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Reviews > Health & Safety > Sunscreens and Skin Protection > Elemental Herbs All Good Lips balm > Owner Review by Kathleen Waters

ELEMENTAL HERBS ALL GOOD LIPS
Organic Lip Balms

BY KATHLEEN WATERS
November 25, 2013
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OWNER REVIEW

TESTER INFORMATION

NAME: Kathleen Waters
EMAIL: kathy at backpackgeartest dot com
AGE: 62
LOCATION: Canon City, Colorado, USA
GENDER: F
HEIGHT: 5' 4" (1.60 m)
WEIGHT: 125 lb (56.70 kg)

Living in Colorado and being self-employed, I have ample opportunities to backpack. There are over 700,000 acres/280,000 hectares of public land bordering my 71-acre/29-hectare "backyard" in addition to all the other gorgeous locations which abound in Colorado. Over the past 15 years, my husband John and I have also had the good fortune to hike/snowshoe glaciers, rain forests, mountains and deserts in exotic locations, including New Zealand, Iceland, Costa Rica, Slovenia and Death Valley. My hiking style is comfortable, aiming for lightweight. I use a tent (rainfly if needed). Current pack averages 25 lb (11 kg) excluding food and water.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Manufacturer: Elemental Herbs
Year of Manufacture: 2013
Manufacturer's Website: http://www.elementalherbs.com
MSRP: US $3.50 per tube or 4 pack for US $12.50
Flavors Available: The Original USDA Certified, The Original SPF 12, Cool Spearmint SPF 12, and Sweet Tangerine SPF 12
Flavors Reviewed: The Original SPF 12, Cool Spearment SPF 12 & Sweet Tangerine SPR 12
Listed Weight: N/A
Measured Weight: Too light to register on postal meter scale

Other details: from manufacturer
USDA Certified Organic Original Ingredients: Organic Calendula*, Organic Comfrey*, Organic Lavender*, Organic Plantain* and Organic Yarrow* Infused in Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil* with Organic Beeswax*, Organic Essential Oils* and Non-GMO Vitamin E.

SPF 12 Ingredients: Active Ingredients: Octinoxate 7.5%, Zinc Oxide 2% (Non-nanoparticle).
Additional Ingredients: Organic Calendula*, Organic Comfrey*, Organic Lavender*, Organic Plantain* and Organic Yarrow* Infused in Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil* with Organic Beeswax*, Organic Essential Oils* and Non-GMO Vitamin E.

*Certified Organic by USDA/NOP.
GLUTEN FREE.
All Good Lips
Picture Courtesy of Manufacturer

FIELD USE LOCATIONS AND PERFORMANCE

I've had the pleasure of using Elemental Herbs products for about four months now since I first discovered them at the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake City, Utah in early August. While that may not sound like a terribly long period of time, I literally, always, have on lip balm or a gloss.

I currently live on a construction site (finally, we are building our house!) and that means lots of dust and dirt and because of Colorado's high desert climate, that dust and dirt is DRY dust and dirt. We have very low humidity - generally in the teens - and have had an extremely hot summer.

Almost all my days, whether hiking, backpacking, working or whatever, have been spent in southern Colorado. The weather was mostly hot and when it wasn't hot, it was hotter! Rarely over the summer months had the daytime temperature fallen below 85 F (29 C) and very often it was well over 100 F (38 C). Fortunately, thanks to our high desert climate, the nighttime cools down to the low 60s F (Teens C). However, in just the last two weeks, the weather has been more seasonal and we have had daytime lows in the mid-60s F (Teens C) and night-time lows to just about freezing.

The exception to my time in Colorado was in early November when I visited my daughter and her family in hot and humid Florida where the daytime temperatures averaged 85 F (29 C) and the relative humidity soared to an average of 78%! That may sound like a low relative humidity for Florida but it sure is high for this Coloradan.

All of my backpacking and hiking took place on rough terrain, whether bushwhacking in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) property behind our property or on established trails in state or national parks lands. This entailed packed dirt, scree, granite slabs, loose rocks and boulders and oh yeah, mud, along with cactus and other prickly "hitch-hiker" vegetation.

There are just a few things that I look for in a lip balm, but those few things are very, very important.

1.) Does the product actually work to protect and heal my lips?

