Your Mission: Tell us what you love, hate, or are otherwise indifferent to about potted lip balm. What drives you bananas? What makes them necessary?
my answer: They seem so unsanitary to me! I’d much rather something in a tube or stick. I do like the textures of potted lip balms, as they tend to be creamier!
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Definitely unsanitary! I currently own just one, a vanilla lip balm from The Body Shop. It sounds crazy but I only feel comfortable using it if I’ve just washed my hands.
Me as well. Not only are you spiking you hand into the product but also your hands need to be cleaned off afterwards. I’ve me something in a tube anyday.
They freak me out and gross me out.
I ONLY use them if:
1) I get it as a gift or
2) It comes as a set or a GWP.
Otherwise, I refuse to buy a pot of anything. I’m pretty OCD about potted products … wash hands, dip once, re-wash hands. I think it’s because I see how others use their dirty grubby hands to open their purse or make-up bag and find the pot, they dig into the pot, THEN they run it over their lips. OMG, I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about it.
Potted products in general just freak me out and gross me out.
I avoid them because I don’t want to dip my fingers into the pots, but I do make an exception for the NUXE Honey Lip Balm because a) it works really well and b) I only use it for bedtime, and I can make sure my hands are clean!
I don’t have a problem with potted lipbalms at all. I don’t share my lipbalms (potted or not) and make sure my hands are clean before using them.
And my favorite one is, also, Nuxe’s Rêve de Miel lipbalm. It was the only product that helped when my lips were destroyed by my Accutane treatment.
I agree with Christine 100%! I hate sticking my fingers in the pots and getting them all messy, and I especially hate when I see nasty little fibers or hairs in the pot. But I love the texture–especially Korres’ Lip Butters! So smooth and creamy. I wish there was a way to translate that exact texture at least into a stick 🙁
I don’t think anyone’s ever gotten a disease by using potted lip balm, so I don’t worry about it. I love benetint!
Ugh, yes! Everything you said. The two other good things are that they seem to last forever (for me at least) and the price is often lower. But I absolutely hate how the product gets under my fingernail and then I have to scrape it out from underneath. I feel like I’m injecting bacteria directly into the pot.
I actually don’t really mind potted lip balm because I’m the only one who uses it. I make sure my hands are clean before I dig into it. I’ve been loving the Dior Rose balm and it’s big enough for me to stick my lips into it without my fingers getting into it. I just apply it like you would the EOS balm and joila! Soft, kissable lips!
Completely agree. I can’t stand the feeling of having lip balm under my finger nails.
Yeah, I’ve got long nails and there’s no good way to get the product out of a pot without getting a lot of it under your nail. Ick.
our mouths have natural defences against outside bacteria so i really don’t mind using it as long as only i use it.plus some pot lip balms are pretty creamy n pigmented so its great for day time wear.
i don’t mind potted lip balm because i’m the only one who uses it so idc if it’s unsanitary or not
I have never found potted lip balms to be a problem because I have never used my fingers to apply them! I only buy them if they’re in jars similar to the MAC Tinted Lip Conditioners or Rosebud Salve where I can just pucker my lips and apply it directly from the pot. Once the product gets low, I still don’t have any application issues since I just pucker and apply to the bottom lip and smack my lips.
Not sure who else applies potted balms or lip glosses this way but I’ve always preferred potted balm textures and this gives me the best of both worlds!
Love this solution:D
I do this with my tendertones!!!
I just carry a retractable lip brush to apply them when I’m on the go. I like LUSH’s lip tints, but those are a little more than just a balm.
On the one hand, I find that they often work better on my super dry lips than other formulations. What I don’t like about them is that then I have lip balm on my finger and I have to have access to a tissue or something to rub it off-especially if it’s tinted.
I don’t do potted lip products at all. IDK how great it is, it’s too much of a hassle to always wash my hands before using it. Honestly I wish companies would stop producing products with that packaging.
Potted lip balms can actually be *more* sanitary than sticks & tubes, if one uses precautions. I use either a sanitzied spatula or the end of a brush (also sanitized), and I *never* “double-dip”. On the other hand, bacteria from one’s mouth (or even a virus) will be transferred to any product applied directly to the mouth, and live there until the product is gone. I’d rather take an extra minute or less to wipe down a spatula with alcohol than have weeks old (or even months old) bacteria, which has had time to multiply, placed directly on my lips, but that’s just me.
