Lip Barrier Pencil

 

It's funny how you can go without something for almost thirty years of your life, only to discover it, begin to use it religiously and then find yourself unable to fathom how you had possibly lived without such a 'vital' product beforehand. Such is the case with the rather plain-looking Lip Barrier Pencil.

Until the introduction of Lush's brand new, rather generous selection of lipsticks earlier in the year, I had no interest in pasting my lips with anything aside from a little lip balm from time to time. But intrigue and curiosity lent its hand in convincing me to invest in a couple of the new colours, and once I was hooked on those, I knew I had to find something to make the experience even better.

For while I very quickly established that vivid reds and pinks seemed to suit me well, and realised that I wanted to wear lipstick whenever it was feasibly possible, I also discovered that lipsticks can be very messy business if not coupled with the tools to support, supplement and improve the wear and tear of the colour, once it's on.

In all honesty, when I first handed over my £7 in place of what looked like a crayon, I was rather skeptical. Designed to prevent the 'slippage' of colour, rather than setting a lip stick or tint once it's on, you're supposed to line the outside of your lips. One layer is more than enough to create an invisible barrier (hence the name!), which stops lip sticks bleeding outwards and leaving you with a horrible, messy shape to contend with.

Not only does it help to give your lipstick a defined shape that'll stay that way throughout the day, but once it has been applied, you won't be able to feel any residue on your skin, and you can go about your day without the worry that the colour is ebbing outwards and making you look like clown eating donuts.

How it works is that the oils and butters featured in the ingredients list, act as a sort of 'filler' - in that they smoothen out any minuscule lines or cracks that you may have around your lips, and that otherwise would encourage lipstick to run and fill in those spaces. Lip Barrier stops this from happening - therefore keeping your colour in place.  

For such a simple product, with so few ingredients, I was surprised and very impressed with just how well this worked. Not only does it leave little impression on the skin so you don't feel it once it has been applied, but it really does keep your colour in place for a good many hours. Furthermore, if you were to smudge your lipstick and need to remove it from your skin, Lip Barrier allows makes it really easy to do so, and it prevents the colour from permeating and staining your outer lips.  

This is what I would called the 'silent warrior' - a product that does exactly what it says on the tin, and works out an absolute bargain because it will easily see you through an entire year - even with daily usage. It's definitely encouraged me to wear make-up a lot more than I usually would, and has given me confidence to leave the house and know that the colour on my lips will remain in its place for the most part of the day.     

Quantitative Ingredients: Organic Castor Oil (Ricinus communis), Talc, Illipe Butter (Shorea stenoptera), Candelilla Wax (Euphorbia cerifera), Carnauba Wax, Kalahri Melon Oil (Citrullus lanatus).

Vegan?: Yes.

2015 Price: £7 each. 

Year Of Original Release: 2015.