The Kiss Lip Balm

I cannot help but get excited when Lush release a new lip balm, especially one that is vegan. This year for Valentine's Day, Lush released the aptly named 'The Kiss' - the first vegan lip gloss free from all of those nasty preservatives. Using a clever aerating technique on luxurious shea and cupuacu butters, Lush was able to create a light balm intended to moisturise and protect the lips, as well as giving them a subtle pink glossy sheen. 

This lip gloss is beautifully packaged, and comes in a silver tin like all of their lip balms, making it easy to transport around in your bag or pocket. At £5.50, it is slightly on the expensive side for a lip product, but if it does what it says on the tin, you are technically getting two products for the price of one. 

What's special about this product is that it contains very few ingredients; a characteristic I always love to see when shopping for cosmetics. As well as the aerated shea and cupuacu butters, Lush have also added guarana seed powder helps to plump and soften the lips, as well as agave syrup, mandarin oil and almond oil provide a tasty sweet fruity flavour. I wouldn't recommend you eat the tin as a snack, but it definitely tastes nice when applying it to your lips. 

In appearance, the balm is an attractive pale pink colour and when I used my finger to apply a little, I immediately noticed that it's consistency is different from all other Lush lip balms. It's noticeably softer, meaning you have to rather careful not to get too much out at once. It's easy to apply and the balm leaves a subtle pink sheen on the lips. 

2013 release seems paler in comparison to the 2014 version.

It is pleasant and sweet smell which reminds me a lot of pick n mix sweets - in particular, the pink shrimps that I used to eat as a child. Some people have expressed on the forum and website that it smells a lot like the sweety drumsticks you can get. Either way, it's a sugary sweet smell that is nothing like anything else Lush have released so far. 

I can't say that my lips were noticeably plumper after application, although they did feel softer as the day wore on. My only complaint is that, compared to a more oily lip balm, you don't get the immediate conditioning feeling that you do with a vaseline-base balm. I found I had to apply this many times throughout the day as I'd either licked it off, or my lips began to feel dry.

I feel this product would work best as a gloss you put on after using your regular lip balm as it doesn't really moisturise your lips as well as other balms. Although not something I'll be buying again, it's a nice enough product, and it's good to see Lush are working towards other preservative free products to expand their range. 

Quantitative Ingredients: Fair Trade Shea Butter, Organic Castor Oil, Organic Agave Syrup, Cupuacu Butter, Glycerine, Flavour, Organic Mandarin Oil, Almond Oil, Guarana Seed Powder, Geraniol, Limonene, Titanium Dioxide, Mica, Colour 15850.

Vegan?: Yes