As I indicated above, I always have lip balm on. After living in the way more humid eastern United States for all of my life, when I moved to dry, desert-y Colorado six years ago, my lips and skin went into shock. My outer body surfaces shriveled, cracked, peeled and bled. In very short order, I found body butters (thicker than lotions) and lip balms to be my very best friends. I quickly discovered "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" and develop the habit of putting on lip balm immediately in the morning, re-applying often during the daytime and giving my kisser (slang for "lips") one last swipe of the stick just before turning out the light for the night.

My lips chap easily. I tend to chew on them when nervous. During strenuous activities, I often breathe heavily through my mouth and then lick my lips because they dry out which then starts up a vicious cycle of dry lips, lick, dry lips, lick…repeat. I abuse my poor lips.

Using All Good Lips first protects my lips by discouraging me from mangling my lips with my teeth and taunting them with my tongue because, even though the taste of the balm is not a bad one, it's not one I care to savor. And just the sensation of the balm on my lips reminds me to not mindlessly chew or lick them.
On the rare occasions I have manage to wipe off or wear off the All Good Lips balm and my lips have gotten dried out, an application of the balm soothes the chapped skin immediately and in short order, the cracked surface is smooth and soft again.

Thanks to the intense sun and dry air of my home state, I can unequivocally endorse the All Good Lip balms in as far as its protection with regard to protection of my labios (Spanish for "lips").

2.) How easily does the product go on?

As with all lip balms, the All Good Lips balms glide easily when they are at average temperatures and are a bit more stiff when it is very cold and a bit "mushy" when it is very hot. However, I've been pleased to note the balms' application is more often than not, even - I get just the right amount of product on my lips, not too much so as to need removal of the excess, nor too little as to require multiple swipes to cover my lips adequately.

The texture of the balm on my lips is slippery without being sloppy. However, my husband still wipes off his face like a 5-year-old boy after I kiss him!

3.) How long does the product last?

Depending on what I am doing, the All Good Lips balms last several hours to just one or two. When I am backpacking or hiking, I find I have to apply the balms every hour or so, especially at altitude. The dryness of our Colorado climate plus the exertion of uphill climbs just leaves me panting, even after six years here. So, I always have a balm handy - usually in my backpack's hipbelt pocket and every time I take a water break, I re-apply and sometimes, I'll break out the balm even while trekking.
As far as "last" as in using up the product, well, I'm sure I'm an exception to the rest of the population! I'm happy the balms lasted about 3.5 weeks.

4.) Is the "taste" of the product good or nasty?

I'm sort of neutral on the taste of the All Good Lips balms. They certainly didn't taste nasty. There isn't any chemical aftertaste and I don't recoil in disgust when my errant tongue runs over my lips. I found the "flavored" balms to be pleasant but not overly strong. Inhaling through my mouth would give me a whiff of whatever flavor the balm was labeled to be, but they didn't stimulate my taste buds to salivating!

5.) How well does the product perform and store in temperature extremes?

Because of my extensive experience with lip balms, I know enough to keep them from temperature extremes if at all possible. I have suffered more than one mess from a melted glob when I've forgotten a tube in a pants pocket in July or tried to use a leftover tucked in a backpack. I did not deliberately subject any of the All Good Lips balms to see if they were an exception to the majority of lip balms. It was sufficient to me that they weren't overly sensitive to the heat. As for cold, I did try to put one in the freezer to chill out and simulate very frigid conditions and was pleased to find there wasn't any excessive "drag" on my labbra (Italian for lips) when I tried to use it

STARRING ATTRACTIONS

1.) Great "tasting" flavors.
2.) Smooth application even when the weather is cold.
3.) Holds up decently in hot weather.
4.) Makes my lips "all good"!

MINOR DISTRACTIONS

1.) A tad pricey for me as I constantly lose lip balms or ruin them in the washing machine!

SUMMARY

The All Good Lips Lip Balms have been great to have in my pockets and on my lips these past several months. The tubes have held up to the intense heat as well as could be expected and with daily use, my lips have been not suffered from the effects of the sun. Instead of sore and scaly, my lips have been soothed and smoothed. Nice!

Though I wear a lip balm or lip gloss all year round, I am especially happy to have found the All Good Lips line in time for winter when cold weather activities do their worst to my lips. These would make great "stocking stuffers and I could sure use some more, Santa! (hint, hint!)

Thank you so much, Elemental Herbs for your quality product. I'm so glad I found them. My lèvres (that's French for "lips") thank you as well!

Kathleen (Kathy) Waters

This report was created with the BackpackGearTest.org Report Writer Version 1.5 Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.

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