Pritha O.

Korres Lip Butter Stick

TL;DR Grecian decadence at a steep cost

KORRES Lip Butter Sticks in Mulberry and Thyme Honey

Quick Scores

  • Effectiveness: 4.5 (out of 5)
  • Taste: 4
  • Smell: 5
  • Packaging: 5 (look at them!)
  • Value: 4

Price: $18.00

Available At: KORRES

A Deeper Look

I want to start this review by admitting that I had forgotten how expensive these were, having purchased them a full lifetime ago.

Now, given that I’m writing this while the pandemic is ongoing, a lifetime could signify any amount of time between 2 weeks to 12 months. [As a reminder, it’s still March. 2020? 2021? 2022? That part is TBD.]

Back to my original point — when I bought these stunning, happy-making, artisanal balms, I was lucky enough to stumble onto a brand sale, where everything on the KORRES site was 40% off. Thus, when I discovered that I was rapidly running out of the untinted one, only two weeks into use, I was not nearly as enraged as I would’ve been had I remembered its original cost (e.g., $18).

You may ask, what shielded these balms from my cost-conscious fury? Simply put, the KORRES lip butter sticks are some of the rare lip balms that grace me with true bliss upon application.

Thyme Honey is an inspired combination of aromas that transports you straight into the heart of Crete. It smells warm, comforting and luxurious at the same time. (The shimmer it leaves on your lips is fine, but I personally haven’t been interested in having glittery lips since I was 12.)

The Mulberry smells like a summer sorbet and is the perfect red tint — effortless and cheeky but infinitely buildable.

Both feel deliciously buttery and leave your lips soft for hours.

But what about them caused my lip balm skepticism siren to flare? See back to my point about being halfway through the 0.15oz stick at two weeks (!) and over three-quarters of the way through at three weeks (!!). Regrettably, the butters and seed oils that give these balms their grade-A texture have also seemingly diminished their longevity.

Were this a lower-cost lip balm (in the ballpark of this Pritha’s Pick), it would be a hands-down slam-dunk forever-buy. But at $18? I simply can’t justify the expense.

No matter how much I’m craving some olive oil.

Important: Contains Shea Butter, Paraben-Free, Sulfate-Free, Cruelty-Free, Made in Greece