Cocoa Nostra confectionery lip balm by Not Soap Radio is a fun little novelty lip balm. It has some definite positives but I don’t see how any of them outweigh the price.

Chocolate mint is one of my favorite flavors for almost everything, hot chocolate, coffee, candy, cookies, etc. I am also addicted to lip balms, I never go anywhere without a few tubes of lip balm on me. So I was very excited to try the Cocoa Nostra mint noir.

The ingredients are mostly natural, the smell is nice, it goes on smooth and lasts long enough. I haven’t been using it long enough (a couple days now) to see how well it really conditions long term but so far this lip balm offers a nice moisturizing effect. I wish the chocolate smell was less, for lack of a better word, fake. It reminds me of kiddy lip balms like the Lip Smackers I used to use back in middle school.

The biggest downside for me with this balm is the lack of SPF. I have very fair skin and one of several reasons I use lip balm daily is that I need an SPF on my lips and face. So the Cocoa Nostra smells yummy, if a bit childish, but it doesn’t protect so it won’t go into my regular daily rotation.

Because I am never without my lip balm, I will probably keep this one around as back up for when I run out or can’t find my favorite. Also probably around the house since I don’t need an SPF inside.

The other major downside of this stuff is the price. I wouldn’t mind trying some of the other flavors and keeping a tube on hand but at the regular price, $7.99, I can’t see getting this very often. If they brought the price point down about $3 bucks I might consider making it a regular purchase and using it for gift giving.

I still think the price is too high. I have not used up the first tube as I just keep it around as a back up. I can't see replacing it when it runs out unless it's a really good sale.