I have to totally agree with you! My arse is still burning from the damn petroleum in the Jack Black lip product so Korres is my Go-To and a better product by leaps and bounds anyway. I usually prefer a tube, and Korres is in a pot, but similar to many of my skincare products, I just scoop out with either the end of a makeup brush or the back end of my tweezerman tweezers. Then I just take a cotton pad and clean when I am cleaning my brushes daily. I also have a small plastic stick in my travel makeup bag that came with a skincare product and I use that on the go and clean when I get home.
I keep a spatula with my brushes, so even if I’m out, it’s with me. I also have a 6-year-old, so I’ve gotten into the habit of carrying alcohol wipes & hand sanitizers anyway, so I always have somehing to wipe it with. Besides, I’ve always been one to carry a large purse with everything one could possibly need, so carrying these things around is nothing new, LOL.
I refuse to use them because of the fingernail issue. I keep my nails short and, even then, when I’ve tried potted lip products, something always gets under them. (Or, at least, it *feels* like it does and that’s what matters to OCD me.) I’m not going to walk around with a mini-spatula in my makeup purse. Ugh. Too much of a hassle all around.
I HATE having to dig deep and getting a huge chunk of lip balm under my nail 🙁
I don’t feel that they are more unsanitary than sticks or tubes, though. You just have to wash your hands or use a spatula and make sure to never double-dip. With sticks you kind of transfer bacteria from your mouth/lips with every application.
i agree! there are germs all around your mouth so it’s unsanitary to constantly get your applicator all germy too! i love pots because i wash my hands WAY more than i would a wand in a lip gloss.
I just won’t buy potted lip products. 1) I have long nails and something always gets under them. 2) I apply lip balm frequently and I can’t always manage to wash my hands before I apply, especially if I’m traveling or at the mall or in my car. I don’t share my lip balm but sticking fingers into the pot seems unhygienic to me. 3) Frankly, it’s easier to apply from a tube.
I have nuxe reve de miel potted lip balm. I usually use it at home because it’s a bit unsanitary when i’m out and about. It works really well though!
It doesn’t phase me at all, as long as I’m using clean fingers or a clean lip brush. I’ve got a potted Laura Mercier lip stain in Hibiscus and an Inglot lip paint in #65 and I adore them both!
I had no idea people were so passionately opposed to potted lip products. The balms that work best on my very dry lips, Sara Happ’s The Lip Slip and MAC’s lip conditioner, both come in pots and I don’t really have an issue using them. I don’t share them, and I usually have a napkin or tissue in my purse if I need to wipe my finger off. I sometimes use a retractable lip brush, too. When they get low, I use the top of my fingernail to scoop the product out so I don’t have to get any underneath.
I use both of those products too, but I am so happy that both now come in a tube! I have the Viva Glam Ricky Lip Conditioner, and once I am out of my pot of The Lip Sip I will purchase the tube.
I won’t use potted lip products, it seems so gross. I’ve known a few girls who would freely slather Rosebud Salve on their lips without washing their hands first, so they basically transferred all the bacteria on their fingers from touching railings, doorknobs, ect. right onto their mouth. Ick. There may be germs on tube lips balms too, but at least they’re my germs.
I love Lush’s balms (except for Honey Trap, that one smells too strong). I’m not a germophobe at all (it doesn’t show, I rarely get sick), I don’t share balms, etc, so they are fine with me.
I use them while I’m at home, immediately after washing my hands. I carry Jack Black Vanilla Lavender in my purse though.
I like the cute packaging of potted lip balms and when I open them, I love the creamy and (usually() yummy smelling product inside. Like some of you, I prefer to keep and use these at home, but when I do take them out, I use a retractable brush to apply.
I don’t like pots either, but unfortunately my fav lipbalm, the Givenchy hydra plus whatever it’s called one, comes in a pot…
I really, really dislike potted lip balm and any other potted lip products. It’s just so inconvenient you can never just carry them around because who wants to stick a dirty finger in their balm and then touch their lips?
I agree they are just nesting with bacteria. I’ve actually got isopropyl alcohol (can’t remember what percentage but its really high) that I sterilise most of my pot-like make-up things with. Thank you Wayne Goss!
why is it unsanitary? wash your hands. simple. and there are germs around your mouth too.
No! They are too high maintenance to keep sanitary.
