Blow, blow, thou winter wind
Thou art not so unkind
As man’s ingratitude;
Thy tooth is not so keen,
Because thou art not seen,
Although thy breath be rude.
“Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind” ~William Shakespeare

A cracked lip; raw skin.
I pined for orange flickers
Dancing off a cheery fire.
“Winter” ~Mark R Slaughter

Winter is coming folks- hooraaaay Captain Obvious! But seriously, it’s time to stock up on skin nurturing stuff to keep ourselves from cracking into dry, parched, colorless creatures as the cold wind blows. “Thy breath be rude”, winter. But we’re gonna beat ‘ya.

I had a reader contact me the other day, asking about Booda Organics lip balm. She wanted to know if I had ever heard of them and if so, if they were safe.

Upon viewing their site, I was delighted with their adorable logo (happy chubby Buddha!) and the statement on the front page:

Crafted by hand with care, our products utilize only the highest quality, organic and vegan ingredients – and just as importantly, our products never include any harmful toxins or pollutants because we understand and respect that what goes ON your body, will go IN your body!

The lip balm ingredients are pure, simple and powerful. Organic Coconut Oil, Organic Sweet Almond Oil, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Olive Oil, Candelilla Wax. The ingredients are naturally gluten free… But what about source contamination?

I contacted the company and asked them directly about this. I received a reply very quickly afterwards:

We have never included any gluten ingredients in our products and never will. We verify with all of our suppliers that our ingredients come from a pure source and have not been tampered with. We live a gluten free lifestyle ourselves, so we understand what it truly requires and take great care in providing products without gluten.

Is that awesome or what!?

I got to try Booda Organics’ lip balm, known as “Booda Butter Naked Lip Balm”. As I started to tear into the pretty, eco friendly packaging, I was suddenly swarmed by members of the household. “Oh wow! You’ve got so many! Can I have one??” In the end, a good portion of the household skipped off clutching an oval tube of Booda Butter, or sharing one together. My little “stash” vanished nearly before I’d even been able to examine it all properly.

My father was around at the time and he’s pretty much a lip balm addict. Always has a tube on him, in the car, by the computer, somewhere he can swipe and move on. So I gave him a tube and he immediately put the lip balm on. He sat for a moment, thoughtfully rubbing his lips together.

“Do my lips look shiny? They feel shiny…”
“Ummm… A little bit… But it is natural oils, so it should soak in pretty quick.” A few minutes later, I glanced up at him and observed his face thoughtfully. “Your lips aren’t shiny anymore, but they do look awfully soft.”
He began to laugh. “Well, that’s not exactly the look I’m going for!”
“Why don’t you try to cultivate a sneer to counteract the soft lips?”

In short, Booda Butter works marvelously! I really don’t know why else one applies lip balm except to get soft lips… lol And this does the job wonderfully, also leaving a thin protective layer on the surface of your lips.

One “balm thief” made the comment that she rather wished the balm was a wee bit thicker, noting that in the Texas heat, it tends to melt some and so make it a wee bit oily. It didn’t bother me in the slightest and in fact I hadn’t even noticed the oily feel.

I now keep my Booda balm near me at all times. Well, except for the times that I forget it, in which case I reach for it, find it missing and am disappointed. I love how it moisturizes my lips and how natural and good for my skin it is. It’s everything I could possibly wish for in a lip balm. I love my Booda Butter. <3