Going green in way of beauty products meant giving up a lot of trusted favorites and happily tossing those that were merely acceptable until a new item came along. While I’m so happy I don’t run into the latter situation as often anymore, sometimes it’s just a little too hard to give up what works.
For me, that Holy Grail item is C.O. Bigelow’s Rose Salve. If you’ve watched my youtube videos or read previous blog posts, I’ve mentioned it numerous times. I always go back to this miracle tin. It protects my lips like no other against the harsh, dry Wisconsin winters. It cures chapped lips, dry skin, even a flaky nose after one too many tissue encounters. The formula is smooth, luxuriously softening and absolutely made for putting on at night to wake up to a supple pout. The smell is subtly rosy and one tin will last me for ages. And as far as I know, the company itself is cruelty-free.
The problem is, the ingredients, though there are only a few, are slightly questionable. Mainly, for me it’s the dye that goes into it to give it the rosy tint. I’ve taken to a general suspicion if an ingredient (especially unpronounceable) is followed by a number, it’s most likely not good for me. But this product is so wonderful! For every reason I’ve stated above and the fact that it’s a multi-purpose salve, I don’t think I can give this up. I went through a lot of lip cure-alls to get to this pretty tin and it’s one of the few lip products I have gone back to repeatedly.
It’s probably not the most natural, but it’s darn close compared to others. I recently went back to Bath and Body Works and stocked up on them, as they were buy two get one free. I’m set for a while. Every time I open a new tin, I get a little giddy. I suppose it’s the little things, but this works in a big way.
Speaking of rose salves, I’d purchased Dior’s Creme de Rose lip balm back in January, right before I really switched to natural. I decided to crack it open a few months ago – and what a disappointment it was! The smell was so artificially rose and the taste – it had that artificial fruity rose/cherry flavor that lingered on the lips. I hated the two times I tried it on. I do not like fake flavors on my lips, the scent was unpleasant and the packaging was a little disappointing. This is reputed to be a beauty favorite, but it just wasn’t for me. Thankfully, Sephora has a great return/store credit policy and I ended up getting store credit.
Just recently, I was back in Sephora to get a Jack Black eye cream for my husband and decided to pick up the Smith’s Rosebud Salve. Like the C.O. Bigelow salve, it’s housed in a decorative tin, from a formula dating back to the early 1890s. It’s got a much lighter rosy scent, though I can’t quite pinpoint the nuances of this scent, since it’s a “trade secret perfume mix”. The consistency of the salve itself has a gel-like softness to it, making it buttery, lightweight but moisturizing on the lips and happily, cruelty-free.
Will it completely replace my beloved C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve? Probably not, but it was worthy of it’s $6 price tag and seems to be a great formula.
