Review: Black Widow Lip Balm in Calavera 12 and Voodoo

Oh Halloween. Remember that time of year? In my quest to satiate my need for Halloween makeup items, I stumbled upon Black Widow Balms on Etsy. Now I admit that my draw to this line was a bit superficial because of the following reasons:

1. It has a black tube.
2. It's called Black Widow Balms.
3. It's lip balm, which I immensely prefer over lipstick or lip gloss.
4. The first tube I saw was named Voodoo.

I warned you that my draw was superficial. Anyhow, after much deliberation, I decided to spring for three tubes (two for myself  and another for a friend). I ended up getting Voodoo and Calavera 12. (Side note is that I got Spell for my friend, but I don't have swatches of it since I gave it to her immediately). I chose them because Voodoo is described as having a plum tint and Calavera 12 had a hot pink tint. Both of those colours, based on description and on how the swatch looked on the website seemed to be a perfect fit for me.

The lip balms arrived three days after I ordered them (which is what is mentioned on the website). I thought that the packaging was really nice. It had a very nice dark look to it which is in line with the branding in general. Upon taking a closer look at the tubes themselves, I was a bit worried.

 For starters, the Calavera 12 looked incredibly pink but looked like it was on the sheer side. I wasn't too worried though since I figured that that would happen. It was the Voodoo that I had a bit of disappointment with (as you can see with the swatches).

Calavera 12 is on the left and Voodoo on the right. Calavera 12 does come out a bit but the Voodoo was brownish (rather than plum, which is what I was expecting). I knew that the brand touts that it has high pigmentation but I know that colours don't always appear on me. So I leave it to the other aspects to truly judge a product upon. In the case of lip balms, that would be moisturizing aspect and scent.

Calavera 12

Calavera 12 is supposed to be a hot pink (and I'm content with the colour). The scent is described to be "raspberry, spiced nutmeg and calming mint oils." It does deliver on that scent as you get a strong scent of raspberry. The other scents don't really come out as much, but I'm enjoying that strong raspberry scent.

Voodoo

Calavera is supposed to have shea butter, coconut oil, and olive oil and you could actually feel it quite a bit. This one is incredibly moisturizing and you can feel it. The same could also be said about the Voodoo tube as well.

Voodoo... well, it didn't really show up. My friend tried on her tube of Spell and the colour popped on her (Spell was part of the 2 Ghoul 4 School Set and is a lilac colour) but Voodoo on me looked like... normal lip balm.

The scent for Voodoo is described as having "cinnamon and black pepper," and there's no doubt you can get that scent of cinnamon on it. I believe the moisturizing agent in the Voodoo tube is lavender oil. It's also pretty moisturizing as well.

Overall, I think it's a great idea but it leaves a bit more to be desired. The 2 Ghoul 4 School pack was $11 and each tube goes for $6. It's a bit pricey for a lip balm but I figured since it was pigmented it would be worth it. It partially was, but still a bit of risk. They do have a risk free policy so do keep that in mind if you're debating on whether or not to try them out. Also keep in mind that I have a notoriously hard time getting pigmented colours in general to show up on my skin so if you don't have that problem, then I'd encourage you to give them a shot.

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Product: Black Widow Lip Balm in Calavera 12 and Voodoo.
Price: $6 each (unless you get one of the packs wherein you get two tubes for $11)
Would Recommend? Cautiously.
Takeaway: Calavera 12 made me happy and I know that Spell made my friend happy. Voodoo was a bit of a let down in terms of colour (but not scent not moisturizing aspect). The moisturizers in it are great as are the scents.