Vegan lip balms – Vegan Beauty/Skincare Review

Over the past 5 weeks I put to the test 5 different vegan lip balms. Each week I would wear a different lip balm/chapstick & I would keep notes on how they wore, felt on my lips, their scent & I analyzed their overall performance. Now that they’ve all been put through the ringer, it’s time to check the results.

Week 1:

Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm ($29 CAD – .5oz/15g)

I was pretty excited to try out this vegan lip balm before any of the others. I like to run outside and it’s winter here in Toronto so I thought a nice thick layer of this stuff would be key to keeping my lips hydrated while on my outdoor runs.

The packaging is very sleek & earthy; it comes in a gold/brown push tube. The scent is a very soft sweet vanilla and the product itself is thick almost like Vaseline. I do wish the packaging was more conducive to product to lip application (which you technically can still do with this) instead of product to finger to lip. Even before Covid, this was always a germ issue.

One minor thing to note; I did find that if I pushed the tube a little too hard then the product would just keep coming out. I had to quickly try to cover it with the lid but on the next application it would keep oozing a bit. Not a big issue but just to note.

The Test:

The first couple of days my lips seemed to respond well to the product. They felt nourished & hydrated but then that seemed to be the plateau. After those first few days they didn’t seem to get any better than that, not worse either just not a full luscious nourished feeling.

The Results:

I think this makes a really great overnight lip mask or thick lip balm. I loved being able to slop this lip balm all over my lips before an outdoor run. I could tell that it really did protect my lips from the elements so that was a HUGE plus for me.

Another positive to note, you don’t need to use or go through too much product. After using it for a week the package still looks new & barely touched, unlike some of the others we’ll be getting into. So in that regard, it might seem like a lot of money to initially spend on a lip balm, but it does go a long way.

To note, I also liked wearing this lip balm to bed as sort of a sleeping mask. I would lay it on real thick and in the morning my lips felt quite soft.

Week 2:

Bite Beauty Agave+ Daytime Lip Balm with Mongongo Oil ($21 CAD – .15oz/4.2g)

This cute little matte black bullet has been on my radar for a few years and for some reason I just kept forgetting to put it in my shopping cart. Out of the 5 vegan lip balms I tested, this one was the closest to a “Chapstick” quality. It’s small and can fit in your pocket & it glides right on your lips straight from the bullet.

The scent is a very subtle creamy buttery type of smell. It’s definitely pleasing to the senses. Because this product is so soft and creamy, you’ll want to carefully twist the product up for use. If you twist it too much there’s a potential to squish or break the balm from the bullet.

The Test:

This balm was interesting; it took about 4 days for my lips to get used to it. The first few days my lips actually felt chapped & a little rough around the edges. It wasn’t until the 6^th day that my lips finally got used to the product and I was actually starting to enjoy using it.

The Results:

It was a little annoying that it took some time for my lips to get used to the ingredients but when they finally did, I really started to like it. It’s really creamy and soft; it feels like Chapstick but more nourishing and natural. It doesn’t feel chemically at all.

My biggest concern with this product was how quickly you could go through it. I used this balm for a week and I’m not sure that it would even last an entire month. While $21 for a lip balm that doesn’t last very long is quite expensive, my worry is how much plastic waste this product would contribute to, considering how often it would need to be replaced! Let’s say this lip balm lasts a full month, so that would mean you’d buy 12 a year right? That’s over $250 a year on lip balm PLUS that’s 12 cases and packages that go to waste centers.

That to me was my biggest takeaway from Bite’s vegan lip balm.

Week 3:

Rare Beauty by Selena Gomez With Gratitude Dewy Lip Balm in Honor/Clear ($21 – .1oz/2.8g)

I absolutely LOVE the packaging and the component of this product. I think they did such a beautiful job giving it a soft sweet pink tone with the gold branding & gold bullet interior. I also really liked the subtle marshmallow pink tint in the product itself. It doesn’t translate onto your lips as the colour is clear but it’s pretty to look at haha.

The scent initially was very subtle and soft, almost no scent at all really. But that changed real quick haha.

The Test:

Ok, this one was umm… interesting. After my very first application I immediately hated the taste and feel of it. It tasted like chemicals, like a soft chemical candy. It reminded me of Rocket Candies or I think they’re called Smarties in the US. But it tasted like a chemical version of that, yuck.

