theNotice: a beauty blog

The product: Burt’s Bees Fragrance Free Shea Butter and Vitamin E Body Lotion

It’s taken me forever to review this one, because it’s really very basic… so, I mean, I haven’t a lot to say. I use the word “basic” in the very best way possible, though; this is exactly what I reach for when I’m looking for something without any frills whatsoever. The company’s claims are right on the nose for this one: “all-day hydration – pure and simple.”

I’ve been using this as both a hand cream and a body lotion, because I’m at a loss for an unscented, silicone-free product for both those roles. The good news, though, is that it’s been doing a wonderful job at both! The cream is on the heavy side, but sinks in quickly and doesn’t leave my skin slippery or sticky, and moisturizes well.

The ingredients:

Aqua, glycerin, decyl cocoate, sunflower seed oil, beeswax, shea butter, polyglyceryl-3 stearate, glyceryl stearate citrate, cetyl alcohol, coconut oil, olive oil, grape seed oil, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, buttermilk powder, matricaria flower extract, calendula extract, centaurea cyanus flower extract, tilia cordata flower extract, rosemary leaf extract, anthemis nobilis flower extract, hypericum perforatum extract, tocopherol, sucrose stearate, xanthan gum, soybeanoil, canola oil, lactic acid, citric acid, glucose, sodium chloride, sodium stearoyl lactylate, sodium benzoate, magnesium aluminum silicate, phenoxyethanol, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase

The verdict?

$13 is on the pricey side for a body lotion, but if you’re looking for something more natural, it may well be worth it. Because I’ve had a lot of trouble finding a silicone- and scent-free body and hand lotion, I would definitely recommend this one – especially if it’s on offer!

P.S. Have you seen Burt’s Bees’ oh-so-adorable video for their tinted lip balms? Cutest lip balm spot ever, I kid you not!

What it is: Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Pink Blossom

What it has:

• Super-cute packaging,
• An awesome price tag ($7),
• Six great shades (with just the right amount of tint),
• 100% natural ingredients (no phthalates, parabens, or silicones here), and
• A light, synthetically fruity scent… that fades fast (hurrah!)

Ingredients:

Coconut oil, vegetable oil, beeswax, olive oil, candelilla wax, sunflower seed oil, flavour, lanolin, shea buter, castor seed oil, cananga odorata flower wax, jasmine flower wax, ammonium glycyrrhizinate, tocopherol, rosemary leaf extract, soybean oil, canola oil. +/- alumina, CI 77891, CI 75470, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499.

naked lips / pink blossom

A brief ramble: I’ve been on and off with Burts’ variations on their bestselling balm in the past, but this one’s a keeper! It does a great job keeping my lips moisturized and leaves them looking natural, hydrated, and plush. Without the scent (which does fade quite fast), they’d be HG material!

naked lips / pink blossom

The verdict? I like this just as much as I like my Burt’s Lip Shimmers… which is really saying something, because I am a huge fan of those! (Check out our reviews of Nutmeg, Peony, and Caramel.) If you’re looking for a lightly tinted lip product that packs a punch of moisture, pick up one of these – I’m just dying to check out the other five shades!

As promised, here are swatches of Caramel! It’s available on its own or in Burts’ Shimmer and Shine set. If you’re having a bit of deja vu – please note that parts of this review (the formula, and part of the verdict) are the same as they are in the review of Peony and the Shimmer and Shine post, as they’re the same product!

The shade: Caramel is darker than Peony, imparting a sheer (but less so) wash of colour. The brown tones neutralize my lips a bit, resulting in a slightly darker colour than my bare lips, but never pulling too mauve or too orange. The shimmer leaves my lips looking very full, but there isn’t so much shimmer or pigmentation that I need a mirror to apply this.

bare lips / Caramel swatch

The formula: As I’ve mentioned in the Nutmeg review, Burts’ Lip Shimmers are less moisturizing than their original balm, but still quite moisturizing. For those with really dry lips, you may need to use a different balm at night or underneath these, but aside from that I think you’d be fine! The colour wears for 2-3 hours on my lips, but the moisture lasts a touch longer (about four hours).

bare lips / Caramel swatch

The verdict? Caramel gets a definite YES! from me in the set (it works out to be under $5), but I’m not sure if I’d have purchased it on its own. As I’ve mentioned before, Burt’s Bees Lip Shimmers are one of my favourite tinted lip balms, but I think I would have opted for something more pigmented if I was buying a single tube – this shade happens to be fairly sheer. I prefer the brighter tone of Peony a bit more, but I like that this has a bit more depth.

This morning’s review was supposed to be for the new Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm – I have a tube of Pink Blossom begging to be featured! The catch is that I wasn’t happy with the way my photos of it turned out, so I’ll be sharing two other fab Burt’s products with you instead. (I took photos for all three at once, but by the time I made my way to Pink Blossom, the sun was already on its way down. Winter in Edmonton, you kill me!)

What it is: Burt’s Bees Shimmer & Shine set, which contains two full-sized Lip Shimmers (Caramel and Peony).

About the shades: I’ll be posting lip swatches and full reviews of these two shades later today (update: check out the reviews here and here!) as I didn’t want this post to get too image-heavy, but I have to admit that the discrepancies within the Lip Shimmers drive me nuts. They’re described as sheer tinted lip balms, but some of the shades are actually quite pigmented – while others are really, really sheer. These two fall into the latter category, while Nutmeg (which we reviewed earlier) definitely qualifies in the former. I don’t inherently mind that there are differences, but I’d like to know what I’m getting!

Perhaps if Burt’s split their Lip Shimmers line into “sheer” and “regular” (like Marcelle has done with their Lux glosses?)

Caramel / Peony

About the formula: As I’ve mentioned in the Nutmeg review, Burts’ Lip Shimmers are less moisturizing than their original balm, but still quite moisturizing. For those with really dry lips, you may need to use a different balm at night or underneath these, but aside from that I think you’d be fine! The colour wears for 2-3 hours on my lips, but the moisture lasts a touch longer (about four hours).

top swatch: Peony / bottom swatch: Caramel / side swatch: Nutmeg

The verdict? Burts’ Lip Shimmers are some of my favourite tinted balms, no matter if they’re sheer or if they’re more pigmented. Lip Shimmers retail for about $6 each here in Canada, so the $9 price tag that this set boasts is a steal!* Consider this approved.

*Well, to be quite frank, the $6 regular price tag’s a steal, too. Does that make this some sort of… double steal? Compound steal? Hmm.