Tarte FRxtion Natural Sugar Exfoliator & Lip Balm Duo - a Review

I have not tried many Tarte products. But, for the most part, what I have tried, I have not liked very much. However, I like the fRxtion Natural Sugar Exfoliator & Lip Balm Duo.

FORMULA

The fRxtion Natural Sugar Exfoliator & Lip Balm Duo is cool because it is double sided. One side is the sugar exfoliator, and the other side is the vanilla lip balm. The exfoliator exfoliates pretty well, and takes the dead skin and chapped texture off your lips. However, it leaves them feeling really rough. But, when you put the vanilla lip balm on after, it leaves your lips perfectly prepped, smooth, and ready for any lip product you want to apply. It is one of my favorite lip balms, and I use it on a daily basis. I know what you're thinking: everyday exfoliation? That must hurt. This product is not heavy exfoliation, and it does not last an extremely long time. It will last your lips for the day, and that is about it.

FUNCTIONALITY

Basically, you do what I said above. Apply the exfoliator, smack your lips together for a few minutes, and then apply the soothing lip balm. Easy as that!

PRICE

The fRxtion Natural Sugar Exfoliator & Lip Balm Duo runs for $11 on tartecosmetics.com, sephora.com, and Sephora stores. I'm not sure on Ulta, since I got mine at sephora.com, but it is a definitely a good place to look. For your $11, you get 3.6 grams of product. That is 1.8 grams of exfoliator and 1.8 grams of lip balm. Not bad when you consider the price for solo lip balms and lip exfoliators!

PACKAGING

I can't say that I am crazy about the packaging. I like the color, the tube, etc. However, Tarte felt that it would be good to put a pop-out mirror on the side that always opens when you put on the product. For some products, I think this would be extremely convenient- a lip gloss, a lipstick, lip stain, etc. However, a lip exfoliator is not something you pull out after lunch and say 'Hey- just finished my Caesar Salad, time to exfoliate'. I adore the idea of a pop-out mirror, but would have liked to have seen this on one of their lipsticks.

FINAL OPINIONS

I like this product a lot for an everyday step when you apply makeup, but do not see any long-term effects. Would I recommend it? For those of you that are on high-end budgets, yes. For those of you that are on drugstore budget, probably not. I actually prefer SoftLips, because they are more affordable, super portable, and work great. I like this product, it has won various awards from magazines and such, but I prefer my SoftLips, to tell the truth.