Mentholatum Lip Ice lip balm: Mandarin Orange

My favorite lip balm of all time would have to be Carmex Cherry, but since I'm a sucker for orange flavored things, I decided to try this out.

Price: P89.00
Location Bought: Watsons SM Megamall
Approximate Date Bought: March 2011

Packaging: I love the white minimalist tube and the decorative colored spots corresponding to the product's "flavor"! Think of how pretty a collection of all the flavors would look, with all those cute colored spots!

What I don't love is the twist up mechanism. Sometimes I use balms OVER lip products because the finish is smoother that way on some brands. However, Lip Ice's twist up construction makes it hard to clean leftover colors that build up in the tube's center. Instead of pushing the residue out, like what I'm used to with Chapstick, Nivea and Carmex, twisting the tube actually pushes it in. And that, dear readers, is why my tube of Lip Ice has a chunk gouged out of it. It was the only way I could remove the leftover Fresh Cherry tint bits.

In short, don't use this over lipstick/balm. Clean up is a pain.

Formulation: True to its name, the reasonably moisturizing balm does smell like oranges. It is very lightweight, making it a perfect base layer for drying and/or thick lipsticks. (Remember: UNDER, not OVER!) It gives a subtle minty sensation once applied, but I'm not a fan of that - it's not as soothing as I would have liked.

In Action: Lip Ice is a police officer, not a doctor. It's great when you're partnering it with criminally thick/dry lipsticks, but not so great when you need relief from dry lips. (To me, at least. I prefer mintier, stingy-er balms when my lips dry up like the desert.)