Carmex - Celebrating 80 Years of the Classic Vanilla Lip Balm

SUMMARY: In 2017, Carmex celebrates 80 years of success. The much-loved, low-cost, classic lip balm with camphor, menthol and vanilla is as popular as ever and a number of varieties now exist.

ABOUT THE COMPANY: Developed in 1937 in the US kitchen of founder Alfred Woelbing, Carma Laboratories now produces a wide range of award-winning lip treatment products sold around the world.

BEAUTY ALMANAC TESTED

USE: Carmex Lip Balm in the tube or pot is a petroleum-based lip treatment that provides a long-lasting protective barrier to help healing. It glides on smoothly to help soften and hydrate lips with moisturizing cocoa butter, and cools and soothes lips with camphor and menthol. It can be applied directly to lips and rarely needs to be re-applied as often as many stick alternatives.

Having grown up in south Florida, I was never much of a lip balm user so when I moved to the mountains of North Carolina for college I was surprised by the aroma of vanilla that seemed to permeate classrooms on snowy winter mornings. It didn't take long before I finally realized that the wonderful aroma was actually Carmex, a product I had never seen before, let alone smelled. Up until that point I had only ever used a stick of Chapstick but was never a fan of the aroma or texture. Being a lover of all things vanilla and quickly learning that chapped lips can HURT, I acquired my first pot of Carmex and nowadays I am rarely without it in some form or another.

Marlen's Tip: Carmex also works wonders when massaged on dry, cracked cuticles; an affordable and easy way to deal with winter weather hands.

AROMA & TEXTURE: The best thing about Carmex aside from its soothing properties is the aroma - minty vanilla! I use the balm in the squeeze tube and it is very much like classic Vaseline (petroleum jelly). It does not disappear or get absorbed into the skin like some moisturizing lip products, nor is it a wax. More importantly, Carmex does not dry my lips out the way other products do.

INGREDIENTS: White petroleum, camphor, lanolin, cetyl esters, theobroma cacao seed butter, paraffin, beeswax, menthol, salicylic acid, phenol, vanillin, flavor

PROS & CONS: A .5 oz pot of Carmex can typically be found online for about $1 USD. Three packs are also available at a discount and a number of variations can be found (such as comfort care, SPF options, and cold sore treatments). Additionally, Carmex offers coupons on its website at mycarmex.com/coupons/.

Reviews across the web are strongly positive. However, some people have allergies to beeswax and lanolin and as such should use Carmex with caution. Carmex is not a vegan product but the company does not practice animal testing.

WHERE CAN I BUY IT? $1 USD for .5 ozs at Amazon.com

Products mentioned in article

Carma Laboratories Carmex Lip Balm

Marlen Elliot Harrison

Dr. Marlen Elliot Harrison’s journalism in the fragrance industry has appeared in international print and online publications such as Playboy...(more)