Winter has finally arrived to where I live, though it probably won't stay for too long (again). True, it has already snowed in other parts of Hungary and even in Budapest, but so far that shimmery soft layer of prettiness has always vanished overnight leaving this snow-lover hung up on winter (or more like, on the lack of it).

I have always loved winter: on my list it is second to spring, my favorite. If you have a penchant for wanting to wrap yourself in a fuzzy warm comforter and withdraw into yourself, you probably love it too. It is grey, it is dark, it is frightfully cold and sometimes downright merciless, but it is also the only season that wraps you into it's own soft grey comforter and makes you almost invisible to the other passers-by on the streets. Under tons of warm fabric and among so many other bundled up people one easily gets lost in the crowd, but I actually prefer it that way. When spring finally breezes in giving people their very own spotlight to sing and dance under, it almost feels like a brutal attack on one's piece of mind and temporarily expanded personal space.

Winter, then. What exactly does it bring to the mind of a cosmetics-crazy woman? The answer probably depends on whether she has enough time-tested and effective companions in her bag or not. It can bring to mind chapped lips and cracked hands, but it can also leave her unfazed, calling up snowball fights, snow angels, and icicles used as drumsticks. (Hey, why not? :-)

Let me introduce you to my current companions then. Though they have been with me for only a little more than a week, it seems they have settled in for the long run and will probably be enough to save me from the two aforementioned (and very dreaded) side effects of the season. They are:











Buying a new lipbalm is always a much anticipated adventure for me. My previous balm had been rubbing me the wrong way for years by smelling like lard (and tasting like it too...), so this time I decided to buy something that would make me purr and nuzzle up to its pretty little tube for hours. The girls on my fav cosmetics thread had been raving about Bioderma's lipbalm, so I figured I would give it a try.

It comes in a white (4 g) tube with blue text on it (who would have thought, right?), and it smells exactly like raspberry-flavored bubblegum. I did not detect any taste though, which is definitely for the better, as I imagine I couldn't contain myself for too long if it had any and would be sorely tempted to lick it off in a matter of seconds.

The ingredients are a bit different from Alverde's in that paraffinum liquidum is first on the list, but sometimes I just can't be bothered... In any case, I haven't spotted any adverse effects yet. (This is the moment when lovers of anything that's organic and 100% natural would wisely all-knowingly point out: "Oh, but you will soon! Veeeeeery sooooon..." I mean no offense though: I'm in a "who-the-h*ll-cares" phase right now, but I used to be devoted to "pure" things too. :-))

On with the show then. Bioderma's "Lip Stick" is noticeably thinner than Alverde's and glides on effortlessly, leaving a slight whitish cast that disappears the second you smack your lips together and warm it up a bit. After that, it'll be perfectly inconspicuous for any casual onlooker. You, however, are definitely going to notice the difference: it softens the delicate skin of your lips and spiffs them up in no time. I only use it at night though, as I'm still adamant about Silk Naturals' lippies being the best ever lip treatment and lipcolor rolled into one. (Btw: 'Tender' is the most gorgeous my-lips-but-better shade ever! Forget about EDM's 'Cozy Night'. 'Tender' beats it any day of the week.)

One other thing I like about Bioderma's lipbalm is the slanted design of the stick: nice touch.

At the moment, it doesn't seem to have any drawbacks; we'll see in a couple of weeks, but I have high hopes for it.

Here's the INCI list if you're curious. (Boy, this sure beats typing. :)








Apparently, product designers have decided to make allowance for the needs of working women who are constantly on the go and practically carry their entire offices with themselves in a bag. Incidentally, I happen to be one of them: my haversack is always filled with various coursebooks, CDs, photocopies of all sorts of complementary material for my students, and lately I've even been hiding a small red rubber ball in there. (Who would have thought that adults like to play ball too? ;-) Now, it's a relief to only have to carry an additional 50 mls worth of product instead of 100-150 mls. What is not a relief, however, is that one has to fumble with a screw-off cap instead of being able to just flip it off and on at one's pleasure.

The product itself is your regular white hand cream, unscented and nothing extraordinary, but I mean that in a good way: it does do its job perfectly as in it moisturizes your hands and seems to form a protective barrier on them (again, paraffinum liquidum, but there's some shea butter in there too), while it doesn't add another extra scent to what you're probably wearing already because of your body-lotion, facial moisturizer, shampoo and conditioner and perfume. My only qualm is that it needs to be reapplied quite often, and while it's been holding up fairly well in a milder sort of weather (usually above 0 C° or 32 F), I'm not quite convinced it'd be enough for my hands should temperatures drop below -5 C° (23 F).

All in all, Bioderma's new hand cream is a very nice product, and I definitely haven't regretted buying it as it'll probably be a real asset to my bodycare regime in spring. However, once winter decides to hit us full force (if ever...), I'll turn to La Roche Posay's Lipikar body lotion for help.