Lip Service

Little known fact about me, I spent a good couple years in Australia as a kid growing up. And a key memory I have is that whenever my grandmother came to visit, she would insist on buying lanolin cream saying how it’s super nourishing for the skin. And she wouldn’t just buy one jar, she would buy thirty or so to bring back to HK to her friends. After she passed away about three years ago, I discovered that I still have jars and jars of lanolin cream as I made it a point to have any friend visiting from Oz to get me some so that I can pass it to her. Now that I’m no longer the six years old who don’t care about her skin, I discovered to my surprise that lanolin cream is a superb emollient and it is with fondness now that I put on the cream as it reminds me of the grandmother that I still miss so much. When Australian beauty brand Lanolips reached out to us touting the benefits of lanolin, I was immediately intrigued.

For the uninitiated, lanolin is a wax-like substance that comes from sheep and plays a role in protecting wool and skin against the climate. And apparently lots of skincare products contain lanolin including Creme de la Mer. With Lanolips, which was developed by Kirsten Carriol, only medical-grade lanolin is used which is safe for babies and is even used on burn victims as the ultimate skin-soother.

I was given the opportunity to try the lip gloss and the 101 ointment. The 101 ointment felt thicker than vaseline and after applying it to my lips at night, I woke up finding my lips deliciously smooth. The 101 ointment is so called because Kirsten claims there's at least 101 ways to use the ointment which contains 100% of the purest medical lanolin that can hold 400% of its own weight in moisture.

The lip glosses are tinted in colour and has an SPF of 15. Not as concentrated as the 101 ointment, these lip glosses contain 60% pure lanolin with the other 40% being pigment (for the colour), vitamin E, spf and oils. One thing to note is that these tubes don't have an applicator which did take me by surprise. The good thing is, these glosses don't leave you with that gross sticky feeling that a lot of other glosses tend to do and that a little goes a long way.

Already a hit in Australia with plenty of fans, Lanolips is now coming to Hong Kong. Expect to see them in Joyce Beauty very very soon. We're still waiting to hear on the pricing in Hong Kong but I suspect they would be similar to the prices overseas.

Lanolips Lip Ointment with Colour 12.5ml (AUD13.95)
Lanolips 101 Ointment 17.5ml (AUD17.95)
Lanolips Rose Balm Intense for Very Dry Hands & Nails 50ml (AUD$15.95)
Lanolips Rose Balm Everyday for Dry Hands & Nails 120ml (AUD$22.95)