LUSH Happy Talk Lip Balm Review

I'm not only a make-up and LUSH junkie, I'm first and foremost a lip gloss junkie.  Anyone who knows me even somewhat well notices that I apply lip balm or gloss at least twice an hour.  It's really more like an addiction and compulsion than just a love of lip products.

As a result of this weirdness, people love to feed my addiction.  Every Christmas stocking, Easter basket and gift I receive usually comes with at least one Chap Stick or Lip Smacker.  So my husband made a special trip to LUSH - all by himself, without me with him - just to get me a new lip gloss for Valentine's Day.  And I feel bad because I absolutely hate it.

He knows I love coffee and foofy coffee drinks so he walked into LUSH hoping to find something, if not a lipgloss, that was coffee scented and found Happy Talk lip balm.

Happy Talk is described by LUSH as follows: Coffee scented shine and softness that tastes of Italian espresso with a spicy touch of cinnnamon and black pepper to plump lips and add a touch of color.

Happy Talk comes in a small tin that holds 0.3 ounces of balm.  The balm is hard like solid cocoa butter.  To apply it you have to rub your fingertip over the surface and then onto the lips.  I don't like that which is why I use a little retractable lipbrush to apply it.  Happy Talk is lightweight and not waxy feeling at all.  It is made mostly of shea butter so it feels like a thin layer of butter on the lips.  Very moisturizing and lightweight.  I like that.

So why the comment that it is gross in my title line?  Because it smells absolutely disgusting and does very little of what it claims to do.  It's supposed to smell like coffee and taste like espresso but it is neither.  The scent is slightly like instant coffee but is mostly just sweet and kind of sickly.  I think it's from the shea butter as I've heard from friends that shea butter can add a strange scent to products.  But it doesn't taste like coffee or espresso either.  What's more, I do not detect any cinnamon or pepper, my lips are not plumped, and as this product is oatmeal in color, I don't see how it could possibly add a touch of any kind of color. 

Not recommended.  I've tried most of LUSH's lip balms and this is the worst by far.  I feel bad that my husband ventured, unaccompanied, into the world of LUSH to get me this special gift and I hate it.  

*one star* - a gross waste of $8.