Stockings are one of my favorite parts of the Christmas Season! Today I’m sharing with you a few products from an awesome company called Mad Gab's that would make excellent stocking stuffers, or even gifts. One of you will even win your own set of 3 products – so stay tuned to the end of this post to learn how.
Gabrielle Melchionda starting making lip balm in 1991, while still in college, after she came across a recipe that she thought sounded easy to make. She gathered the necessary supplies and began mixing up batches in her mother’s kitchen. The lip balms were such a hit with her friends that they encouraged her to market them and sell them in a store. By her senior year of college, Mad Gab’s was in 10 stores and Gabrielle embarked on a journey to learn how to make a business work.
Fast forward 20 years and the business has grown into a huge success. People all over the world love Mad Gab's products. They moved from their original 200 square foot office to a 4500 square feet space where the Mad Gab's team makes, ships, and sells their products. They strive to create unique, high quality, and effective all natural beauty products while creating minimal waste. They also wish to “inspire others that anything can be done with good ideas, hard work and a strong team.”
Mad Gab's formulates their products with ingredients like beeswax, shea butter, organic extra virgin oil, vitamin e, natural flavors, essential oils, mica and other healthy and beneficial ingredients. All of their products are great and they come in the most adorable packaging with fun little facts on them. Oh, and by now my loyal readers know how crazy sensitive my lips are, right? Well, none of these lip products irritate them in the least! I absolutely love and adore all of the products I got to try, so let’s get to the reviews!
I’m going to start with the newly launched (October 1st, 2011) Wildly Natural line of lip products. These lippies are inspired by patterns in nature like peacock feathers, giraffe spots, and the wings of a butterfly. This line offers Lip Butters, Shimmers, and Glosses each with 3 flavors. The glosses come in pink, plum, and bronze while the shimmers come in the same colors with added glitter. The lip butters come in Coconut Lime, Juicy Mango, and Lavender Vanilla.
The pink lip gloss is the most perfect pale pink that provides the lips with a very sheer dusting of pretty color. It’s not sticky at all and it feels super lush and hydrating. It’s shiny without being over the top. The Juicy Mango Lip Butter is so smooth and applies easily. It makes my lips feel moisturized and silky. It smells great and tastes good without making me lick my lips 24/7. The Plum Lip Shimmer is probably my favorite of the 3 because it’s so gorgeous and flattering on my lips. It has the perfect amount of shimmer and color.
Moving on to the other Mad Gab's products I was lucky enough to try - lets talk about the Turtle Shimmer which is a glistening pink color perfect for any pretty pout. The Shimmers have a lovely peppermint scent and flavor to them which I just adore. The minty tingle adds a cool feel to the lips. I love the turtle on the packaging too!
I also got to try a couple of the smooch products; one is from the Zoo Smooch line and the other is from Dino Smooch. My zoo balm is the Giraffe Smooch in vanilla with SPF 15. I find giraffes irresistible, so I think this one is really adorable.
It’s got a really warm vanilla scent that is just delicious. My favorite balm of the bunch is the Stego Smooch lip balm in berry, which comes in a recyclable tin. This smells fantastic and I’m mad about the formulation. It’s wonderful! It applies like butter and lasts for an irresistibly kissable mouth. I normally don’t like balms in tins because I’m a bit of a germ freak but this one is incredible.
Last but certainly not least is the Hi-Bear-Nating Balm which is a calming lavender body balm. I can’t remember if I’ve told you how obsessed with lavender I am before but just take my word for it – I can’t get enough! This is perfectly divine smelling lavender (not all are) and it works so well to calm and relax me for bed. I just massage a little bit of this onto my neck and temples (as per instructions on the package) right before bed and I’m ready to doze off and get a peaceful night’s sleep.
I love Mad Gab's so much that I’m planning on checking out their Holiday Smooch Lip Balms very soon. Their prices are affordable and their products are worth a try so check them out for yourself at http://www.madgabs.com/
To enter to win your very own set of Wildly Natural products (Juicy Mango Lip Butter, Plum Shimmer, and Pink Gloss):
Required: Visit www.madgabs.com and leave me a comment on this post telling me which product you are interested in (besides the ones I already mentioned). (US only please!)
Optional Extra Entries (leave a separate comment for each):
-“Like” Mad Gabs on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/madgabsinc
-“Like” Beautiful Basics on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BeautifulBasicsBlog
-Post a comment on the Beautiful Basics Fan page sharing your favorite beauty tip, recipe, or secret or you can tell me what your favorite product of the moment is
-Share this giveaway on your Facebook or Twitter for 1 extra entry (every person you refer who enters this giveaway OR likes my Facebook page and mentions your name will get you 2 extra entries)
This contest will run until December 15th and will end at 12 noon PST. The winner will be chosen using random.com and will be posted on the Beautiful Basics Facebook page)
(FTC: These products were so generously provided to me for review consideration by the company. I am not being compensated to write this review. All thought and opinions, as always, and my own and honest.)



I would really like to try the Moisturizing Bear Balm and the Moose Travel Soy Candles
dsauers7(at)hotmail(dot)com