TL;DR the gimmick doesn’t live up to the impact
Milani Green Goddess Transforming Lip Balm
A Deeper Look
I hate to admit this, but this one was an impulse buy.
I typically pride myself on being a very thoughtful, structured person. I invoke the word of my planner as though it were gospel, keep track of what I eat and when and color-code events on the fridge calendar. I don’t disdain spontaneity, but I like knowing that my choices are the product of careful consideration.
Rarely, if ever, do I purchase any beauty product without leaving it in my digital cart for at least 24 hours, while waiting for Sephora to send me an email asking, “Did you forget something?”
This one I bought between thigh sets while taking a barre class on Instagram Live.
At $9.99, the entirety of which was covered by a birthday gift card to Ulta, there was no reason for me not to carelessly hit “purchase” on a product that had 4+ stars on the brand website and on Ulta’s, and featured the words “cannabis sativa seed oil” in the ingredient list. It was a no-lose kinda situation.
Was this spontaneous buy, a somewhat affront to my Day-At-A-Glance ways, worth it? Kind of.
The “transformative” colorizing property of this balm is undoubtedly its strongest selling point. As promised, it goes on clear and then magically mutates into a cute shade of pink (supposedly varies person-to-person but my husband was unwilling to verify). The color deepens with the number of swipes you apply and, best of all, does not smudge off on your clothes/water bottle/sandwich. This unique pH-sensitive attribute also makes it (nearly) impossible for you to accidentally “color outside the lines” and show up to a Zoom call looking like The Joker.
Where it falls flat, though, is in its effectiveness as a balm. Unlike the cult-favorite LANEIGE, the clean beauty wunderkind Honest Beauty, or my beloved Farmacy, Milani’s balm only barely does its supposed job. It applies like butter, smells like mint tea, and leaves behind a flattering tint for hours. However, it also abandons your lips to their original dryness within minutes. I find myself having to reapply several times an hour, which is a recipe for Maleficent lips and a more potent high than I had asked for.
(Just kidding: cannabis sativa seed oil can’t get you high.)
Having now done a full trial of the Green Goddess, I would still say that my initial optimism was not unfounded – but only because the lip balm was free. If you’re looking for an effective balm and not just a way to fit in with your kush-crazy friends, I would not recommend this product.
Trust me: there are better things to spend $10 on.
Important: Vegan, Cruelty-Free, Contain Cannabis Oil
The Perfect Balm 