I can see the point of all the comments prior to mind. But think of it this way. What is putting on lip balm any different than putting on face cream? You wash you hand, right? I would hope so. You apply face cream or eye cream with your fingers dont you? I hope you dont use a makeup brush to apply face cream. You wipe your lips clean to apply. Short or long finger nails you use your fingers to apply face cream, dont you? Or you can use a Q tip or a lip liner. So what is the difference? It still part of your face, isnt it? I am not being sarcastic. I only have that Rose Bud Salve. I am merely making a point.
I understand what you mean, but for me, it’s a matter of convenience. Yes, I apply my face creams and other makeup products with my hand, but that’s a twice-daily thing at the beginning and end of the day when my hands and face are clean. I reapply lip balms, I keep it in my purse so I can swipe some on whenever my lips feel dry on the run. I don’t really have the patience to run into a restroom, wash my hands, smear some lip balm on, wash my hands again, and run out. I just want to grab a tube and apply in like…3 seconds.
I think that’s exactly the point. I apply lip balm everywhere. Grocery shopping, during rugby practice, at work, etc and I don’t always have the ability to stop and wash my hands before I do so. It’s not like applying face cream at all. I do that at the start and end of my day with clean hands…though I’m not a huge fan of potted face creams either, maybe it’s the surface area exposed. Either way it’s very different to me.
Potted lip balm are designed for products that aren’t firm enough for the proper delivery system which is a tube. It;s easy to do and takes far less “engineering”. The only lip balm I have found that is creamy, but in a tube is Buddha Balm (buddhabalm.com). Their stuff is crazy good.
I dont mind the thicker textured ones like Nuxe or MAC, but I’m always afraid of dropping or misplacing the lid… and the ones I use come in glass jars, they might break in my clumsy hands too LOL !!
HAhah I just had the same problem! I never thought that I will do such thing, but the lid of my Blistex sliped through my fingers and I lost it behind my closet…
I never carry potted lip balm in my purse, for all the reasons previously mentioned (I can’t exactly wash my hands as I’m waiting for the train, and then I’d need to find something to wipe my sticky, red fingertip on). But I do love Korres lip butter (in Guava, the colorless option) for hydration, so I keep a pot on my bedside table and apply every night before bed. At that point, I’m typically coming straight from the bathroom, so my hands are freshly washed, and the balm is always the first step in my bedtime routine (lip balm, foot lotion, cuticle cream). I wipe my finger on a clean tissue, and wake up every morning with soft, smooth, moisturized lips!
I agree with comments comparing them to face cream but I think it’s a bit different because you tend to reapply balm more often and then you might not have a chance to wash your hands. Plus they leave your fingers all sticky, which I hate and they always seem to end up full of dust if you carry them in your bag. I just find them yuk…
I hate hate HATE potted lip balms with a passion. I don’t want to get my hands dirty, I don’t want to reintroduce more bacteria into my balm every time I dip my finger in, and I hate getting balm under my finger nails if they happen to be longer than anything trimmed to the quick. The surest way to get me to completely ignore a lip balm (or any skin products, really) is to put it into a pot.
Holy crap, I didn’t realise people were so scared of germs! Maybe it’s an Irish thing but since we were kids we had our little tubs of Vaseline or lip balm and we would use them all the time AND share with friends! All this talk of double dipping and spatulas has me in shock, I’m still alive and disease free!
I will not buy potted lip balms at all for all the already commented reasons, except for EOS-it a hybrid between potted and tubed. I generally speaking will only by tubed lip balms.
I honestly don’t understand how it’s unhygienic. I don’t know about anyone else but I know exactly where my lips have have been and there’s also this great thing called hand sanitiser. I’d rather not use them though – lets face it it’s far too much effort!
I love love the Prescriptives one called “Lip Specialist” and also The Balm makes another one that comes with a mirror…I have very chapped lips from my medications.
Not a fan. I don’t want to get my fingers dirty and sticky, and I don’t want to have to dig out a lip brush just for balm. Give me a stick or tube any day. I didn’t mind it so much when I was younger, but I just cannot be bothered anymore.
RANT: I HATE any lip product that requires application with my fingers for hygiene reasons, and I don’t like the idea of having to carry around a lip brush. I also can’t stand getting product under my fingernails! I avoid these products like the plague. I blame my mother who is a nurse; as a child, she always preached to my siblings and me about germs and the importance of cleanliness. Therefore, I am now a complete germaphobe! lol
I don’t care about how sanitary they are, I’ve never gotten sick from using a potted lip balm. I just hate when it gets under my nails. And then there is the issue of having your finger all messy. Back in high school we all used to wipe leftover lip balm on the hems of our skirts.