I am a sucker for lip balms. Since my SkinFood Cocoa Lip Balm is on the verge of finishing and has been discontinued from being sold in Malaysia, I am currently on a frantic hunt for a replacement. I was googling for information and actually came across Dior Addict Lip Glow and was quite intrigue to try it out. Combing through the Dior's official website lead me to Christian Dior Creme De Rose Smoothing Plumping Lip Balm which kind of looked quite interesting to me.
I went out with the intention to buy the Dior Addict Lip Glow and a friend of mine also wanted a lip balm so I suggested the Creme De Rose to him (I think he wanted to buy for his wife as a gift). The Lip Glow is currently out of stock and won't be coming in until September. Unfortunately for me, after I had purchased the Creme De Rose lip balm, my friend decided that he didn't want it so here I am, stuck with the lip balm. So I might as well do a review on this lip balm since it's not going anywhere.
The official Dior website's description of the balm is: "Crème de Rose is an essential nourishing and smoothing lip balm with a
delicate rose fragrance that is simply addictive! It is enriched with a
rare and precious Damask Rose essential oil extract, an anti-aging
complex, energizing vitamins (A and E) and Shea butter for a
long-lasting regenerating and smoothing anti-wrinkle effect. It leaves
the lips optimally soothed, moisturized and nourished. Soft and
beautifully plump, the lips are more radiant than ever!"
Here's the box of the lip balm that I bought:
Unopened box of Creme De Rose Lip Balm
Opened box
The tub is made of plastic, is quite weighty and feels sturdy in my hands. It has that classy vintage look to it. There is the usual CD logo engraved on top of the tub.
It's a screw on cap and with a single twist, the tub of balm is opened.
When I opened the tub, I was quite surprised to find that the colour of the balm is yellow! What? Is the product expired or even defective somehow? So I trotted back to the Dior counter where I bought it and asked the sales assistant about my predicament. She told me that the yellow colour IS the colour of the balm currently. I was quite perplexed since the colour was supposed to be pink but she vehemently and confidently said that the balm is genuine and not expired. I did check the manufacturing date on the box and it said November 2009. Hmm.. well.. More on that later..
Now let's continue with the review. Since it's a balm that comes in a tub, you'd have to dip your finger
into the tub to get the balm. Some people might find this a bit messy
and unhygienic, but for me, I just use a cotton tip to scoop a bit of
the balm and then apply it on my lips (I use pot-type balms at home).
The texture of the balm is thick and there is a definite rosy smell when I took a whiff of it. Personally, I am not a big fan of rose-smelling beauty products since I sometimes find them too pungent and thick.
The untouched surface of the balm looks pristine and smooth and I needed a little bit of pressure to break into it to scoop out a bit of balm with my finger. Once the balm is broken in, you can actually see that the texture is creamy and a bit greasy/waxy to the touch somewhat like vaseline but thicker in consistency.
Here's what the balm looked like on my hand: subtle and not too overly shiny.
Those shiny specks are not shimmer by the way. It's actually the flash bouncing off the shiny surface of the balm.
The texture of the balm felt heavy on my lips and it's quite waxy. I think the heaviness is due to the cream factor. The creamy texture is quite visible after putting it on my lips and it took quite some time to sink in. My lips did felt moisturized after the balm had melted 30 minutes later and left quite a nice subtle shine. But still the heavy feeling did not go away.
I didn't really like the smell though because it got stronger by the minute and it made my head spin. I think the Damask Rose is the culprit for the pungent rosy smell. I ended up wiping the balm off my lips because the combination of the heavy texture and the smell made me feel a bit nauseated. The heaviness and the smell lingered for quite some time even after I wiped it off. The aftertaste is really not pleasing and does not go well with me. The balm doesn't have any sweet taste to it but it does have that waxy balm taste.
Since I wiped the balm off after only 45 minutes, I didn't get to see whether the balm really does have that smoothing anti-wrinkle effect on my lips. But there was definitely no tingling or soothing effect that I expected a plumping balm would have. My lips didn't feel too nourished but just felt heavy and waxy.
My verdict: The price of the balm is quite expensive (RM85) and for the texture and smell, I think this is not one of my greatest buys (thanks to my friend!). Personally I think there are quite a number of better lip balms out in the market with more moisturizing effect for your lips compared to this balm. I think I prefer a lip balm with minty and subtle fresh smell that doesn't make my head spin. Note to my self: don't buy any more products with rosy smells!
Oh yes! About the yellow coloured balm.. I sent an email to Dior asking whether the balm indeed has a yellow colour balm in the Creme De Rose line but up until today I still haven't received any feedback from them.
