- I'm the girl who always has about three lip balms on her at all times.

- I don't have many tinted balms I can rely on for being simultaneously hydrating and nicely tinted — I usually settle for one or the other.

- When Lancôme dropped their L'Absolu Lip Balm in nine shades, I found them beautiful and unique but figured they were unwearable in how dramatic they looked in the tube.

- To my pleasant surprise, the baby pink color was perfect for a "my lips but better" color my medium-toned skin, and it keeps my lips nicely hydrated for hours with a refreshing, minty tingling sensation.

- At $26, it is pricey for a lip balm, but if you're a beauty minimalist, and since you only need about one swipe for color payoff and hydration, the investment pays off.

My fear of having chapped lips without balm on-hand exceeds that of most people with public speaking or heights. As I write this, I have about five lip-hydrating products in sight, ranging from tinted ones to heavy multipurpose balms and lighter chapsticks.

First Impressions

I was sent Lancôme's L'Absolu Mademoiselle Lip Balm several months ago, but it took me about a month to actually try it. When I first opened up the shades "Ice Cold Pink" and "Plump Pink," I figured they were a far too light baby pink for me. They seemed great for my friends with lighter, pink undertones. But, as an Indian woman with medium-toned skin and yellow undertones, I shy from baby pink colors as they tend to look extremely unnatural on me.

About a month later, when I finally tried out "Ice Cold Pink," the lightest of the entire shade range, I was initially surprised by the butter-soft balm feel, given the fact that it comes in a chic lipstick-like tube. The plumping effect left me with a minty, tingling sensation on my lips.

To my shock, the color was exactly what I had been looking for — just pink enough to neutralize any pigmentation in my lips, but not so pigmented that you couldn't see my natural lip color at all.

Shade Range

My first impression of the shade range was not that of excitement. Online, each looked a bit too out there/pigmented for my personal taste. It really took actually having to wear the product to see how natural it looks on my skin, and as a medium skin-toned woman, I feel that if the two lightest shades worked for me, I think all of them would work on virtually anyone.

Because the finish looks like that of a gloss without the tacky feel of one, the shades offered truly do seem to fit a universal range of lip colors and skin tones looking for a natural-looking shade.

Cons

The only con to this would be the price. As someone who owns a lot of lip products, I'm not sure I would make the splurge on a $26 lip balm myself, so I was lucky enough to have this sent to me as something I know consider a key part of my daily routine.

Conclusion

I've recommended the balm to a couple of my low-maintenance friends as a staple in their beauty routines, and they have loved it for a natural "I woke up like this" look. Usually, when I want a bit of color along with hydration, I top a hydrating balm with a tinted stick or gloss. This eliminates the need for a two-step process, and the color isn't so pigmented that I need a mirror to apply it, so with it, I can upgrade my look quickly and easily.

Buy the Lancôme L'Absolu Mademoiselle Lip Balm from Ulta for $26.