Ripe Shop Lip Balms Review

I haven't had a chance yet to talk about my lip balm obsession which slowly but surely started up during winter. My lips were parched deserts and I was bored with the choices offered at the shops in town. So I did what any beauty blogger does and set out to browse through Etsy! I have found some fantabulous sellers, and the one I want to talk about today is ripe, owned by Adriana over in sunny California.

One thing that drew me in as a customer was the visual aesthetic of her shop. All the photos of her products are simple, but gorgeous. The font design she uses on her products is also gorgeous and fits in perfectly with her shop design. Now that's just that, but what are her products like, you may ask? To be honest, they simply do not disappoint and it's so exciting deciding what flavour of lip balm to purchase (jeez, that makes me sound boring, I swear it's actually fun picking out which ones to buy!).

All three lip balms which I purchased from ripe have been smooth, soft (but not that melting-all-in-your-bag/back-pocket soft) and nourishing. All her lip balms contain: avocado, coconut, jojoba and sweet almond oils, beeswax, cocoa & shea butters, which makes me really happy knowing what I'm putting on my lips, and eventually ingesting because I'm prone to licking my lips especially when they're dry, is natural and not something I'm afraid of getting into my body.

Because I was bought mine in winter time, I was all in the holiday spirit and purchased Gingerbread Egg Nog. At first I found the top to be a bit crumbly, if that's even possible, but after a few uses, the top of the balm smoothed down and I didn't experience this issue again. The smell itself is interesting, and I feel like the "egg nog" is the more prominent flavour, and I don't really get much of the gingerbread, but that's fine with me as I still really enjoyed using it. Unfortunately the writing on the labels wore off really quickly, something I was gutted about with these products as everything else is so great, so I am borrowing the images directly from Adriana's store so you can see how cute they are.

Image courtesy of ripeshop

Because I'm a green tea fiend, and love anything matcha flavoured, not to mention I'm currently living in Japan, the Matcha Green Tea was destined to end up in my clammy, excited, little hands. If you're not a fan of in-yo'-face scents, this would be great for you. This is a lightly flavoured lip balm, and the green tea fragrance is very gentle when you're putting this on your lips. Makes me crave green tea ice cream whenever I put it on! I also had the crumbly beginning with this lip balm as well, but like I mentioned, this issue quickly disappeared.

Image courtesy of ripeshop

And my favourite of all three lip balms is the Chocolate Rosa and this is by far the most divine thing to ever glide on to my lips. The scent is just abso-fricken'-lutely amazing! The chocolate and rose combination is genius, and the scent is just uhhhhhhhhh, so good! I can't even tell you using words how good this actually is, you just have to trust me that whatever else you're purchasing from this store, this also has to be in your shopping cart. I didn't have the crumbly at the beginning issue with this lip balm, it was just perfection from the get-go.

Image courtesy of ripeshop

Getting it ready and shipping took around 2 and a half weeks to get from the USA to Japan, and this was during the holidays, so I was super happy as I was so excited to try them out. Prices range from $4.25 - $5.00 per lip balm, and while this may seem a tad steep for a lip balm, I can guarantee these are worth it; nothing better than handmade things, I say!
These lip balms are all I've been reaching for during the cold winter days, and even now slowly moving into spring, they've been a godsend. Go check out this fantastic shop and tell me what your favourite lip balms from there are. I've got my eyes on the Taro Milk and Chocolate Raspberry, drool. Adriana also has her own site, so you can also have a gander there.

So, what is your favourite lip balm? Have you ever bought lip balms from Etsy before? Do tell!

Inspired Scents Etsy Store Perfume Review

So, it's been a while, huh. If you've noticed my absence I apologise; I have been tackling the beast that is the Japanese immigration and all of processes that come with trying to get a working visa in Japan. My beau decided that he wanted to camp out here in my little tin roof flat, so I spent my summer sweating my ass off on a bicycle seat and various governmental offices, yay!  Other than that, I have just been plain lazy, left my blog feeling a tad unloved. But that’s all changing, I promise.

Today I decided to write about a small business I stumbled across on Etsy this summer. Now, if you don’t already know about Etsy, I feel like I should warn you. Access this site only if you’re ready to be sucked into all the handmade awesomeness and be ready to part with your beloved savings account.

I discovered Shelley's Etsy store when I was searching online for a dupe of Elizabeth Arden’s Bronze Goddess perfume. I was desperate for a new summer perfume and Japan’s shops had nothing to offer in terms of summer fragrances. In Japan, their range is focused on citruses and fresh scents, and I was desperate for some coconut action in my perfume, and the Bronze Goddess perfume seemed right up my alley.

Bronze Goddess (TYPE) is a sensuous, sun-drenched blend of Bergamot and Mandarin, cooled with Tahitian Gardenia Petals and Coconut, warmed with Amber, Sandalwood, and Vetiver. All heat, all desire, all woman.

I lucked out because I found a couple of sellers who were selling their own versions of famous designer scents, and BG happened to be one of the ones they made. I was curious about how similar it would smell compared to the real thing, and I also ordered Miss Dior Cherie because that’s a perfume I had owned before and knew what it smelt like. My perfumes were sent lightning quick and I received my package in just less than 2 weeks. 

I was very pleasantly surprised to discover in my package that Shelley had also included a full sized solid perfume in her Coconut Mandarin scent as well! I was absolutely tickled pink.

Store description: This fragrance has notes of mandarin, strawberry leaf, violet, jasmine, caramel popcorn, wild strawberry sorbet, musk, and patchouli.

I was absolutely delighted to find that the Miss Dior Cherie smelt exactly like I remembered my bottle of it smelling! Sweet and slightly floral, it is gorgeous and I wear it almost every day now. My Bronze Goddess I wore almost every day since I received it, and I actually ended up being able to purchase an actual bottle of it through a friend who had gone back to the US for a visit, so I was able to compare the two and found that the likeness was pretty much 100%. Both the oil perfumes are very potent and last at least 4 hours on my skin during the summer, and around 5-6 hours during the winter.

I am so pleased with my perfumes, Shelley is super lovely and the shipping rate was decent! I am so envious of all those people in the US, there are so many awesome Etsy shops that I would be purchasing from if I lived in the States! Here is the link to Shelley's store, if you wish to take a gander.

Tell me, lovely readers, what is your favourite Etsy store? Hope y’all had a safe and fun Halloween/Samhain!