Hema is a big thing in Holland, and apparently it is especially famous with expats. Well, now that our other big department store V&D closed, Hema kinda is the only one left (cause even though I love Bijenkorf, I do not consider them to be a Dutch department store anymore since their arrogant attitude towards not wanting to attract Dutch customers, but rather rich Russians and wealthy Chinese, tsk!). Hema has always been famous for their make up, as they were one of the first brands to not have any animal testing done and the make up is (or may be I should say was) always stationed at the front of the store, near the entrance.

The latter actually meant that a lot of make up got stolen from Hema, so I think now they try to have it a little bit more in the middle of the store, but anyway, their make-up is always very on trend while still being normal. And still being very Dutch, cause the price is very nice too. Take the Hema Soft Matt Lipbalm I am reviewing in this blog: it only cost me 4 euros. Is it going to last all day? With my ways of eating and drinking, absolutely not, but you know what, the expensive brands also do not really deliver on that point anyway, so that’s okay. Plus, just like many other women I do not mind (or I might even like) applying some lipstick throughout the day.

Anyway! Every morning when I have applied my foundation, I always have these pale lips that I do not really know what to do with. I have way too much lipstick which is either way to fuchsia or way to shiny. I really do not like shiny lipsticks, I want a matte finish in a nice color. Preferably a sexy red color that is pretty much ‘out there’ without making me look like some kind of glamorous person that should be on the cover of Cosmopolitan. Just a deep red color, or a bit purplish, to compliment my pale skin (though I wonder if you would call it compliment, rather ‘to take the attention away from’ 😉 ).

I am really happy that I have found this HEMA Soft Matt Lipbalm, cause as the name already shows, it is ‘soft’. My problem, especially with the wintertime and now that I am totally rocking cycling to work (yep, I have already been doing it for a week, so proud of myself, still hate cycling by the way), my lips are not particularly fond of getting so much fresh air on them. They are like: what is happening?! MUST. HAVE. HYDRATATION. FEEL. SO. DRYYY. This lip balm helps with that, although I would advise you to put some Labello or other see-through lip balm over it after a few hours. Your lips will feel very soft though, so if you want to kiss someone, this lip balm will keep you from smudging red all over his or her face.

It is very easy to use this lip balm, which is made like a pencil. I must say that I was a bit anxious to tell you about it, so I haven’t had the chance to see what to do when the lip stuff is gone; do I use a pencil sharpener? No freaking idea, I am a geek, not a beauty blogger per se 😉 But I will be sure to update this post whenever it is time, hihi. The color I bought really fits my skin tone pretty well. Not everybody likes the grungy look I get from it, but I actually do. Even when my trichotillomaniac eyes are almost without makeup, you do not really notice the lack of lashes because you will probably be looking at my lips, no matter if you like it or not! 😉

If you are looking for a good lip color, I would definitely recommend this product. It is easy to use, it is cheap, it lasts very long without having all these little pieces of skin off your lip (which is a big issue I have with Infallible by L’Oreal Paris) and the colors are very deep and beautiful, at least the one that I bought is. I am very curious what I am going to do when the lipstick is gone and I will have to somehow reach the stuff inside of the pencil, but I will probably have to buy a little brush or something for that, haha, I will keep you updated, unless you have a better idea about this (PsycoUnin00b!).

Disclaimer: I have bought this lipbalm from my own money, on my own initiative.