If you've read my Grown Alchemist post, you'll know that I've been wanting to try some organic skin care and natural beauty products for a while now. I finally decided to take the plunge and splurge on a heap of Grown Alchemist skin and hair products, as well as these gorgeous Bite Beauty lipsticks from Nourished Life.
I'm extremely passionate about health and wellbeing and for me, one small factor in self-care is reducing chemicals and toxins in the home. If you do your research, you'll realise that there are so many that we are unaware of in our household products that can have an impact on our health. In beauty products, this includes BHA and BHT, DEA related ingredients, dibutyl phthalate, parabens, petrolatum and many more. (Read more about cosmetic chemicals here.)
Many popular lipsticks have been shown to contain toxic levels of lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminium, as well as many others not listed here. In my opinion, it's important to be mindful of the lipsticks and lip glosses that we choose, as regular use means that we are constantly ingesting them, and I believe that the levels of toxic metals, artificial preservatives and colours in them can all have an impact on our health. However, researchers also say that 'natural' lipsticks aren't necessarily safer when it comes to these toxic metals, so maybe I'm just buying into the marketing hype - nevertheless, I still feel good about purchasing these.
Bite Beauty lipsticks contain no parabens, no sulphates and no phthalates, as well as containing food grade ingredients such as castor and jojoba seed oil, beeswax, shea butter and argan kernel oil, and the super antioxidant resveratrol (found in red wine and grapes) making them "good enough to eat."
PRODUCTS (FROM LIGHTEST TO DARKEST):
Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Retsina - $36.95 AUD
Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Pepper - $36.95 AUD
Bite Beauty Luminous Creme Lipstick Tannin - $36.95 AUD
All three lipsticks have a smooth, silky texture, that glides on easily and feels soft and luscious. The lipstick formula is moisturing and hydrating, and is soothing when my lips are dry and chapped. I adore the simplicity of the matte black packaging, with the red lip colours having a pointed cap (as opposed to the other colours, cap featured in the photos above). The Bite Beauty lipsticks smell wonderful and natural, unlike some of the other lipsticks that I have used that smell pungent and artificial. They also taste good, which to some people could be a downfall as they wouldn't mind licking them off their lips. However, I am highly sensitive to smells and tastes so I prefer these lipsticks to certain brands that I have used before that may have a chemical smell (although this is not an advantage over those lipsticks that are unscented).
There is a great selection of colours in the Bite Beauty range, and I find that they are rich and opaque. They don't need much more than one swipe across your lips for full coverage. In terms of whether or not they are long lasting, I have found that the colour comes off quite easily, but then again I'm constantly drinking tea or water, so the lipstick comes up against cups and water bottles all the time (and that's not to mention eating lunch).
Ideally, I would love the colour to be longer lasting, because I'm not one to be mindful of what I eat and drink, and I also am lazy when it comes to reapplying. However, overall, I do rate these lipsticks highly as I love how moisturising they feel on my lips, the rich pigmentation of the colours, as well as how good they smell!