Guest Post! Alba TerraTints

This guest post comes from Scrappy's super rad coworker Kira:

When a big ole' box (actually, a full-on fancy schmancy counter display) of lip balm arrives unannounced at your door, wouldn't you assume the nice gals at Chaptastic had something to do with it? Me too. But apparently not. (ed. note - holy crap, we're so jealous)

Apparently, I received this treasure chest of luscious lip balm as a free gift for being one of the first to sign up for an upcoming yoga retreat. I guess yoga + pretty tinted well-moisturized lips = a very happy yogi. (ed. note - om x 3)

There were six Alba TerraTint tubes in the box. Two colors I tried on and right away decided, "uhhhhh...no, I'm just not groovy enough to pull these off." These were Dawn (white chalky weirdly sparkly) and Kona (dark brown, really dark brown). The others I like very much: Garnet, Bloom, Sienna, Blaze. Garnet is my favorite - the sheerest, least sparkly of the bunch.

Price: 3.99

Appearance: Minimalist texty packaging, with a label that matches the tube color but tube color that doesn't quite match the lip balm tint. I'm probably getting into OCD Girl territory, but I'm a fan of branding that's printed right on the tube rather than on a label that's just going to get all tattered and worn and yucky after spending time in my jeans pocket or the bottom of my bag. Is it wrong to want my tube of lip balm to look as fresh as my lips when I put it on?

Glide: Fairly smooth as lip balms go, just a bit on the heavy side.

Flavor/Smell: Yummy peppermint tingles the lips with only a hint of minty smell and flavor (but I have a cold, so it may not be as subtle as I think).

Lasting Power: Maybe an hour? Would like it to moisturize longer (but again, I've been breathing through my mouth all day, so you might not want to trust me on that).

Product Plusses: The packaging tells me that calendula flower and jojoba oil are main ingredients. Sounds good to me. The web site tells me that Alba lip balms provide " SPF 18 protection in a versatile stick - perfect for lips, ears and other sensitive, sun-exposed areas." Ummm....sounds like they're talking about the non-tinted lip balms.

4.6 out of 5 tubes. With four colors to choose from (six if you count white and dark brown), there's a naturally tinted minty lip balm out there for just about every skin tone. A nice way to dress up your face for a night out on the town.