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!

Jump to June Favourites

Ciao bellas!

I'm sorry that I've been MIA but I've had a lot on my plate since my beau's arrival and I just haven't had the time to update the ol' blog even though the purchasing hasn't stopped. I'm actually proud of myself because I haven't bought anything online for a few months now! But only because I haven't had money in the account with which I make my online purchases. Still. Proud of myself! Savings galore, woop woop!

I just noticed that I was a naughty blogger and completely featured two products from last month as this month's favourites as well...oh well...that just goes to show how much I love them!

 In order from left to right, le-tsu go!

1. SKIN AQUA さらさらUVシャワー SPF50+ PA+++ - Summer is well and truly here in Japan, and I decided I needed to invest in a decent sunscreen. Luckily for me, Japan has a plethora of them and they are all quite high in the SPF and PA department. The beauty of this sunscreen is that you just spray it and ta-da! Done! It's such a fine mist that when I first applied I was worried I hadn't applied it properly. It's not sticky, it doesn't leave me greasy, like I said, it's like you hadn't applied it at all.

2. Avene Eau Thermale Thermal Spring Water - A great little face spray that I've actually used up now. So refreshing when I wake up feeling super hot in the morning and need something to cool me down in the already 28 degree heat at 7.30am.

3. It's a 10 Miracle Leave-In Product - This is my little hair saviour. Like a lot of other people have noted, you might not notice a difference the first time you use it, but after a while, if you happen to not use it once, you'll notice the difference immediately. This has really helped to keep my hair smoother and softer. I'm keen on trying the version with keratin in it.

4. MUA Lipstick in Shade No. 16 - It's a bright coral lipstick that leans towards orange more and it fits right in with the current summer trend of coral lipsticks. I bought it during a 50% off and free worldwide shipping on the MUA website. Unfortunately, when I lent it to a friend, it looked way more amazing on her than it did on me; she has the most beautiful blue eyes, and the contrast between the lipstick and her eyes was amazing! So, blue-eyed beauties, I can highly recommend this colour to you.

5. Yves Saint Laurent Gloss Repulpant Shiny Lip Plumper SPF10 in Shade 1 - I bought this in a sale when it came with a YSL lipstick, and I paid around NZ$45 for both, which I thought was a bit of a bargain. I recently re-discovered this lip gloss when I was looking for something to wear on my lips, and I really liked how it gave my lips that shine without the stickiness and the minty feel and smell is quite refreshing on a summer's day.

6. Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 21 - A staple in my handbag when I've rushed out and feeling like I need to put something on my face to cover up the redness and give me the SPF I need.

7. Essie Borrowed and Blue Nail Polish - Probably the most worn colour of the year for me! Such a beautiful light sky blue colour, it will look gorgeous on someone with a tan! Still working on mine, y'all.

8. Vecua Wonder Honey Citrus Sorbet Body Spray - Every time I spritz this on myself I crave lemonade! It smells exactly like it and it makes me so thirsty. I find this the perfect scent for a pick-me up and when I want to cool down a bit. My summer must have if you're living in Japan and want a nice body spray!

9. Ray Ban Aviator Sunglasses with Blue Tint - I got these a few years ago as I needed a decent pair of sunglasses, and as I have a naturally weird face, I don't seem to suit any style other than the aviator. I don't mind because I think they look damn cool on anyone who wears them! I'm lusting after the new seasons ones though, ahh.

Non-beauty faves:

1. Air-cons: anywhere and everywhere because goddamn it's humid.

2. The beaaaaaaaach! Can't wait to be swimming every day!

And most important fave:

SUPERNATURAL

I am addicted to this show. There is just aksljfsdkjfsd so many feels, you just have to watch it. If you're wanting a bit of supernatural action, dorkiness, brotherly love, angels and demons, ghosts, ridiculous scenes, and a bit of eye candy, you should give this show a go.

Magical May Favourites

I am so glad to see the end of May! The only reason being that my beau is due to arrive in a few days time and I have absolutely been suffering as I've been waiting for time to go past (over 5 months since I've seen him, yo). I actually have been using and lurving a lot of things in May, my birthday kind of included, and although not all of them are going to be featured this month, as I don't want to overwhelm you guys with the product awesomeness, they will probably pop up in my next month's favourites!

I bought a couple of nice things for my birthday, and one of these things is (don't judge) a fancy tea. It's rhubarb and strawberry flavoured and it is just such so gorgeous I make sure I brew myself a cuppa almost every day. Let me tell you how it tastes; it's strawberry heaven with a hint of bitterness kicking in from the rhubarb and after it glides down your throat this creamy strawberry taste is left in your mouth. Pretty delicious sounding, eh? It is. Oh, it really is. The tea is made by the Japanese company Lupicia, and whilst it is available in quite a few places around Japan, it is also available in the States, Tawian, and in Melbourne, Aus. The store is always fun to pop into to grab a small free sample of whatever tea they're promoting at the time and stick your schnoz into all the sample pots and have a sniff of the wonderful aromas. I didn't realise just how much I would fall in love with this tea, but it won me over when I was having birthday cake with my friend at a cafe.

Boil me, now! It screams.

