I attribute this addiction to lip products going back to child hood. We had the best lip products on the planet in the 80's and 90's. I occasionally find cool things today but as usual the 80's were always better.
My gateway drug was by Bonne Bell. The Bonne Bell line was full of beauty products but known for it's soda flavored chapsticks and colorful tins shaped like hearts called Lip Smackers. I was a complete sucker for the Dr. Pepper flavor. Lip Smackers is one of the few brands that has managed to keep up and the line has expanded into kooky flavors like Double Cheeseburger, Cookie Dough, Maple Bacon, and Funnel Cake. Santa left some Lip Smackers in stockings and I recall seeing Dill Pickle, French Fries, and Pizza as well! They also have a line that is pots in the shapes of Disney Tsum Tsum characters that my daughters have been collecting. For those who still love Lip Smackers, you can actually find them all online at the Lip Smackers website. There is even a Smoochie Club you can join for free to get the latest updates. I might be a member....
After Bonne Bell, I moved onto Village Lip Lickers. These were little tins that slid side to side to reveal one or two flavored lip glosses. Growing up, my mom used to do scavenger hunts for my sister and I. I always loved finding Lip Lickers as my prize at the end of the hunt! Cherry Cola was a favorite and has been sorely missed over the years. I recently learned that Vintage Lip Lickers is back! Tine Cosmetics has brought back a clear gloss line and a tinted gloss line called Vintage Lip Lickers with many of the old flavors, Strawberry, Grape, Cream Soda, and Miss Pepper. I couldn't resist this one and had to order a few for myself, you can check out the site here. You may also remember this line as they also did Kissing Sticks which were similar to Lip Smackers with a variety of flavors. Original packaging from back in the day is used which makes these so retro and fun.
Next I moved onto Kissing Koolers and Kissing Potion, both by Maybelline. Kissing Koolers were short little fat marbled lipsticks that were flavorful but had a cooling effect as well. Kissing Potion was in a roller ball style container that tasted great (kind of like oily candy) but was incredibly sticky. By this time in my life, I had a caboodle filled to the brim with this stuff and treated it like a prized possession. I now remember how frequently my friends and I would trade... I must admit it now grosses me out.
As I have gotten older, my love for lip products has slow down a bit. I've also moved onto using cruelty-free products which has led me to try new brands as well. Tarte is great line and I love the nudes that they offer.
I recently discovered the line of lip balms called Hurraw! My mom found them at a local tea store and always looking out for me and the hydration of my lips, picked me up a Chai Spice flavored one to try, I will definitely re-purchase in the future. One thing that was surpising to me as I started looking for new lip products that were cruelty free, brands that I figured were easily cruelty-free weren't. I was always a fan of Burt's Bees and thought I could easily keep buying their products...wrong. EOS, the little egg shaped balms that come in pastel colors and are flavored...not cruelty free either. I believe Lip Lickers is cruelty free so I am pretty excited to add these into my day to day... and enjoy the envious looks of other 80's brats like myself!