FINAL THOUGHTS

This is only going to be a very brief post but this is my final thoughts after using only one lip product- Burt's Bees- for a whole month.

Whilst Burt's Bees is undoubtedly a very good lip balm, I hate to say that it's no better than other, cheaper brands and a few times during the month I found myself longing for my Body Shop Shea Lip Butter or the Nivea Hydrocare Stick.

That being said, my lips are super, duper, duper smooth and soft right now and, while I will go back to using multiple different brands and products at the same time, I think I can safely say that Burt's Bees will always be a permanent staple in my life.

SIMMER DOWN AND PUCKER UP

When life hands you exams it is essential (in my view) to buy yourself rewards for all the work and stress you are put through (and I promise that is not an excuse to go shopping). Last summer I went to Florida where I bought some Burt's Bees Lip Balms as they are much cheaper over there than they are here in the UK.

(Cheeky reuse of old photos here)

The main point of this post is not solely to review this product, but to talk about a new thing I'm doing this month. This June I have decided to only use one lip balm for the whole of the month just because I can really, I have no other reasoning apart from that.

I did make a post on Burt's Bees waaaay back in September 2013 so I'm not going to spend too long writing about it again. But I will say that it smells minty and fresh and brings back good memories of last summer; I also use this as a base before applying lipstick as it is quite a hard product so it isn't greasy, it doesn't leave a residue and you can barely feel it on your lips so your lipstick doesn't go sliding straight off as it might with a thinner, greasier balm.

I'd like to end this post by saying that, as of tomorrow, I will be free from exams and that is more exciting than anything right now.

SKIN MONTH | EVERYDAY ROUTINE

So this post isn't going to be very interesting but as it's Skin Month I thought it was only right that I addressed by daily skin routine...

(Apologises for the half-used products) 

1. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Foaming Face Wash- tea tree is super good for your skin, I use this twice daily and then wash it off using Boots cotton wool pads.
2. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Cleansing and Toning Lotion- it is always good to use toner on your skin, I use this once every morning and dab a couple of drops of it onto a cotton wool pad.
3. Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Exfoliating Face Scrub- (yes there is a trend going on) as I wrote here, I am not a great fan off exfoliating products for your face so I only use this about once a month but exfoliation is good and you should not run away from it just because it feels weird.
4. (A new one) Vitamin E Gentle Facial Cleansing Wipes- I use these in the evening to take off my eye makeup and then give my face a quick wipe before I wash it properly, I love these wipes so much.
5. Neutrogena moisturiser- favourite moisturiser, not much else to say about that really.
6. Burt's Bees lip balm- I just have the normal, original, no extra stuff, whatever you want to call it one and I lovelovelovelove it sososososo much, I use it every night before I go to bed so I have super smoothy lips when I wake up. I also use it as a base if I'm going to be wearing lip gloss because I find that some lip glosses dry your lips out a bit and this just prevents it.

 The Boots tea tree and witch hazel range

Personal favourites

Available at Boots or Waitrose- I love these

 

 

Now moving onto make up, I don't wear all that much to school because I have no time if I actually want to sleep in the morning.

The bare minimum

1. Body Shop concealer- I have spoken about this before but it's really good and does not cause excess breakouts like some concealers do.
2. Body Shop black eyeliner pencil- Just on the lower lash line and water line, I have super sensitive eyes and this is a good quality eyeliner without being overpriced like many other sensitive eyes products (COUGH No7 COUGH).
3. Mascara- I don't often wear mascara but when I do I wear No7 sensitive eyes in black, the one thing I hate about mascara is you can never seen when you're nearly running out.
4. Maybelline Baby Lip in Peach Kiss- perfect everyday lip balm, tastes good and has a teeny tiny shimmer to it in certain lights.
5. Body Shop Born Lippy in Guava- I absolutely love these but I have so many and never manage to finish them (my friend gets through a whole pot in about three months which is quite impressive considering how much is in there and how little you need at a time). Guava has got to be by far the nicest Born Lippy (I have about three pots of the strawberry one, however- yummy) but I find that they dry my lips out so I just whack on a layer of Burt's Bees and it works like a dream team.

Looks amazing and smells amazing I absolutely love this product (guava flavoured)

BELOVED BURT

I get very chapped lips all year round so I've been wanting a Burt's Bees forever, but they are so expensive here in the UK. Averaging at just under £4 in most shops, I do not think that it is worth it for a lip balm, not matter how good it is, especially as you can get the trusty Nivea stick for under £2 in Tesco.
Therefore I jumped at the chance when I was in Target (yes, again, I did a lot of food shopping in Target when I was in America) where you could get a pack of two Burt's Bees for just 5$. I'd seen you could buy Burt's Bees in Cracker Barrel (American restaurant chain) earlier in the day, admittedly a strange place to buy lip balm, but it was 3$ which is still quite expensive for a small lip balm on it's own.

(My Burt's Bees packet got a bit bent on the plane journey home.)

HOWEVER, despite my original 'ooh this is very expensive for a lip balm, is it really that good, is it really worth the price?' worries, I am converted. Burt's Bees is one of the best lip products I have found in a long, long time, coming in second place closely behind Blistex Relief Cream which is absolutely amazing and I used to swear by. Burt's is much better than Blistex in the sense that Burt's is a balm which is easily portable, and Blistex is a cream which comes out of the tube very fast in great quantities and has the tendency to explode in my bag whenever I take it anywhere; Blistex is also very thick and not a pretty sight to wear out in public, therefore I tend to stick to just using it at night.
Both Burt's and Blistex are very similar on the lips as they have a feeling that is quite hard to describe but is like your lips are hot, cold and minty all at the same time; it sounds very strange but is actually a very pleasant feeling, especially when you have super chapped lips but then I personally like the feel of it stingy and burning though most do not. I find that Burt's makes your lips feel almost quite numb but very, very smooth.

Blistex seems to be one of those products that never runs out as you don't need to use that much at one time so mine is looking a bit tatty but this is what the packaging looks like.

I have been using Burt's Bees religiously in the morning and in the evening every single day since I bought it and I noticed visible results in the smoothness of my lips after only a few days. I always put Burt's on before I put on any lipgloss or lipstick as I find that they occasionally dry your lips out and having a 'base coat' on really reduces this and keeps your lips looking smooth throughout the day.

I think it is safe to say that I have completely fallen in love with Burt's Bees and the beauty of the two-pack means I can keep one in the bathroom and one in my bag at all times without having to keep swapping them around!