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NOV 18 2016

Beauty Food for Your Lips

Cindy Luken is a rebel with a (beautiful) cause.

Prior to developing her cult lip product, Lip Nourish, Cindy was a food scientist and a chef. This background shaped her approach to makeup: she wanted to create lip colors using real food ingredients. Sounds simple, but it was revolutionary for an industry that traditionally relied on synthetic and potentially harmful ingredients.

Above: Cindy Luken in her home kitchen in Sydney, Australia.

Not only did Cindy want to shake up the beauty industry’s approach to formulating products, she also wanted to simplify the steps to “beautiful”. A woman isn’t only beautiful when she’s wearing a full face of makeup. She’s just as, if not more, beautiful wearing nothing more than a little mascara and a swipe of natural lip color. That’s when I feel my most beautiful, and the most like Me. Cindy’s message resonates loudly with me, and with the millions of women who are snapping up her glorious Lip Nourish.

Luk Beautifood’s Lip Nourish is a cross between a lip balm and a lipstick. Each of the ten shades is made entirely of natural, real food ingredients, and formulated like a chef would prepare a meal: by carefully combining active foods to create an experience that smells and tastes as good as it performs. And Lip Nourish is made according to the quality standards of the food industry, which are much higher than those of the cosmetics industry.

The Formula

  • Glides on with a soft texture that’s not too shiny or pigmented.
  • The sheer colors even out your natural lip color and are perfect for foolproof everyday wear.
  • It tastes good! Each shade is subtly flavored with organic cold pressed lemon, mint and rosemary oils, so you get a delightful taste whenever you happen to lick your lips. Pretty genius IMHO: if it’s on your lips, why not make it taste and smell good? The other brand that understands that lip color should be a multi-sensory experience is Suntegrity, whose Lip C.P.R. SPF 30 is sweetened with stevia and is a pleasure to, um, lick. [Haven't read my review of Suntegrity's Lip C.P.R. SPF 30? Read it here!]
  • The slim shape of the soft-touch twist tube conforms perfectly to the shape of your lips and makes application a breeze.
  • Lots of tinted lip conditioners promise to moisturize and hydrate, but inevitably I need to apply lip balm on top. Lip Nourish is the first tinted lip conditioner that actually conditions my lips liks a lip balm.
  • Eco-friendly: the packaging is a simple but beautiful patterned cloth that protects the lipstick tube during shipping and can later be used to clean your glasses or anything else. 

Above: the gorgeous cloth wrapping on the Lip Nourish tubes. This is the 8-piece Lip Nourish Christmas gift box (US $145).

The Ingredients

  • Lip Nourish is made entirely of active foods that deliver nutrients, hydrate, protect with antioxidants and heal with anti-inflammatories.
  • Contains cold pressed avocado oil, sesame seed oil and cocoa butter that are rich in Omega 3 and 6 essential fatty acids that hydrate and keep lips smooth.
  • Lecithin (a natural emulsifier with water-binding properties), beeswax and plant waxes lock in moisture and keep lips feeling silky.
  • Vitamins A, C and E and other naturally occurring antioxidants fight free radicals and help maintain collagen and elastin fibers, so lips look plump and line-free.
  • No preservatives, phthalates, petrochemicals, synthetic colors or fragrance, gluten-free, dairy-free, and no animal testing.

My current fave Lip Nourish shade is Pink Juniper - a dusty pink that matches my natural lip color. I love love love applying this stuff. It goes on so easily and smoothly, smells and tastes divine, and gives me that my-lips-but-better look. Plus it nourishes my lips from the inside out. Which is why these little white tubes will always have a place in my makeup bag.

Made in Australia 0.10 oz / 3.0g (US $22.00) 

Lip Nourish is available at lukbeautifood.com, freepeople.com and amazon.com.