One thing I discovered fairly quickly in searching for vegan lip balms is that if they are scented at all, it's usually a citrus scent -- orange, lemon, grapefruit. Sometimes it's a combination scent like orange+vanilla, but many of them use citrus extracts of some type as ingredients, so there you go.
My favorite lip balm flavor is strawberry. (Second is spearmint!) I think I acquired this great love via Bonne Bell products in high school. If not due to classic strawberry-flavored LipSmackers, then certainly Strawberry Sparkler lip gloss or other strawberry-flavored things that have been discontinued in years since. If it was strawberry+cream, so much the better! I seem to recall some kind of little pot of strawberry gloss that had an "and cream" sort of flavoring; I think it might have been a milkshake or malt flavor.
However, I've seen almost no vegan strawberry lip balm!
More commonly, I have seen a general "berry" flavor, as if that is the same thing. It's not. I don't go for raspberry at all.
I was given a tube of strawberry lip balm from The Gnarly Whale for my birthday; my best friend bought me a whole slew of different kinds of balms off of Etsy!
I had not considered buying lip balms off Etsy for a few reasons. Mostly, I just wanted to be able to pick lip balm up at the grocery store, or at least Ulta. But also, I want to be able to have a consistent go-to that I don't have to pay shipping fees for. I want to trust the product will be the same every time I buy it. I want to have faith that I'm not buying some wonky batch of wax from someone who isn't 100% transparent about their ingredients. No offense or disrespect to anyone, because I'm sure there are people out there on Etsy creating some lovely, consistent, 100% vegan products! I'm just extremely protective of my face at this point, and I don't want to endanger my recovery!
The Gnarly Whale has a lot of good feedback on Etsy, lots of products, a nice website, and a sincere stance on their desire to create vegan cruelty-free products. Mostly, so much five-star feedback swayed me it was okay to try this product. So did the fact that I could Google about the product and find reviews.
I'm so glad I did! Their strawberry balm is almost exactly what I've been missing since having to give up traditional beeswax balms.
The strawberry scent is lovely, fresh, and not sugary or fakey as many faux-fruit flavorings smell; it smells like strawberries. It's a nicely saturated scent.
It's not as slick a formulation as LipSmackers, but it's one of the longer-lasting vegan balms I've tried. When I put some on, I don't need to reapply it again five minutes later. It is a softer balm than Crazy Rumors. Crazy Rumors balms feel very firm against my lips and can take a few swipes to warm up and spread, whereas The Gnarly Whale's formulation feels more malleable and willing to transfer. (Am I just crazy? That's a rumor.)
As with many balms that use candelilla wax, sometimes in the tube, this can become gritty or bumpy, but I don't mind this (it softens if you keep it in your pocket for a bit, if this is some kind of dealbreaker) and the scent and flavoring and feel of the product to me makes it the best vegan balm I've tried.
YES. THIS IS THE BEST VEGAN BALM I'VE SO FAR TRIED. And it's not even citrus.
I bought myself a back-up tube and used the opportunity to order a couple more scents, which I'll also share my feelings on. At $3.50, they are priced pretty much around the same as most other vegan balms, but on their Etsy you can get a 3 for $9 bundle.
TL;DR: Perfect strawberry vegan balm that doesn't make me feel like I'm using a product that isn't on par scent-wise or performance-wise with beeswax balms. I recommend this balm highly. The Gnarly Whale is good stuff.
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