Fresh Frosting

...for your lips.

You probably already know that Fresh, a "feel good beauty" store, sells the tinted lip treatment line that's graced the headlines of many magazines over the past year. You probably already have a whole aresenal of beauty products that I won't get around to buying until three years from now. You probably will think this article is old news.



Stocking Stuffers, 2010



I'm only the slightest bit self-conscious about raving about this product months years after everyone else discovered it. My mom stuck two tubes in my stocking last Christmas - and I can't believe I waited until now to try them out. Note the initial resistance, the eventual cave-in, and then the whole-hearted conversion...it seems to be a pattern with me.

Now normally I shy away from anything that doesn't explicitly say chapstick somewhere on it. Burt's Bees lip balm is about the extent of my makeup routine. I associate lip gloss with a horribly thick, sticky, and sparkly smear best left to a fifth grader, and I associate lipstick with terrible-tasting and too-bright swab of color best left to the sweet old granny selling eggs at the farmer's market.

But one morning I twisted up my trustworthy tube of Burt's Bees only to find that the little stub of chapstick I'd been using sparingly for the last two weeks had whittled down to nothing. My lips were a disaster (I seem to chomp on them when I'm nervous and lick them when I'm thirsty). Boyfriend was on the way up for a visit. I was about one smile away from a cracked bottom lip. I had to put on something.

Enter my forgotten stocking stuffer. If you want to get technical, I think Fresh's sugar lip treatment sticks are  in the lipstick family. I prepared for the onslaught of that lipstick taste and got ready to smear off half of the color on a tissue. The chalky taste and accompanying smell didn't come. When I peered into the mirror, I saw just a hint of color - just a tiny breath of a becoming pinkish tint. Just the slightest infusion of color on my lips made my cheeks look rosier, my eyes look brighter, and my tan look darker. My lips felt moistened and softened almost immediately, but they didn't look as glossy as a skating rink.

Needless to say, I'm crazy about these lipsticks. I like them even better when I've applied a very light coat of chapstick on first. The best part about Fresh's award-winning creation is that there's SPF 15 in the recipe. They are a little pricey (at $22.50 a pop), but if you're in the mood to treat yourself I don't think you could go wrong with either of these.

Sugar Plum Tinted Lip Treatment SPF 15

Sugar Rose Tinted Lip Treatment SPF 15