Nivea Lip Butter

Citrine first recommended these Nivea Lip Butters to me back in March, and she herself reviewed two of these a couple of months later, right around the time Ulta offered a nice GWP promotion, just the excuse I needed to pick these up to try for myself along with the limited edition Revlon Lip Butters ^.^

I like the short list of ingredients but I was taken aback a little how small these tins are! They are so thin! I took my beloved (and sadly discontinued) Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Soothing Lip Balm out to compare and the tin is exactly half the thickness. That said, I also compared their contents and found each Nivea tin contains 0.59oz./16.7g, which is just slightly less than the VS tins with 0.6oz./17g each. Nivea is a couple of dollars less than VS when it was still retailing, and no doubt you can get Nivea for even cheaper with coupons and promotions. To me this means Nivea is efficient with their packaging, bringing down the retail cost. Definitely a plus and not at all a minus!

Smooth Kiss (top), Vanilla & Macadamia Kiss (bottom left), and Caramel Cream Kiss (bottom right). All pictures taken in natural light without flash.

These Nivea lip butters are oil-based lip balms. They are thick and they go on super smooth and creamy. That said, I can still discern a touch of wax, which is strange because wax is not listed at all as an ingredient! Am I imagining things? With the VS balm, as soon as it applies I feel the oil soaking right into my lips with an "ahh" effect. I don't get this with Nivea, which sort of sits, creamily, but still just sits on my lips. Lasting power wise, I took these Nivea balms on a quick one-week trip to a tropical location and wore them over night. They were gone by morning. They did keep my lips from chapping, but mind you this was a hot and humid environment, which means they probably won't hold up in a drier location. Whereas my VS balm has always remained on my lips the morning after even in the driest climate. Comparing these two isn't fair, I know, especially since the VS balms have been long discontinued.

So let's compare them with the balms and salves that are still available from Rosebud Perfume Company (US) and the Rose & Co Apothecary (UK), my other 2 backup brands ^.^ My opinion is that Nivea is better than:
1. The Rose & Co Apothecary salves and balms I own in both texture and lasting power. All Rose & Co Apothecary ones have much thinner and more slippery feel, and I clearly prefer my balms with thicker and creamier texture.
2. The original Smith's Rosebud Salve, which has the same thinner texture as Rose & Co above, and the Rosebud Perfume Company Strawberry Lip Balm, which is a bit too waxy for my taste.

However, I still find myself favoring several other salves and balms from Rosebud Perfume Company over Nivea: the Minted Rose, the Brambleberry Rose, and the Menthol and Eucalyptus Balm. The Mocha Rose is good too if the mocha scent wasn't so overwhelming. When I run out of my VS balm stock, my next best thing would probably be the Minted Rose.

- Smooth Kiss: unscented, very slight white cast but not as noticeable as the Raspberry Rose, which is the reason I didn't get that one ^.^

- Vanilla & Macadamia Kiss: more on the sweet vanilla-y and not so much macadamia, but I like it nonetheless. Goes on completely clear.

- Caramel Cream Kiss: doesn't smell like caramel to me at all, more like buttery cupcake, which is yummy. This is my favorite one out of the 3, and it also goes on clear.