Since forever I have been trying to find a lip balm that works for me. I am one those miserable people who have chapped lips all year round and have tried lip balms from various brands and many-many home remedies. So far the only product that has some effect is an over-night slathering of the transparent Baby Lips from Maybelline. Now that I am consciously trying to transition towards natural and organic products, this time I decided to give Organic Harvest a shot.
Organic Harvest is a homegrown brand launched in 2011 and offers an entire range of organic skin care, body care and hair care products at an affordable price point. They claim to be free of Parabens, Mineral Oil, PABA (A once-common sunscreen ingredient, now avoided due to allergic dermatitis and photosensitivity.), or Animal Ingredients. They use raw materials that are certified by Global organizations like EcoCert, OneCert & Natrue. The certification is supposed be an evidence that the raw materials used for manufacturing their products are derived from plants that have been grown without chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides.
Cost:
199 INR for 10 grams
Buy Online:
Product Claims:
Lip balm, enriched with natural essential oil, antioxidant and vitamin E, nourishes dry and chapped lips and provides luscious lips. *Color of this product may change due to the use of Organic and Natural Ingredients.
- Nourishes dry and chapped lips
- Contains goodness of essential oil and vitamin E
- No colors added
- Does not contain Beeswax
- Free of Parabens, Mineral Oil, PABA, or Animal Ingredients.
Ingredients:
Peppermint oil, Organic certified lanolin, Vitamin E, BHT (BHT-Butylated hydroxytoluene is a toluene-based ingredient used as a preservative in food and personal care products.) & food grade mint flavor.
Note that the info on pack calls the above “key ingredients” i.e not the complete list of ingredients. I absolutely hate that they think for whatever reason, their customers don’t deserve to know all the ingredients! Times have changed, educated and aware consumer’s understand and have the right to know the complete list of ingredients especially of a product which is applied on the lips and some percentage of which is actually ingested. Dont even get me started on why there is no mention of Green Apple when the lip balm is being sold based on that USP, perhaps it only serves the purpose of fragrance!
The packaging is interesting (similar to EOS, so no points for originality there). It is an almost spherical plastic base and a similar lid that can be screwed on top. A small flat area on the base is meant to help it stand upright, despite which it keeps rolling around if not carefully made to rest on the base.
Since the product within is also in a dome shape it often gets scratched due to the thread on the cap if one isn’t careful while closing the lid. I have kept it on my office desk because my office is air-conditioned, so the content remains solid. Once I traveled home (one of the warmest cities of India- and it is not even summer yet) with it and it started to melt so one needs to be mindful of that.
The product is colour less and has a mellow mint and green apple fragrance. The texture and feel of this product is waxy. It has a matte finish and doesn’t give that sheen to the lips like some other oil based chap sticks do. This is perhaps attributed to the fact that it contains Lanolin.
Lanolin is thick sticky wax that is derived from sheep’s wool. The wool is sheared, and exposed to hot water to remove the natural wax, as the water cools, the wax hardens and floats to the top. It is then sterilized and packaged as lanolin wax. Animals are not harmed during this process. Lanolin is merely a bi-product of the wool industry, however it is still considered an animal product – which will not work for those looking to avoid animal based ingredients in their formulations. Lanolin is an emollient – it helps soften and soothe skin. I don’t understand how the brand claims to be free of Animal Ingredients when the key ingredient to this lip balm is Lanolin! (Tell me if I am missing something here?)
This lip balm does a below average job of hydrating the lips and it also feels a little weird on lips due to the waxy texture. It almost feels like a lip primer instead of a lip moisturizer. While it is on one can constantly feel the presence of a waxy layer which feels unnatural. It needs re-application after an hour and cannot withstand a meal.
Pros:
- Organic product at an affordable price point
Cons:
- Withheld and misinformed claims.
- Waxy Texture
- Average results.
Closing Thoughts
I really wanted this product to work considering it is Organic content made available at an affordable price point, but unfortunately it is not moisturizing enough. Also as one keeps on using the dome shaped formula, the top will wear off and one would have to use their fingers to scoop out the product which is quite unhygienic and cumbersome due to the solid wax texture of this product. I do hope in the future Organic Harvest improves the formula because I would really like to support a homegrown organic brand.
See some of the other lip balm hits and misses here. Also let me know if you have a trusty chap stick that works because god knows I need it!
I was using the regulars and they don’t work. I’ve since tried EOS and it works great. This dry climate in WY and the wind makes lips always dry. I found this works. I also use it on an elbow that refuses to soften after injuring it. Only thing that works on it.
I am totally done with ‘organic’ products. Btw, I am eyeing Dear Packer’s lip mask but waiting for my current (a ton of) lipbalms to finish first!
I am not giving up on Organic just yet! And I am also seriously banning my self to buy anything without finishing the stuff I already have. #willpower
Krati, thanks for stopping by and let me know how it works out for you. ♥️