Crazy Rumors: A La Mode

If you've been reading Chaptastic for a while, you know by now that we kind of have a little crush on a Brooklyn lip balm company called Crazy Rumors (shhh...don't tell them!). It was love at first glide in 2006 when we first tried their Perk and Brew balms, which include delightful flavors such Irish Cream, Orange Bergamot and Ginger Peach. Could it get any better?

Yes, it turns out. Crazy Rumors has spent the time since our last review tirelessly developing fun new balms such as those in their Gumball and Candy Cane lines. But the pièce de résistance of their efforts is undoubtedly the ice cream parlor-inspired A La Mode line.

Price: $4.00 each on their site and elsewhere online, including Amazon (check out the coupon in the right sidebar!).

Appearance: Standard .15 oz. clear tube, labels as adorable as the Perk and Brew ones. Retro styling with a pop of bright color- fun and sophisticated.

Glide: Still one of the best glides I've ever come across. Always smooth and creamy, even in cold weather. It's like a little spa visit for your lips.

Flavor/Smell: What impresses me most about Crazy Rumors is that they don't just pick the obvious flavors like chocolate or strawberry. The varieties in A La Mode include Mint Chocolate, Almond Fudge, Raspberry Sherbet, Orange Creamsicle, Banana Split and my favorite, Pistachio. I found the Banana Split to be a little too fruity and lingering (and I love bananas), but others, like the Almond Fudge and Pistachio, were subtle and entrancing and as dead-on as the real thing. I'm not going to lie- sometimes I pull them out just to sniff them. They all have a touch of the naturally sweet herb Stevia so they're just barely sweet, which is perfect because otherwise I'd have eaten them all already.

Lasting Power: A wonderful 2+ hours. Every time I put some on I go hours without having to reapply without even noticing. Works wonders overnight, too- softens and helps exfoliate lips after a long day in the winter wind. I find myself wishing they weren't so effective so I could use them more often!

Product Pluses: 100% natural vegan-friendly ingredients (shea butter, soy wax, avocado, grape seed, olive and jojoba oils, Vitamin E, just to name a few), cruelty-free, freakin' cute.

5 out of 5 tubes.

Am I biased? Maybe. I'm not as floored by the A La Mode as I was by their Brew balms, but these still perform far and above other "good" balms we've reviewed. Crazy Rumors is seriously first on my Top Ten Desert Island Lip Balms. Oh, wait- if I were on an island it would be sunny so I should choose a balm with SPF for the top of the list. So second, and only for pragmatic reasons.

By the way, there is a good chance we'll get to go on a behind-the-scenes tour of Crazy Rumors sometime soon!