Lovely lips - Elizabeth Arden and Nuxe

For as long as I can remember, I’ve carried around a tub of Vaseline to soothe my dry, chapped lips. Autumn and winter are especially unkind, with the central heating blasting and freezing air outside. While at the airport recently, a limited edition Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant caught my eye and was quickly snapped up in a moment of ‘duty-free frenzy’. I’d wanted to try the Eight Hour Cream for a while, so was happy to finally get my hands on some at a slightly cheaper price.

First off, the tin drives me mad. Fair enough it’s pretty, but I seem to have great difficulty screwing the lid on correctly and have managed to get it stuck several times, with great strength (not from me, obviously) or a knife wedged in needed to get it off. Once I do manage to get the lid off, the product itself is quite nice; it moisturises well and isn’t too sticky. The smell of it really puts me off however. It has a strong lemon scent, which reminds me of a kitchen cleaner and makes my stomach turn a little whenever I use it. Since buying it, I’ve heard lots about a fragrance-free Eight Hour Cream, so if I was going to invest in anything else from the range, I’d definitely opt for that.

On to nicer smelling things. I’d wanted to try Nuxe’s Rêve de Miel lip balm for a while and was disappointed to not pick it up when I went to Paris in July. On a recent business trip to Munich, I had a whiff of it and knew I couldn’t leave mainland Europe without it again. At around €11, it was pretty pricey, but the smell alone makes it worth it. The name would suggest it smells like honey, but to me it smells exactly like Terry’s Chocolate Orange (although sadly doesn’t taste like it). The consistency is quite paste-like, not something I've found in a lip product before. The result is a matte finish, another rarity among lip balms. I don’t find this as moisturising as the Eight Hour Cream, but I reach for it more simply because it smells delicious. 

A combination of these two has been keeping my lips looking and feeling nourished over autumn and will hopefully see me through the chilly winter. I definitely prefer Nuxe's Rêve de Miel and will be happy to finish off the Eight Hour Cream, although I'm glad that I've finally seen what all the fuss is about.