My next favourites are, again, non-beauty related. I have been missing my Kiwi-a-gogo land, along with my lovely friends, and I happened to get an awesome package of them with these two very Kiwiana products which I am so happy to have in my life right now. I figuratively weep whenever I make my toast and swipe my Marmite across it, or douse whatever I'm eating with my Kaitaia Fire hot sauce. SO GOOD TO EAT IT. If you've not heard of Marmite, it's the same dealio as Vegemite. If you've not heard of either, they're both a yeast extract spread (the only kind of yeast you want near in you) which is a by-product of beer brewing. It's very good for you as it contains a lot of iron, niacin (vitamin B3), folic acid and thiamin, all essential to helping protect your nervous system, and kidney and liver function. The taste is very unique and salty. You want to have a light hand when spreading this on your toast. It tastes amazing accompanied with cheddar cheese, and this is my favourite way of eating it (though I've been having it sans the cheese as good cheese is hard to come by in Japan unless you pay in gold for it).

Maaaaate, dig in!

And now, finally onto the beauty stuff. From L-R, let's get on it!

1. MAC Margin Frost Blush - I was obsessed with reading Tali's blog (The Gloss Goss) from back in the days, and although she unfortunately stopped blogging completely and deleted her blog (why Tali, why? At least let us have your old posts to read and re-read!), and I was watching Zara's video of her favourite blushes (from the blog Mouldy Fruit)(she is so gorgeous!), and she mentioned that this is one of the blushes that Tali wears, so being the nerdo that I am, I bought one for myself. I was just hoping that it would transform me into a lush beauty, and whilst it did not do that, it did turn my cheeks lovely. You have to have a light hand with it as it is very pigmented. Review coming up soon!

2. Avene Eau Thermale Thermal Spring Water - This bottle I was gifted by the most wonderful friend of mine in prep of my trip to Serbia last year. Although I think these bottles of water are ridiculously overpriced, they are a wonder on a long-haul flight. I've also often been reaching for it now that the weather has warmed up and it's just such a lovely, refreshing thing to mist over your face in the morning when you're trying to get your game face on for the day. It's sadly almost run out and I'm debating with myself whether I should splurge on the big bottle. #firstworldproblems

3. Elizabeth Arden Green Tea Perfume - I absolutely adore green tea in all its many forms: as the tea that you would just drink, the frappucino and latte from Starbucks, green tea in its ice cream form, green tea milk, green tea cookies, green tea cake, and obviously, green tea perfume. This is such a perfect spring/summer perfume as it's so fresh and light, it puts me in such a happy place when I spritz it on. It's also on the cheaper side of perfumes which makes me happy, and as you can see, I will need to repurchase it very soon!

4. Missha M Perfect Cover BB Cream in No. 21 - I've actually been in love with this BB cream for a while, but I kept forgetting to put it into a favourites list, goodness knows why. Again, it was a birthday present from one of my friends (gosh, my friends do certainly know what I like, don't they!). It's just pure magic, I just haphazardly slap it on my face over my moisturiser, and although at first it looks far too pale to be the right colour for my face, (this is where the magic kicks in) it changes colour over the course of 5-10 minutes and becomes like a second skin. It covers up the discolouration on my face and leaves it looking beautifully glow-y. I also love it because it stays put, and it's got SPF42 plus PA+++ which means it has you covered on both the UVA and UVB rays. Score!

Isn't my blush a beaut?

So, my lovely-lovely lovelies, tell me what was your favourite of May? How do you feel about my favourites (please tell me they're all wonderful)?

February Favourites

Better late than never!, is what I always say. With that said, I'm jumping aboard the monthly favourites bandwagon all the beauty bloggers seem to be riding.

My selection is small, but there are the ones that have stood out most for me *cough*didn'thaveenoughroomforotherthings*cough*.

Pompadour Peppermint Tea: A favourite tea of mine no matter what the time of year, but was even more of a treat during the cold winter. Warms me up, and keeps the discomforts of gluten-filled food eating slightly at bay. Unfortunately, tea is on the expensive side here so this cost me a horrifying ¥600!
Burt's Bees Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil: This lip balm has lived in my right jacket pocket for the last couple of months, and I don't go anywhere without. It smells delicious, tastes sweet, and has helped relieve my poor lips of their chapped pain.
Rausch Moisturizing Body Butter: A gift from my aunty's friend who used to work for Rausch. This body butter smells amazing, clean and refreshing. The scent just reminds me of Greece now because I used it constantly on my poor sunburned body. It's perfect because it deeply nourishes, and absorbs into the skin straight away. Will definitely be doing a review on this.
Bioderma Sensibio H20 Micellar Water: Has been my saviour for those lazy winter nights when I can't be assed waddling over to my sub-zero temperature bathroom to take off my makeup. I can hear the tsk-tsk's from over here...But review is over yonder.
Fake Pearl Stud Earrings in 8mm:  To make myself look (and feel) more classy, I bought myself these stunners from this eBay seller for 2 buck. Sweet as.
Flowerbomb by Viktor&Rolf EDP: One of my favourite all-time perfumes. Bought this LE gorgeous perfume for myself 2 Christmas' ago, and it feels like I'm indulging in something very luxurious whenever I wear it. It's a scent I would describe as heavy, and is perfect for cooler weather. Very sweet, very beautiful, and I think a favourite of many other women.
It's a 10 Miracle Leave-in Product: My hair and I are in constant war with each other, but I feel like my techniques of pacification have been helping me with a peace treaty. I have been using a few other new hair products, but I feel like this has been helping with the split ends and hair breaking off. Unfortunately, have naturally fine and curly hair that's been dyed blonde for the last couple of years, means that I have an array of hair problems.

I have kept it short and sweet my lovelies, but what has been your favourite of the short month of February?