Also, the texture and feel of this vegan lip balm was not nice at all. It has an almost gritty feeling even though there are no particles in the balm itself. It’s a really weird feeling to describe but if you tried it, you’d know exactly what I’m talking about.

The Results:

Overall, this product did not perform well. My lips hated having this on them. They felt dry & craved more and not because it felt nourishing to reapply but because they felt dry after a few minutes of applying. I will say, it looked pretty on but that is it! This lip balm has got to be one of the worst balms I’ve ever tried.

Week 4:

Milk Makeup KUSH Lip Balm in Nug ($21.59 – .1oz/3g)

I love a good minty lip balm. There is something about mint on your lips that helps keep that fresh breath and fresh taste lasting longer than just after you’ve brushed your teeth. This vegan lip balm comes in 5 colours, I actually didn’t realize that the green one “Green Dragon” was clear so I chose “Nug” instead and this colour is so pretty & flattering on the lips. The hue is a sheer, warm pink with subtle golden shimmer.

The component is so good! The balm is housed in a long slender white component with icy silver writing. My fav part about it is it’s weight, that’s right, the component has a weighted/heavy feeling. Obviously it’s not like 5 pounds but it doesn’t feel like a light cheap plastic either. I also love that the top and bottom are magnetized so they click together nicely.

The Test:

My lips were so thankful for this product, like sooooo thankful! Coming off of the Rare Beauty balm I feel like my lips would have loved anything haha. The minty flavor was such a welcomed soothing feel and scent. The bullet just glides across your lips coating any roughness or dryness, leaving the prettiest soft colour and gloss.

The Results:

I wish I had purchased the clear tbh, not because “Nug” wasn’t beautiful but because it felt like I was wearing more of a lipstick. I really like to over apply my lip balm especially before bed so going to bed with an overlined mouth that looks like lipstick can be real pretty haha.

One thing to note, DON’T extend the bullet too far up because the balm is so creamy and soft that it will break.

Week 5:

Glow Recipe Glow Lip Pop Lip Balm in Watermelon ($29CAD – .14oz/4.2g)

I think I was most excited to try this one tbh. I really wanted to find a lip balm to replace my old childhood fav Lip Smackers. Lip Smackers chapsticks aren’t vegan as they contain beeswax so I haven’t used them in a very long time. The Glow Recipe version looked like the closest I was going to get.

I really like the packaging and the sweet watermelon scent. The balm itself has little dark pink specs & creates a pink tint on your lips. Initially I didn’t really notice the tint until my husband asked “what’s all over your mouth” :D.

The Test:

The balm feels soft and nourishing. It glides on nicely while the dark pink specs seem to give a gentle scrub/exfoliation. As mentioned before, I really like to over apply my chapstick but with this balm being tinted it made me look like I was a 9-year-old kid playing with kids makeup. Or like I had drank all of the pink kool-aid and it left a ring around my entire mouth.

The Results:

I wanted to love this so much but I just could not get past the pink tint. Because the balm is so slippery it’s not easy to apply in a neat fashion. And who really wants to fuss with a lip balm/chapstick like that anyways? I want a balm that I can apply without a mirror and not have to think twice about it.

Also to note, this vegan lip balm does not last! I’ve only been using it for a couple of weeks now and it is nearly done. At $29 a pop that is just absurd to me to spend that much every few weeks. Just not going to ever happen!

So which Vegan lip balms were the best?

1. Summer Fridays – best value & performance
2. Milk Makeup – best feel & performance
3. Bite Beauty – this would have been #1 if it didn’t seem to run out so quickly
4. Glow Recipe – awful colour & value
5. Rare Beauty – awful, awful, awful!

There you have it, 5 vegan lip balms put to the test over the past 5 weeks. If you enjoyed this little series please let me know in the comments down below and give me some other vegan beauty suggestions that you would love to see tried out & put to the test like these were.

If you’re looking for a tried and true vegan lip balm I highly recommend Kopari’s Coconut Lip Glossy and you can checkout my review here and find out why it’s one of my Holy Grail items.

Vegan Beauty/Skincare Review – 5 Vegan lip balms – A Blog About Stuff