Review: First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Intensive Lip Balm
If you’ve been following me for a while, you have definitely read my complaints about having chronically dry, cracked lips. First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Intensive Lip Balm is my all-time favorite lip balm. It has been in my routine, albeit intermittently, for years. A high price tag ($20) and waning availability forced me to try inferior balms. First Aid Beauty discontinued this product, or pulled it from stores, about two years ago. Since then, it has only been available through the brand’s website and maybe one or two other online retailers. There was a brief period where they had marked it down to half-price but placing an order solely for lip balm felt silly to me. My sister happened to find it while she was out and about and surprised me with it, so that’s how I have been able to cycle it back into my routine.
First Aid Beauty’s dedicated customers have not given up. They bombarded the website’s review section, expressing outrage at the lip balm’s discontinuation. The most recent reviews include statements thanking the brand for bringing this balm back. It’s unclear to me if this is true, or if customers believe it to be true simply because it has never left the brand’s website, and is currently being sold at full price.
Claims and Results
The entire First Aid Beauty brand is formulated with those with sensitive and inflamed skin in mind. Many of their products are created for eczema sufferers. FAB’s claims for this lip balm are as follows: “banishes dry lips; keeps them chap-free, smooth, and soft; instant relief and long-term protection.”
Many of the positive reviews of this product were from people with eczema. While I do not have eczema, my experience with this product is in line with their claims. My lips are no longer bone dry and shriveled. Other balms have caused my lips to peel, but Ultra Repair Intensive Lip Balm leaves my lips feeling plush and nourished. It stays in place overnight so my lips are never dehydrated in the morning. During the day, I only need to apply it once or twice, as it does not wear off easily. A film always remains even though I am constantly drinking water. How they could ever think of discontinuing this perfect product is beyond comprehension!
Ingredients
cera alba (beeswax, cire d’abeille), carthamus tinctorius (safflower) seed oil, aqua (water, eau), prunus amygdalus dulcis (sweet almond) oil, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, lecithin, theobroma cacao (cocoa) seed butter, glycerin, triticum vulgare (wheat) germ oil, colloidal oatmeal, dimethicone, aroma (flavor), urea, mel (honey, miel), chrysanthemum parthenium (feverfew) extract, camellia sinensis leaf extract, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root extract, propolis extract, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, allantoin, vanilla planifolia fruit extract, butylene glycol, caprylyl glycol, phenoxyethanol, leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate, sodium hydroxide, edta, eugenol
FirstAidBeauty.com
What makes this balm so great is the flawless formulation but it’s worth noting that there are specific things that I look for in the ingredients list of any lip balm. I opt for balms that are formulated without citrus oils, peppermint and menthol, because I feel it’s likely that those contribute to the peeling issue. I also avoid lanolin as the idea of putting that on my lips irks me.
Most of these ingredients are well known, so I will only highlight a few of them.
Shea Butter – This is mandatory for me. If a lip balm does not include shea butter, I will simply put it back on the shelf. It is one of the most important components in keeping lips in good condition, in my opinion. Shea butter not only moisturizes; it also acts an occlusive to seal in moisture and hydration.
Colloidal Oatmeal – While I suspect that I may have an allergy or sensitivity to oats, and have even reacted negatively to products that have it (including their Ultra Repair Wild Oat Hydrating Toner), I have not had any issues with this lip balm. Colloidal oatmeal is used primarily to offset the effects of any inflammatory condition: burning, itching, stinging, etc.
Urea – You won’t find urea included in a lot of skincare products on today’s market. It is a natural moisturizing factor (NMF), meaning it already exists within the layers of your skin. Fear not, vegans – today’s urea in skincare is synthetic. At lose doses, urea is beneficial for its hydrating and moisturizing properties.
Honey and Propolis Extract – Both are antiseptic, antimicrobial, and antifungal, with the added benefit of being very moisturizing.
Conclusion
This product is clearly in high demand. I question whether the total value of production and ingredients truly equals $20. Markups are common in sales and the final price is rarely equal to the actual value of the product. I can imagine that sales could be low due to customers balking at the price. My suggestion to First Aid Beauty would be to lower the price of this lip balm permanently and never discontinue it. While they offer another lip balm and a salve, neither comes close to the quality of Ultra Repair Intensive Lip Balm, nor are they remotely comparable in terms of texture or positive results.
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