LypSyl Moisturizer Original Formula

Remember the reader who emailed us trying to figure out the identity of her label-less mystery balm? One of our intrepid readers discovered that it was LypSyl, a Swedish brand of lip balm that has recently undergone a face lift. I picked up a tube at my local CVS and tried to figure out if the Swedish hold the secret not only to great red candy fish but to lip balm as well.

Price: $2.99 in store, various prices online.

Appearance: Not gonna lie, I bought it because it looks weird. Slightly taller than a gluestick, it's a fat, flattened, elliptical-widthwise tube with a bee-shaped slider on the side instead of a twist ring. Whimsical. The site says something about "one-hand application on the go", and I must admit it is kind of handy not to have to twist anything to advance the tube. It seems like there's a lot of wasted space, however, because the balm only takes up about 70% of the casing. Maybe this isn't so with the thin tube or the pot.

Glide: When I first bought my tube it was really hard, but has apparently softened over time. Definitely performs better in warmer weather- it's like a brick in the winter. Once you warm it up it goes on pretty easily and without any stick, although it's hard to get used to the elliptical tube shape.

Flavor/Smell: The Original Formula has a strong yet pleasant mint scent and no sweetness. Other flavors include LypSyl Moisturizer HoneyBerry, LypMedication with Eucalyptus, LypRadiance Honeyrose, and LypSensitivity with Aloe Vera.

Lasting Power: Pretty darn good. It softens my lips very quickly and if I weren't my job to constantly reapply lip balm I might have forgotten to do it entirely.

Product Pluses/Minuses: Great mix of tried-and-true ingredients such as coconut oil, beeswax (Pure Swedish!), shea butter, and Vitamins A/E. Still petroleum-based, alas, but at least I can pronounce all the other ingredients.

Took me a while to warm up to LypSyl, but now I'm a fan. It's a reliable if idiosyncratic tube, so maybe the Swedish do know about more than just chefs. My theory is that they stole our bees. 4.5 out of 5 tubes.