“I am very sensitive to dry skin” This may sound weird to you but if my hands, feet, or lips are dry they really annoy me, and I won’t be able to think of anything else until I can get my hands on a moisturizer. So I keep a moisturizer and lip balm handy at all times. I have a bottle of moisturizer and a few lip balms in my everyday bag. When traveling, it is only natural to add these two items to my list of things to take along with me and I prefer to keep these items in my backpack so that they stay with me throughout the journey. But this is a story of one particular lip balm that became very important to us and so here goes.
In 2020 I took my first international girls’ vacation to Istanbul. As excited as I was, I overpacked to make sure that I won’t forget anything essential. In my long list of essentials was my moisturizer as well because who knew what the weather was like in Istanbul, like I mentioned, I am sensitive to dry skin, it bothers me like crazy if my hands or feet or lips are dry and that will keep hammering in my head. But did you notice I forgot to take my lip balm? (here is a list of things that you can do to never forget essential times to a trip)
Thinking back I’m not sure if it was a conscious choice or forgetfulness but I always had a variety of lipsticks and they too work really well as moisturizers so no harm. But the afternoon we landed in Istanbul we were all so hungry, we dumped our luggage and bags in the hotel room and left with only what each of us thought was important. In my case, it was just my wallet and phone.
So after lunch, when we went exploring the area, and we got the feel of the weather, I felt the need for a lip moisturizer. Because I was only carrying my wallet I asked the other girls and Zaira came to my rescue, she was carrying a lip balm in her pocket. I applied it and figured it was the perfect tint. I had never before used a lip balm with a lipstick-like tint and eagerly checked which company it was. It was Maybelline’s Baby Lips. I loved it and mentioned this to Zaira.
HOLD ON… THIS STORY IS NOT ABOUT BABY LIPS! KEEP READING….
The next day when we were getting ready to go explore the Sultan Ahmet Area, I realized my outfit matched the lip balm I used the previous day and borrowed from Zaira again, but this time I kept it in the backpack that was carrying around all day because today I wanted to be prepared to retouch my make-up if I had to (this retouching just means a lipstick because that all the makeup I wear mostly).
Somehow, I continued using it throughout the trip and loved it so much Zaira and I spoke regularly about how we both love the color and how perfectly it suited our complexions and I was sure I’d buy one the moment I got back to Karachi. I was on the lookout for it in Istanbul as well, but couldn’t find it and wasn’t even upset because I was sure to get it in Karachi. In the many exchanges, Zaira offered me the one that was kind of residing in my bag permanently. She had another one and she graciously gifted me the other one that I had already been using for almost a week.
It was no surprise that when I landed in Karachi, one of the first things I bought for myself was lip balm. I was at Lucky One and saw the Lip Balm hanging on a shelf and excitedly grabbed it. Only to return home and be disappointed by it. Apparently, the shade that Zaira had was Berry Sherbet, and the one that I had gotten myself was Berry Crush. I was crushed by that, but I still had a little of the Berry Sherbet remaining and used it, I still haven’t thrown out the container in 2 years from that trip in the hope of finding it, I was also bad at remembering the name of the shade.
The last two years I have spent searching for the shade in every store I’ve walked into, and every online store, I’ve asked around. I even considered ordering it from outside of Pakistan but sadly I was unable to find it anywhere. Zaira knew of my quest and in one gathering she excitedly told me she found the lip balm online and ordered two one for her and one for me. I was so happy, later she sent me the picture of what she ordered and I pointed out to her that the one she had was Berry Sherbet while she ordered the Berry Crush, the one that I too had bought mistakenly as well. She was disappointed just like me.
I had lost hope, I was sure Maybelline is not even producing this anymore so even if I got one from someone’s old stock, it’ll be a risk of an expired product. But the universe was somewhere conspiring for me to meet a berry lip balm and a few weeks ago I came across a website Flormar’s Blackberry Lip Balm, it was almost PKR 800 plus and I was trying to justify if I should buy it. Particularly because I had never used it, nor had I gotten a review about it from someone who had used it, I tried to find a review online and was unable to find one. I guess no one who spoke English had used Flormar’s Blackberry Lip Balm.
In the many debates in my head about buying or not buying I one day noticed that the same lip balm is now out of stock on the website. I was so heartbroken and searched for the new one online to find it elsewhere. I found another website selling it for PKR 900 or something again I ended up thinking if I should buy it or not before it sold out too and then I am left with nothing at all. While deciding if throwing away that much money was justified I came across another lip balm in a shade similar to Berry Sherbet. I did a quick research on Youtube to find that the shade is what I’ve been looking for and took no time in ordering it right away. This was priced at PKR 475 so relatively cheaper and a brand that everyone knows well so was already satisfied with the quality.
Three days later my Blackberry Shine by Nivea arrived home, I had it unpacked and took no time in applying it to check if the shade was the same as the Baby Lips or not. Here’s my verdict on it.
Blackberry Shine has the same shade and shines as that of Baby Lips but its texture is more creamy and stays put on the lips longer. Unlike Baby lips which had a more glossy texture more likely to vanish after a hearty meal, Nivea, on the other hand, is more creamy and pigmented and pretty much feels like a light-shaded smooth lipstick.
The moment I realized I’d found the correct replacement I messaged Zaira to tell her what I’d discovered and recommended to her. I’m here recommending it to you too. I’m not asking you to buy it, but if you are looking for a lip balm with a great shade, that makes it feel like you’re wearing lipstick this is the one that you can go for.
This is not a paid promotion! But I won’t mind being paid for it! (hahaha). This was the story of a Lip Balm and how the universe conspired to put us two together.
Keep those lips moisturized (with Blackberry Shine) and smiling!
