As chilly mornings are still with us, we thought we’d share some new natural lip protection, with these Sheer Tinted Lip Balms from Herbal Earth. These four hydrating balms keep lips moist, are long-lasting and taste delicious! Regular readers of The Amazing Blog may be familiar with the name brand, as we reviewed their much-loved No 42 Antioxidant Facial Oil here.
Driven to find natural products with quality ingredients specifically formulated for even the most sensitive skin types, Nancy O'Reilly founded the Irish skincare Herbal Earth Skincare in 2017. Herbal Earth is a small-batch indie skincare range that, in her own words, "combines the best of nature and science to create advanced natural products for sensitive skin." Like many of us, Nancy became frustrated that even though many creams and serums made claims to be formulated for all skin types, they still caused irritation. This spurred her on to create Herbal Earth, a brand that aligns with being: "Natural. Gentle. Honest." Nancy graduated in Organic Skincare Formulation from Formula Botanica, where she has utilised her knowledge and expertise. According to an article by EMPOWER Female Entrepreneurship, "The brand is targeted at women aged between 35-55 who have sensitive skin, and are into wellness and natural products.” All products are handmade, vegan, cruelty-free, natural, and suitable for every skin type. They were a recent finalist in the 2022 Irish Made Awards and a 2022 Beauty Shortlist Mama & Baby Awards winner. It’s also important to note their commitment to sustainability, where consumers can order refill pouches of products which reduces waste, plus all packaging is recyclable or biodegradable. Future plans are to power their production using renewable energy from wind and solar technologies, enabling them to implement new initiatives to further minimise their environmental footprint and support Mother Nature.
What we love is that these Herbal Earth Sheer Tinted Lip Balms offer subtle and sheer pops of colour in a range of four colours: Perfect Plum, Deep Rose, Sangria, and Guava Lava. Perfect Plum has a purple hue, while Deep Rose has a deep pink. Sangria has a rich red tint, while Guava Lava is a softer coral. Warm reds and coral always look good on skin with a warmer undertone, while deep purples and pinks complement a cooler skin tone. Their Perfect Plum and Deep Rose echo the shade ‘viva magenta,’ Pantone’s 2023 Colour of the Year described as a "bright, crimson red, it balances boldness with a feeling of fun", a shade we’ve already spotted on the cover of Vogue and the 2023 spring/summer fashion runways.
These Sheer Tinted Balms contain hydrating ingredients such as calendula infused in rice bran oil and castor seed for shine. The candelilla wax offers a protective barrier and is a popular alternative to beeswax in vegan products. There’s also cacao and cupuacu seed oil, which gives this lip balm a delicious aroma and taste. Then there are the colours, they use varying amounts of manganese violet, for its purple or violet shade, and iron oxide for its red hue used to create the orangey/red tones.
All have the naturally occurring white pigment titanium dioxide, increasing the colours' brightness and opacity. Mica is present, too; it’s an ethically sourced and naturally-occurring mineral used for its light-reflecting properties, adding a touch of sparkle and shine to the balms. It also gives a smooth, clump-free texture and improves skin adhesion, helping the tint to last. Combine the mica and titanium dioxide, and they offer a glossy, pearlescent effect. These carefully selected ingredients are all-natural, vegan and contain no essential oils. Finally, they’re housed in simple wind-up polypropylene plastic tubes, which are 100% recyclable.
Something to note is that a tinted lip balm is not the same as lipstick or gloss. Formulated with translucent pigments, they have more natural hydrating oils or waxes and are primarily designed to provide lip nourishment instead of colour. Did you know that lips are 100 times more sensitive than fingertips? They have more than a million different nerve endings and have only 3 to 6 layers of cells, compared to the 16 layers elsewhere in the body. The lip’s blood vessels are close to the surface, which gives the lips their rosy pink/red hue. Red lips are perceived as more sexually appealing than pale ones, which is why the use of red lip pigments throughout the ages has always been so widespread.
These are brilliant and affordable sheer lip balms, and another of our #amazingfinds; they feel smooth and silky and can be reapplied as and when needed. Individual lip balms are £6.56 (€7.50) for 4.5ml, and a multi-pack including all four colours + a clear moisturising lip balm is £26.27 (€30.00). All Herbal Earth Sheer Tinted Lip Balms can be purchased here.