Tokyomilk Dark Femme Fatale Collection Lip Elixir
Affiliate Links I Bought This May 23, 2013 | Body Treatments, Lips, Reviews
I generally get a lot of pleasure from a luxury beauty product that I’ve just spent a lot of money on, but there is a special level of joy I get from finding a covet-worthy product that doesn’t make me wince when I pay for it. For this reason, I’ve recently gone apeshit bananas for Tokyomilk Dark Femme Fatale Lip Elixirs. Tokyomilk’s tagline, “Objects to Desire,” might be the most accurate line in marketing history. They consistently produce some of the most beautifully packaged, exciting smelling, luxurious feeling products on the market.
The Tokyomilk Dark Lip Elixirs, in particular, are a joy because they’re only $7 a pop. They are packaged in beautiful tins that are slightly larger than C.O.Bigelow Rose Salve or Smith’s Rosebud Salve tins. The tins are beautifully decorated in old-fashioned apothecary style with a modern, edgy twist. It’s exactly the sort of thing that I would openly envy if I saw someone else pull it out of her purse
Lip Elixirs are available in a variety of dark, intriguing flavors. I started with one – Cherry Bourbon – and picked up La Vie En Rose for my sister. I absolutely loved the deep, unique sweetness of the Cherry Brandy, Whiskey, Aged Wood, and Clove flavor notes in the Cherry Bourbon. Then I smelled La Vie En Rose, a sweet, refreshing blend of Rose, Orange, Peach, and Vanilla, and realized that I had just lost my footing on a very slippery, retail slope.
The balm itself has a consistency similar to Vaseline. It’s a little stiffer than a Rose Salve. Tokyomilk Lip Elixir is both moisturizing and occlusive, which means it provides moisture as well as preventing any existing moisture in your lips from escaping. The ingredients are:
Petroleum, microcrystalline wax, flavor, canola oil, Aloe Vera leaf extract, tocopherol (vitamin E), tocopheryl (Vitamin E) acetate, Stevia leaf extract, Green Tea leaf extract, safflower seed oil, Jasmine flower extract, Bee Balm leaf extract.
At the very moment I type this, I am tumbling rapidly toward financial ruin at the tempting and sinister hand of lip balm. I’ve already amassed four of these Lip Elixirs (Cherry Bourbon, La Vie En Rose, Coco Noir, and Clove Cigarettes), and have two more on the way (Dead Sexy and Smoked Salt).
Sephora carries many Lip Elixir flavors: Clove Cigarettes, Salted Caramel, La Vie En Rose, Coco Noir, Absinthe, and Cherry Bourbon. The Tokyomilk website has the full range of flavors, which includes all the same ones Sephora carries, plus Smoked Salt and Dead Sexy.
Try them at your own peril. They may only be $7, but if you buy one, you’ll want them all.
Skin & Tonics Rating:
Performance: 5/5 – Extremely moisturizing, great complex flavors that aren’t overly sweet or strong.
Quality: 4/5 – Mostly high-quality ingredients, though they do contain petroleum (which I happen to love, but I realize petroleum is a controversial ingredient for some). Amazing packaging, but only if you love tins (which I do)!
Value: 5/5 – $7 for a luxury boutique product is a rarity that’s hard to pass up!
Overall: 4.7/5
Another great post. Totally sold me on it. I just bought the La Vie En Rose and Salted Caramel. Nom nom nom!
You’ll have to let me know what you think of the Salted Caramel! I haven’t tried that one but it sounds exciting.
These look so beautiful — When I was in Chicago, I saw some Tokyomilk hand creams and walked out smelling like a perfume boutique…they were all amazing, intricate scents and the packaging is crazy awesome. I couldn’t get my mitts off of them.
Out of curiosity, what do you think of Coco Noir? I’ve had my eye on that one.
I like the Coco Noir a lot! It’s very cocoa-y, but it’s a really high quality cocoa note. It smells like actual cocoa and not like gross, chocolate, scratch n’ sniff stickers. The floral notes aren’t very prominent, but they also aren’t totally absent.
I just got my Salted Caramel in the mail yesterday (shipped super fast to Japan from Sephora) and I AM IN LOVE! These lip elixirs have kept my lips super soft for hours and even overnight! I can’t wait to try other Tokyo-Milk products! NEW FAN FOR LIFE!
I’m going to have to try the Salted Caramel! Does it actually smell and taste like caramel?
I’ve tried all the ones at Sephora — the Salted Caramel was my first one and then I had to have them all because of the scent. I forget which ones (I think maybe Clove) but there were two with really really obnoxious scents and induced a couple headaches… They are all pretty strong scents. You can smell them from inside a purse a few meters away, some more than others. Ultimately I returned them all because the packaging is terrible as you can’t get them open. You need a crowbar or something to open them. I don’t want to rip my fingernails off and wrestle a tin only to scratch at its sides lol! I found them better as an occlusive. They weren’t very moisturizing but were very waxy and stayed on my lips. I might think about buying them again if they came in stick form, or maybe I will DIY.