Product Review: Lavanila The Healthy Lip Butter SPF 8

Like many women, I’m a sucker for vanilla: vanilla perfume, lotions, candles, you name it.  So you can imagine my excitement when I got the opportunity to try the new Lavanila The Healthy Lip Butter SPF 8 ($16.00, Beauty.com).  Enriched with a quad of 100% pure butters (shea, Kokum, Illipe, and Cocoa), antioxidants, and over 30 vitamins and minerals, Lavanila The Healthy Lip Butter SPF 8 seems to be a one-stop shop for lips.  But how does it measure up upon closer look?

The Good

This product does everything an ideal moisturizer should do, acting as an emollient (essentially smoothing the skin) and occlusive agent (sealing water in).   Lavanila The Healthy Lip Butter SPF 8 contains a very high concentration of shea butter, which has been reported by many sources, including this study in the Journal of Nutraceuticals, to be an emollient with excellent proven effectiveness for skin.  The second ingredient on the list, the fatty emollient castor oil, has been reported by the British Journal of Dermatology to aid in the prevention of sodium lauryl sulfate-induced irritation following its application.  Additional appearances by antioxidants and sunscreen (via zinc oxide) demonstrate that this product has the potential not only to hydrate your lips now, but also to prevent signs of aging in the future.

One other great thing about this product?  It is free of petrochemicals, phthalates, parabens, and sulfates – something I know a lot of my readers will truly appreciate!

The Not-So-Good

Although Lavanila The Healthy Lip Butter SPF 8 includes Madagascar vanilla bean and honey, I find the taste of this product to be rather bland, almost like a dab of vanilla extract sprinkled on oatmeal.  (I’m not as good at describing tastes as I am ingredients, so please bear with me here, haha!)  I suppose one way to describe it would be if Bonne Bell Vanilla lip gloss is dessert, this is definitely more of a wholesome raw vegan diet meal — much better for you, but not quite as tasty.

Overall Opinions

In a nutshell, I love absolutely everything about Lavanila The Healthy Lip Butter SPF 8, except for the way it tastes on my lips.   That said, I have found it to be a great product to use when going to classes or work (UV protection for lips is essential!), or for when my boyfriend is out of town (!).  If the company ever improves the taste, I’ll let you know, but until then, I keep this one on my “not-so-yummy-but-a-goodie” list.  Product Rating: 8.5/10 (High concentration of proven-effective ingredients: 3/3.  Unique formulation or new technology: 2/3, with the -1 for the taste of the concoction.  Value for the money: 2.5/3.  Sunscreen: 1/1).

Ingredients in Lavanila The Healthy Lip Butter SPF 8:

Active Ingredients: Zinc Oxide (5.5%)
Inactive Ingredients: Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Ricinus Communis Seed Oil (Castor), Lanolin, Beeswax, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Coconut Oil), Polyglyceryl 3 Beeswax, Flavor, Lanolin Wax, Theobroma Cacao Seed Butter (Cocoa), Silica (Mineral), Garcinia Indica Seed Butter (Kokum), Mangifera Indica Seed Oil (Mango), Shorea Stenoptera Butter (Illipe), Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Helianthus Annuus Seed Oil (Sunflower), Polyhydroxystearic Acid (Vegetable derived), Ammonium Glycyrrhizate (from Licorice Root), Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract (Goji Berry)