Twist & Pout Lip Balm SPF20

I got this Twist & Pout Lip Balm SPF20 as a goodbye gift from my manager (and friend) S. back in Jersey. She knew I was a lip product junkie, thanks to the gazillion of balms, glosses, and lipsticks on my desk and thought this would add well to my collection. She was right, and this nifty little thing is a most welcomed addition to my lip balm collection! These balms are freakin' awesome!

S. got my this trio set, which came in an innocuous looking red box makes you think they're just ordinary lip balms. Just you wait.

The other side of the box gives just the hint of the surprises coming your way.

And all are made right in the US of A, folks! That's as rare as they come!

Check out the wholesome ingredients too. And cruelty free.

Basically, these are lip balms in a ball on a clip chain, so you can take them wherever you go. Not exactly a novel idea, I know, but not mundane ideas can still be executed well, and I must give it to these Twist & Pout folks because I think they've hit it out of the park with these lip balms.

And the balms are (loosely) sealed with these pull-off lids.

The balm inside, which looks like your average lip balm.

But the whole pot can be removed and Twist & Pout does sell refills in a few different flavors, although I should mention that all of them, regardless of colors, are sheer lip balms. So don't expect any color in the lip balm will actually give your lips any colors. If you don't dig these lip balms, you can put something else into these ball containers and carry them around as charms. Sounds iffy, but the ball container actually twist closes pretty securely, so if you're thinking things will come undone and fall out, fear not.

As for the lip balm itself, boy did I underestimated it. Before actually trying it, I thought it was like any other wax-based lip balms. And then I tried it, and wow, it's a very nice wax-based lip balm that's anything BUT waxy. I prefer oil-based lip balms (like my fail-proof and faithful favorite Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm) precisely because I like the emollient feel and not so much the waxy feel, and the fact that the oil-based balms tend to stay on my lips longer than their wax-based counterpart. But this Twist & Pout balm surprises me! If anything, it reminds of the Japanese-made B&C Lab Lip Creams in terms of emollience and moisturizing factor, and it has some SPF where as the B&C Lab Lip Creams have none! And it tastes and smells nice, thanks to the vanilla oil.

All those good points aside, I do have 2 minor complaints about these Twist & Pout lip balms:

- As nice and vanilla-y as they taste, I actually prefer my lip balms to not have any tastes at all. Because when they do have taste, and especially when they taste rather yummy, I tend to lick them off my lips!

- And as cute and functional as the ball clip container for a portable lip balm, when I'm out and about, I prefer not to dig my dirty fingers into any cosmetic item, especially a lip product. So whenever I'm out and I want to apply lip balm in a pot, I'd have to find a place to wash my hands or at least use hand sanitizers. Yes I should keep my hands clean anyway, but this is not always possible, especially when I'm on a crowded commuting train to Tokyo.