Gator Gubba

I've been meaning to write about this company for a while--seeing as I purchased them in December--I had heard good things about it so I wanted to give them a try. I didn't receive my package for almost a month and only received it a week and a half after I had emailed complaining I hadn't received it yet. I hate bad customer service. I know I ordered in middle of December which is bad because it's close to Christmas but seriously, not receiving it until beginning to mid January? Preposterous. For that reason, I haven't wanted to use these very much. And also, I received two of them with the safety seals broken and marks on the balm itself which, being a bit of a germaphobe, grossed me out. For this reason, some of the balms I was only able to smell. I would have tried to ask for a refund or a replacement but since it took SO long the first time around, I didn't want to bother with it.

Company: Gator Gubba

Flavors: Watermelon, Orange Vanilla (herbal), Cherry, Bubblegum, and Pineapple Vanilla. Watermelon is the best smelling out of the bunch by far, it smells like the artificial watermelon flavor of candy but it's still the most noticeable and pleasant. The Orange Vanilla was one of two that came with a broken safety seal. To me it smells just like plastic, no sweet or creamy to it. My boyfriend says he smells a slight vanilla but nothing too prominent. The smell could also be lessened because it is an herbal balm. The Bubble Gum also came with a broken safety seal, it smells like a very artificial bubble gum scent and not sweet like one would imagine; if you're looking for something like Hubba Bubba or Bubbalicious, this is not the one for you. The Cherry is the second best smelling. It smells like artificial cherry but it's not too bad. You can definitely tell it is Cherry. I was really excited for the Pineapple Vanilla, I figured it would be something very different from what I have in my collection already. The scent is very light and only the pineapple is detectable. I was disappointed in this, I have tons of Pineapple balms and tons with great pineapple scent but I was looking for something different.

Wear: The ones that I was able to apply go on with very minimal force, so they go on okay--they aren't the smoothest but definitely aren't the hardest to apply. They also go on VERY thick, one or two swipes is more than enough. It kind of feels like the balm is just sitting on my lips however and not really penetrating to get my lips smooth. I guess since this has SPF that may be a good thing so it doesn't wear away so fast? They last about 2 hours which is great, especially if you're out and about in the sun.

Packaging: They non-herbal balms are your average sized tube of lip balm with identical blue labels. The only thing indicating that they are different flavors are the different colored bands on the top of the tube that match the indicated flavor. There isn't anything crazy special about the lip balm but it is waxy so it could stand up to some wear and tear with frequent use. The herbal flavor has a green label that is identical to the blue labels and has a colored band indicating the flavor. Nothing too crazy or flashy from these. I'm truly indifferent to this packaging.

Price: For the non-herbal flavors they are $1.25 a piece and for the herbal flavor it is $2.25. Pretty great price for a decent product. They aren't natural but do have SPF (15 for non-herbal, 30 for herbal).

Overall:
Pros: Variety of flavors, wear, price
Cons: Weak scents, long time for delivery, unsealed balms

Rating: 3 out of 5 twists, they aren't phenomenal and the bad customer service will forever keep me from purchasing from them again. Once I run out of these, I doubt I'll buy any more. For the price, I suppose that it's worth it to purchase one as a spare to throw into an extra bag or in the car.