~LIP BALM MONDAY

My sister gifted me with some Love & Toast lip balms for my bday, and I was thuh-RILLED, because I had been wanting some of them for yearrrs.

Love & Toast's brand name and product packaging are spectacularly cute, and it turns out that what's on the inside gets an A+ as well...

These lippies are all-natural and contain the following ingredients:

olive fruit oil

beeswax

jojoba seed oil

shea butter

cocoa seed butter

natural flavor

hemp seed oil

aloe leaf

vitamin e

stevia leaf extract

The consistency of them is very good--there's a bit of tack, but they're buttery too.

Here's my impression of each flavor that I have...

Green Tea & Mint:

Just as expected; sublty minty with a tea-like tinge.

Rose Sorbet:

Like a natural rose, but not sugary, so sorbet-like?--I don't know.  The scent is neither too faint nor too strong, which is good because that can be a tricky line to walk with rose-y products.

Ginger Fizz:

This one smells just like powdered sugar donuts (!?) and has an extremely subtle gingerale-like tinge to it as well.

Strawberry Fields:

I don't have another strawberry-flavored lip balm that's quite like this.  It's kind of candy-like, yet not too sweety-sweet, and it has a bit of a tart pluck to it.  Interestingly enough, 'strawberry sorbet' would be a fitting name for it.  At times I think I might smell a cotton candy-type note as well.

Limeade:

They hit the nail on the head with this one, as I love its very natural-smelling/tart scent--it has a sour citrus note that hasn't been sugared down into sappiness (so to speak).  Yet, it does have a sugary note, as it should, because limeade (lime juice + sugar + water).

I'm really going to enjoy wearing these lip treats, and I thank my sis for her thoughtful gift--it was a kiss on the lips, for sure!

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~SUMMER CUPCAKE JOY

My birthday was in June, and my mom told me she wanted to make me a cake; however, I told her I wanted some chocolate cupcakes with 7-minute frosting instead!

I hadn't had this type of frosting in yearrrs, and I can't remember exactly what brought it to mind--but let's just say that I'm glad my memory was triggered because it's sooo delicious.  It's a great cupcake-topper for summertime, as it isn't heavy.  Mom put edible flowers on hers, and as you can see, the colors are fun and cheerful.

There are two types of 7-minute frosting recipes out there; one calls for granulated sugar, and the other, powdered sugar.  My mom used one with powdered sugar (such as this).  The consistency of the frosting should be silky and glossy, almost like melted pearls.

She made a granulated-sugar version a few weeks after the first batch, and the consistency was frothy and bubbly--not good at all.  I don't know if that outcome was due to the granulated sugar, a bad recipe, or a fluke.  

Mom thinks the granulated sugar creates a different kind of frosting, but I'm puzzled, because looking at these pics, I see that this frosting looks like it should.  I don't know exactly what recipe she used for either batch, so I'm just googling.

A final note: 7-minute frosting does not stand up well at all in heat, and it should be gobbled up within a day or two, as it kind of deflates and its texture changes after a certain amount of time has passed.

*Come to think of it, this frosting would probably work really well for Christmas, Valentine's Day, and Easter.  I'm imagining different toppings and color schemes. It's just full of potential.

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