Well I have to say this is long overdue and I apologise to Fiona (xylaria) for not getting it done sooner but I have had internet and weather issues.
The first thing I thought when I opened my package from Stupidly Simple was "Oh hell, she wasn't kidding, I really do have to do a review"!! as I stood there holding a bottle of Bug Oil in one hand and a tin of Wicked Lip Balm in the other....thankfully I had only been asked to review the lip balm but 'how the heck do I approach this??' I thought
I decided the only way to review the lip balm was to do a comparison test and it had to be done in real conditions. As it was still reasonably good weather I knew I had to hold off until later in the year to know whether this quirky product was going to be a success or a failure against the bigger market brands.
I have a beard and as those of you know that have a mass of unkempt hair sprouting from the front of your face know, it can be a bugger to stop condensation forming when breathing heavy in the cold weather. This can inevitably lead to dry, sore and cracking lips. When I go outdoors, whether its fishing, hunting or walking, I tend to take a tin of Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera with me to prevent the discomfort so I decided to compare the Wicked Lip Balm with the Vaseline.
The Tests:
First out was the Stupidly Simple Wicked Lip Balm. I chose a particularly nasty, windy, mizzle drenched day. I donned my waterproofs, stuck my rucksack, popped a tin of Vaseline in my pocket and headed for the hills. I was out for around 5 hours in a mix of mist, drizzle, rain, and a cold biting wind. Before I commenced the walk I applied a thin smear of the lip balm. I reapplied the balm as and when I needed to, which I have to say, wasn't that often. The lip balm is quite thick and a lot firmer than my usual product choice and applied very easily, even in temperatures of around -1C. After my walk I got home, had a cupper to thaw out and inspected my lips for damage, nothing to report there. I repeated the process over the next 5 days, it even snowed on one of the days but I purposely kept getting wet lips and really pushed the product to it limits but each night I got home and no dryness or cracking.
The other added feature, and the reason its called a "Wicked" lip balm is because it has a wick!!! Clever eh? This small tin of lip balm, that can nestle unnoticed in the corner of your jacket pocket, can also be used as an emergency candle. Not only does it protect your lips but in the event you are stuck out for the night with a duff lantern, find a cave to shelter in or explore or just fancy a romantic rat pack supper with your beloved you have the very thing on your person. Its very simple to light, just straighten the wick and a few seconds with a match and off it goes. It did spit and crackle at first but once the heat was in the wick it burned the same as any tea light/ small candle would. It didn't noticeably smoke and there was no nasty smells. I let it burn for a few minutes and then nipped the wick with wet fingers to put out the flame. There was no excessive smoke that way. Once the balm had cooled again I then gave it a sniff. There was a slight, but not unpleasant smoky smell to it and the lip balm had a slightly smoked flavour too but it wasn't excessive and certainly didn't render the product unusable.
I then decided to stay home and let my body, legs and lips recover for a few days to make the test fair. As it happens the weather brightened up and I felt I couldn't really put the Vaseline through its paces when the sun was shining. I ended up waiting for almost 10 days before the weather turned enough to do a fair test.
Sporting a fresh application of Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera. I repeated the whole process and even did the exact same walks and was out for the same duration as previous. The weather was just as nasty, cold and wet. OK, so it didn't get as cold as it had on the previous tests and there was no snow this time and I had 2 semi sunny days but it was generally pretty nasty and it was always windy. I had made a mental note of how often I had to reapply the Vaseline and it was almost 3:2 in favour of the Wicked Lip Balm. I found I was constantly having to top up the Vaseline and it didn't give me the same amount of confidence as its competitor. By the end of the 5 days I started to see signs of dry lips, The creases had got more pronounced and when rubbing them together there was a certain amount of dryness evident. This really surprised me as I have been using this exact lip balm for years and never suffered with chapped lips. I thought it may have been dehydration but I know I drank more than enough on my walks. I left it until the next day to get a better picture. That night I drank plenty of fluids, the next day the dryness was still evident and the lips were a touch redder than usual.
Conclusion:
I have now found a new favourite and that's the Stupidly Simple Wicked Lip Balm. It is not only a great product that doesn't need reapplying as often as its competitors. The tin is also smaller than the Vaseline Lip Therapy so takes up less room. OK its not hugely smaller but it could make the difference to some people. It can be used as an emergency candle, There is no noticeable flavour or smell, unless of course you have used it as a candle. Although I like the smell of the Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera it does have a nasty habit of tainting your food if you have to reapply shortly before eating. The only truly negative thing about the Stupidly Simple Wicked Lip Balm is the screw lid on the tin. It is very difficult to open with greasy, gloved or cold hands although I did find that my Leatherman made short work of trying to open it.
I would give this product 4/5 and only losing out because of the tin. Hey we can't be perfect al of the time!!!
