A little late to the lip balm party but thanks so much for all your recommendations! I think I will be trying out the nivea lip butter next.
For like 8 years, my HG lip treatment was MAC's lip conditioner in the jar. And then they went and discontinued it and I've been heartbroken ever since. I managed to get a tinted lip conditioner in beige but it's soooo not the same thing. It's a lot less emolient, not to mention that since I wear it to bed, I've got some stains on the edge of my blankie. Couldn't figure out what the hell those stains were... I thought they were chocolate smears or something and took my blanket to dry-clean. Less than a week after I got it back, I saw them stains again when my bf dumped my blanket on my head and realised that they were from the lip conditioner.
As for tendertones, I have Hot & Saucy that came out with Shop, Cook and I wear it first thing in the morning before I put on makeup. It's quite nice, but I find that it's not as thick as the lip conditioner. To those who use it regularly as a lip treatment, do you blot it off before putting on your lipsticks? I find that there's a bit too much slip if I don't blot, but then I lose the nice hydrating feeling when I do blot.
If anyone is thinking of trying The Body Shop's lip butter, I would say skip it. Those things smell good (especially the Chocomania one) but they don't spread very easily and don't sink into the skin either.
If any of you lip balm loving ladies ever visit France or have family or someone to do you have to ask them to grab you a Reve De Meil Lipbalm by Nuxe along with your Homeplasmine. It is so matt! and tasty too - lots of natural honey in it. So great under these mattes. The only down side is that the really great one is in quite a deep glass pot, I hate how if you're not careful it can end up under nails
I am definitely going to grab that next time I pass by a pharmacy! Thanks!
Another French skincare brand is Avene (for sensitive skin). I tried their cold cream lip balm and personally I don't really think it does much despite the thermal spring water in it. It's not very emollient. The balm is a bit too hard. Avene's skin care, on the other hand, is amazing! I can't live without their skin care products.