage!). They contacted me because they needed extra dressers as Disney’s The Lion King was coming to the theatre, and there are a lot of dressers running around backstage on that show! That started my small career in dressing backstage, and I went on to work on lots of cool shows like Wicked, Dirty Dancing and The Lion King again (although at a different theatre). I also did some work as an assistant make-up artist on an independent freelance film, where the head make-up artist also had a little tube of this Carmex as a staple permanent in her make-up bag! Who knew? Anyway, a very long-winded way of saying that this is how I discovered this product, and that it is used ‘in the biz’ because it is so good! So, I thought if the professionals are using this, then maybe I should check it out…so I bought some – and I have to say it is the best lip balm I have ever used! So on that note, on to the Carmex Lip Balm review...

Carmex do a whole host of different lip balms. The one I have is the “classic” moisturising lip balm in a tube. This is a small 10g tube, which fits in your pocket or bag, you squeeze it out of the tube to the applicator at the end. Note that if it has been somewhere cold, it may take a little more pressure to get it out. It comes out quite thick almost like a gel...like this…

Then you can use the end of the tube to apply it to your lips, so if using your fingers when out and about to put on lip balm freaks you out, then this isn’t an issue with this little tube. They also do it in a solid lip balm tube, that I haven’t tried, but that one has SPF 15 added in, so you can always check that out too.

They do the tube in the classic (which is the one I have) or you can get different flavours now too. I haven’t tried any of the flavours, but if you decide to give them a go, please do comment below and let me know what they are like! Alternatively, you can buy it in a small pot, or a lip balm stick. Again, I haven’t tried either of these, but do let me know if you do and what they are like!

The one I have in the tube, goes on smoothly. It has a bit of a menthol smell to it, but it’s not overpowering in my view. It does tingle a little when you put it on, and tingles more if your lips are dry and sore! However, it keeps your lips hydrated and soft so with ongoing use (if you can handle the tingle) your lips will improve. Once you put it on, if you rub your lips together they run smoothly across each other, so you can tell its there. Provided you are not eating or drinking anything (or rubbing it off your lips in any other way) you can feel it on your lips for ages – I timed it and the “smooth running lips across each other” feeling lasted for an hour. That’s pretty decent! It also means that one of these tiny tubes lasts a quite some time! Although, it does have a 12 month once opened use by label on it – did you know these are on all cosmetics? The 12 and M means 12 months from the date of opening. This label:

You can use the Classic Carmex Lip Balm Tube on its own, or as a primer underneath lipstick – which means you can wear your favourite lipstick and keep your lips hydrated. I don’t often wear lipstick, however, so I stick with just using it on its own. When it goes on, it has a little bit of a gloss look to it, but not super obvious, so not like what actual lip gloss would look like. Here’s the slight gloss look on my finger, and lips, so you can see what I mean!

The slight gloss look does last for a while, but it gets less profound as the time ticks on. That said, there is still a very slight gloss look for as long as you can feel it on your lips, so once that feeling or look has gone, and if your lips need it (which they might not as this does soften up lips quite well), that’s when you can reapply. The directions say to reapply at least every 2 hours, but this also means you can do it more often than that if you feel your lips need it.

Also, some of the options come with SPF 15 protection – although I can’t see that the one I have comes with SPF protection, so if this is important to you, make sure you read the description of the specific option you are buying – the classic lip balm stick, for example, has SPF 15.

All in all, I love this little lip balm – it does what it claims to do, and it does it well! Want to check out the full Carmex range? Here’s the link.

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with love

Rebecca

xxx

P.S. Please note that this blog may contain affiliate links (including those to Amazon). When you click on the link and purchase the product, I receive a small commission.