I love lip balms and lip glosses. I have a massive collection of them already, but I really wanted to try the Dona plumping lip balm out. I wanted it more for the lovely scent other products in the Dona line have than the plumping aspect. The fragrance I received is Goji berry. This product is also available in: Camu Camu, Blue Lotus, Pomegranate, Acai, and Mangosteen.

The Dona plumping lip balm comes in a typical lip balm tube. It’s not any different from Chap Stick tubes. Compared to my Burt’s Bees lip balm, it’s exactly the same weight and height. The tube is made of black plastic with a black plastic dial base. It contains .15 ounces of lip balm. There is a paper sticker wrapped around the tube with the Dona logo and lace design that is on all of the other Dona products. The cap has pale yellow around it and appears to have something in white text written on the yellow, but I can’t read it. I can just barely make out white letters on the pale yellow. The tube does not state where this lip gloss is made; just that it is formulated by System JO followed by System JO’s address.

Ingredients:
Olive Fruit Oil, Beeswax, Cocoa Seed Butter, Shea Butter, Castor Seed Oil, Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate, Caprylic Capric Triglyceride, Stearalkonium Hectorite, Propylene Carbonate, Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12, Jojoba Seed Oil, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Honeysuckle Flower Extract, Menthoxypropanediol, Tetrahexyidecyl Ascorbate (Vitamin C), Vanillyl Butyl Ether, Goji Berry Fruit, Flavor

A good chunk of the ingredients in this lip balm are natural ingredients that are great for skin. Olive fruit oil, beeswax, cocoa seed butter, Shea butter, castor seed oil, jojoba seed oil, honeysuckle flower extract, vitamins C and E, and the Goji berry fruit are all extremely common in lotions, body washes, massage oils, and lip balms. They’re great for moisturizing and softening skin. Goji berry fruit also works as an aphrodisiac. The remaining ingredients require a bit of research to understand:

Pentaerythrityl Tetraisostearate: Skin conditioning agent.
Caprylic Capric Triglyceride: Skin conditioning agent. This ingredient contains glycerin.
Stearalkonium Hectorite: Viscosity controlling agent.
Propylene Carbonate: Viscosity controlling agent.
Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12: Could not find any information on this ingredient. Information on Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-14 states it increases collagen production, which would plump lips. This ingredient may act similarly.
Menthoxypropanediol: Flavor and fragrance agent. This is a refreshing ingredient that is common in facial masks, lip glosses, and lip plumpers.
Vanillyl Butyl Ether: Skin conditioning agent.

Considering all of the ingredients above, it’s easy to understand how this lip balm operates on skin. Palmitoyl Hexapeptide-12 is supposed to plump lips while Menthoxypropanediol makes lips feel tingly. The tingly feeling is probably supposed to make you feel like this stuff is working really hard.

The texture and consistency of this lip balm is pretty good. It’s slightly off-white in appearance and almost completely opaque in stick form. It doesn’t feel as hard as beeswax lip balms usually do. This one does have a lot more oil in it than other beeswax lip balms I have tried. When I apply this, it feels very slick on my lips. It’s easy for me to rub it on. Unfortunately, when I received this it was very hot out and the lip balm seemed to have melted some. When I tried applying it, the lip balm was very squishy and I ended up applying way too much. Because of this, I would not keep this balm in my pocket. If it’s kept at 75 degrees Fahrenheit or less, it’s thick enough to just apply a good, thin layer on lips.

When I apply this balm, I can feel a tingling sensation immediately following application. It’s very pleasant feeling on my lips. It’s very light feeling and does not burn. The tingling seems to last just as long as the lip balm lasts. Eating, drinking, and kissing will slowly wipe the lip balm off your lips. I did not notice any effects of lip plumping following use of this lip balm.

This lip balm is not tinted, so it doesn’t do anything to color lips. It does give them a slightly shiny appearance as most lip balms seem to do.

Continued..

The flavor I received is Goji berry. The scent of this lip balm is a very sweet berry scent. It’s not very strong, though the scent is so sweet it can be a bit sickening at times. When I apply this, I can easily smell it from my lips. I cannot smell it from more than a foot away. Once the lip balm starts to wear off lips, it cannot be smelled anymore. There is no flavor to this lip balm, sadly. As yummy and sweet as it smells, I can only get a tingling sensation on my tongue if I lick at this stuff on my lips.

I noticed this lip balm leaves the area around my lips a bit excessively greasy feeling. After I apply this, I just wipe around my mouth to get the excess off of my skin. I haven’t noticed yet if this will clog pores.

After using this balm for a while, I didn’t notice any difference in the feel or appearance of my lips. I buff my lips pretty often and always keep a stick of Burt’s Bees lip balm handy for when my lips get dry or cracked feeling. Using the Dona lip plumping balm instead left my lips the same as they usually are which is pretty soft and healthy looking.

If you feel a need to wash this lip balm off, a gentle facial cleanser or soap and some warm water should remove any leftover lip balm. Removing the balm also removes the tingling sensation and fragrance. I did not notice any oily residue or staining to any fabrics this came in contact with.

I like this lip balm. It’s not too thick and heavy feeling on my lips. It feels nice and natural. I like the added tingling sensation. I don’t really care one way or the other about the lip plumping aspect of this not working, but it does bother me that this has no flavor. I’d like it to have a nice, light fruity flavor to it to match the yummy fragrance. I think the price is good for this balm.

I still like this lip balm a lot. Despite the near 100's temperatures we've been having lately, it hasn't melted. I was kind of expecting it to, since it's kind of a mushy lip balm to begin with.

For some reason, though, the surface of it looks really gross. It's gotten really bumpy and weird feeling. Since I just rub it on my lips like any other stick of lip balm, something happened to it when it was just sitting on its own.