Tatcha is a luxury skincare brand inspired by Geisha beauty rituals in Japan. The owner of Tatcha, Victoria, was inspired when she visited Kyoto and met a modern day Geisha. She then learned about their beauty rituals, unique ingredients and from then on… Tatcha was born. Intrigued by the philosophy of the brand, the ingredients and starting to hear more & more about Tatcha itself in the vegan/cruelty-free beauty community, I decided to check it out in my local Sephora.
I originally wanted to get one of the trial size kits but noticed the lip balm, which I really wanted to try, but wasn’t included in any of the kits. So instead, I decided to just purchase the lip balm. Retailing at $30 in Sephora…. this gorgeous camellia gold spun lip balm is truly the most expensive lip balm I have ever purchased. This balm would be the first item I have ever tried from Tatcha.
Now the version I purchased will be (from what I was told in Sephora) the new formulation with the 23-karat gold spun in, rather than the 24-karat gold leaf sheet placed on top. If you see the one with the gold leaf on top, which they do still sell online, that one will retail for $36. Not sure why they changed it, but from what I have read, people prefer the gold flakes mixed in rather then the leaf on top anyway.
So what exactly is camellia, where does it come from and what’s so special about it ? I’ll start here so you can see why I was so intrigued.
There’s a little piece of paper that is written by the founder of Tatcha inside the box, and it states that Japan’s Oshima Island Girls discovered benefits of Camellia 1000’s of years ago. Before long, Geisha also began using Camellia seed oil to hydrate and protect skin.
So continuing with my research I found that there are many types of camellia. You have Camellia Sinensis, which produces black and green tea leaves. Then you have Camellia Japonica, which is valued for its flowers and its seeds. There is oil that comes from the Camellia Japonica seeds and this oil is called Camallia Japonica seed oil. This oil is used in many cosmetics including this gold spun lip balm.
To extract the oil, the seeds go through a cold pressed process. This type of oil is used in many skincare products and hair care products because of its moisturizing properties. The oil contains a lot of vitamins including A, B, D, & E. It also contains a lot of antioxidants and several different omegas including 3, 6 & 9. Camellia seed oil is also a mild astringent which makes it great for treating wounds. It’s really a wonderful universal oil.
Now when it comes to lip balms, why is all of this important ? Because the skin on our lips is like no other skin on the rest of our bodies and it cannot produce it’s own oils to protect itself. So finding a lip balm that has nourishing oils and has an abundance of nutrients & antioxidants is ideal.
Okay so now you’re probably wondering… does this lip treatment actually do anything ? Or is it just another gimmick. And what about those gold flakes ?
Honestly… this lightly citrus scented lip balm actually gives me relief from my irritated and dry lips and like no other lip balm I’ve tried, especially in the winter months when everything tends to get very dry. It’s a gel-like consistency, something I don’t think I’ve experienced before with a lip balm. It absorbs super fast into the lips, but doesn’t disappear after application. Afterword, my lips feel nourished and soft. I actually don’t even have to reapply it unless I eat or drink something of course. I feel like with other lip balms, I always had to keep reapplying to feel any kind of dry lip relief.
I love it the most as a night treatment because I can just apply a good amount, go to bed, and in the morning I’ll have super soft supple lips.
This balm is also amazing to apply before any matte liquid lipstick. It really preps your lips and keeps them moisturized, even with the liquid lipstick over top.
As far as the gold flakes go, do I really see them doing anything ? Not really. It’s supposed to give you a little bit of shimmer, I mean maybe it does ? But nothing super noticeable.
The packaging is made out of plastic, which I like because it makes it super lightweight. I can just put this in my pocket or keep it in my purse and don’t have to worry about it getting broken or weighing anything down. A lot of people complained about the packaging because Tatcha is a luxury brand, they just expected more. I think in the end it comes down to the product inside the packaging. And this product delivers !
So would I repurchase this expensive lip balm ? Honestly, I would. I’ve been too spoiled now to even think about going back to my drug store lip balms. Okay, don’t get me wrong though, I love my drug store balms especially the brand Hurraw, but it really just doesn’t compare to Tatcha. I love the lightweight, gorgeous packaging. I love the gold flakes because it makes me feel fancy even though I’m not sure if it’s doing anything. I love the gel balm because I really don’t have anything like this currently. I love how it absorbs, but still leaves my lips nourished for hours. I love that it’s cruelty-free & vegan. And I love the ingredients !
Have you tried this yet ? Leave a comment below & let me know ! Have you tried other Tatcha skincare items ? Let me know what I should try next ! Now that I’ve learned so much about Camellia, I may want to try that Camellia beauty oil !
You can purchase the lip balm here or check out the Tatcha website !
-Alicia !
