Review: Aritaum Ginger Sugar Tint Lip Balm

There are some things in the world that can annoy me to no end – self-pwning self-entitled douchebags, lack of manners, sitting on a hot seat on public transportation, and on a more superficial level – dried chapped lips. Even though I always hunt for moisturising lipsticks,  tough times call for tough measures, and lips balms are still the best cure for icky lips.

Aritaum Ginger Sugar Tint Lip Balm – KRW5,000 each

Available in 3 colours, so of course I couldn’t decide, and ended up buying all 3.


This is how it’s supposed to look like (on a model, shot in a studio with good lighting – I know your trickssssssss). Let’s see how it turns out on normal human lips in normal real-world lighting hurhurhur.
No. 1 Rose: Well, as its name implies, it’s a rosy pink (not as red as the product itself).
No. 2 Lovely Pink: Well, again, a pretty aptly-named product since it does come out pretty naturally pink.
No. 3 Dreaming Coral: Of the 3, this is my least favourite, and the reason is apparent (or rather, not apparent) – the color isn’t really visible, and gives a very very slight orangey tinge.

I say…

The Packing: The usual click-on cap with a twist-up lip balm.

The Scent: I was expecting a strong ginger and/or sugar (sweet) scent, but nahhh. Not much scent here. Ah well. There goes my dreams of having a ginger-scented lippie to apply on occasions when I get car/motion sick.

The Application: It’s smooth and moisturising/hydrating. In fact, it’s sort of “melty” – even more so than the Aritaum Honey Melting Tint. You can tell from the swatches on the arm that there’s no strong color intensity – it’s more of a tinted balm than an actual lip color. The color is natural while the texture is more of a gloss. No sticky/greasy feel here. It smoothes over the chapped portions (mostly), and has a rather high-to-medium gloss/shine factor. It has a barely-there feel upon application cos it’s pretty lightweight. After it wears off, I can defo feel that my lips are more hydrated and softer – more baby swimming pool than man-made beach.

• Beauty Tip: Besides applying lip balms, you can also use lip scrubs to help condition and soften your lips.

The Verdict: It’s a pretty decent and way, way more affordable alternative to the famed Fresh lippies (reviews to come soon, I promise!). My favorite of the 3 will be Rose for its deeper cherry-red-pink flush. You can wear them alone on days of light makeup, and are also perfect for layering beneath your lip colours, especially the matte types (YSL Pur Couture, Innisfree Creamy Tint Lip Mousse) which tend to draw more emphasis to flakey lips.