The first thing I thought when I opened my package from Stupidly Simple was "Oh hell, she wasn't kidding, I really do have to do a review"!! as I stood there holding a bottle of Bug Oil in one hand and a tin of Wicked Lip Balm in the other....thankfully I had only been asked to review the lip balm but 'how the heck do I approach this??' I thought
I decided the only way to review the lip balm was to do a comparison test and it had to be done in real conditions. As it was still reasonably good weather I knew I had to hold off until later in the year to know whether this quirky product was going to be a success or a failure against the bigger market brands.
I have a beard and as those of you know that have a mass of unkempt hair sprouting from the front of your face know, it can be a bugger to stop condensation forming when breathing heavy in the cold weather. This can inevitably lead to dry, sore and cracking lips. When I go outdoors, whether its fishing, hunting or walking, I tend to take a tin of Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera with me to prevent the discomfort so I decided to compare the Wicked Lip Balm with the Vaseline.
The Tests:
First out was the Stupidly Simple Wicked Lip Balm. I chose a particularly nasty, windy, mizzle drenched day. I donned my waterproofs, stuck my rucksack, popped a tin of Vaseline in my pocket and headed for the hills. I was out for around 5 hours in a mix of mist, drizzle, rain, and a cold biting wind. Before I commenced the walk I applied a thin smear of the lip balm. I reapplied the balm as and when I needed to, which I have to say, wasn't that often. The lip balm is quite thick and a lot firmer than my usual product choice and applied very easily, even in temperatures of around -1C. After my walk I got home, had a cupper to thaw out and inspected my lips for damage, nothing to report there. I repeated the process over the next 5 days, it even snowed on one of the days but I purposely kept getting wet lips and really pushed the product to it limits but each night I got home and no dryness or cracking.
The other added feature, and the reason its called a "Wicked" lip balm is because it has a wick!!! Clever eh? This small tin of lip balm, that can nestle unnoticed in the corner of your jacket pocket, can also be used as an emergency candle. Not only does it protect your lips but in the event you are stuck out for the night with a duff lantern, find a cave to shelter in or explore or just fancy a romantic rat pack supper with your beloved you have the very thing on your person. Its very simple to light, just straighten the wick and a few seconds with a match and off it goes. It did spit and crackle at first but once the heat was in the wick it burned the same as any tea light/ small candle would. It didn't noticeably smoke and there was no nasty smells. I let it burn for a few minutes and then nipped the wick with wet fingers to put out the flame. There was no excessive smoke that way. Once the balm had cooled again I then gave it a sniff. There was a slight, but not unpleasant smoky smell to it and the lip balm had a slightly smoked flavour too but it wasn't excessive and certainly didn't render the product unusable.
I then decided to stay home and let my body, legs and lips recover for a few days to make the test fair. As it happens the weather brightened up and I felt I couldn't really put the Vaseline through its paces when the sun was shining. I ended up waiting for almost 10 days before the weather turned enough to do a fair test.
Sporting a fresh application of Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera. I repeated the whole process and even did the exact same walks and was out for the same duration as previous. The weather was just as nasty, cold and wet. OK, so it didn't get as cold as it had on the previous tests and there was no snow this time and I had 2 semi sunny days but it was generally pretty nasty and it was always windy. I had made a mental note of how often I had to reapply the Vaseline and it was almost 3:2 in favour of the Wicked Lip Balm. I found I was constantly having to top up the Vaseline and it didn't give me the same amount of confidence as its competitor. By the end of the 5 days I started to see signs of dry lips, The creases had got more pronounced and when rubbing them together there was a certain amount of dryness evident. This really surprised me as I have been using this exact lip balm for years and never suffered with chapped lips. I thought it may have been dehydration but I know I drank more than enough on my walks. I left it until the next day to get a better picture. That night I drank plenty of fluids, the next day the dryness was still evident and the lips were a touch redder than usual.
Conclusion:
I have now found a new favourite and that's the Stupidly Simple Wicked Lip Balm. It is not only a great product that doesn't need reapplying as often as its competitors. The tin is also smaller than the Vaseline Lip Therapy so takes up less room. OK its not hugely smaller but it could make the difference to some people. It can be used as an emergency candle, There is no noticeable flavour or smell, unless of course you have used it as a candle. Although I like the smell of the Vaseline Lip Therapy Aloe Vera it does have a nasty habit of tainting your food if you have to reapply shortly before eating. The only truly negative thing about the Stupidly Simple Wicked Lip Balm is the screw lid on the tin. It is very difficult to open with greasy, gloved or cold hands although I did find that my Leatherman made short work of trying to open it.
I would give this product 4/5 and only losing out because of the tin. Hey we can't be perfect al of the time!!!
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