nugg exfoliating lip smoother & hydrating lip mask review!

Before purchasing these, I feel like the name "nugg" was in my consciousness but I'd never really known why. I certainly never associated them with these Baoding-ball-looking things that I found at CVS. Upon seeing them in their metallic glory, though, my curiosity was piqued and into the shopping basket they went!

There's something about them that I find really cute? And also really frustrating? I've been using this lip scrub-and-mask pair for about a week now and I cannot even tell you how many times I've lost track of them or seen them roll out of reach! I've hinted at how lovely I find the metallic reflective-ness and there's something very satisfying about the spherical nature of it, but it also makes it difficult to open with any kind of product leftover on your hands. This has been a bummer for me as I've been applying both lip products after my nightly skincare routine. So, just right off the bat, we have some pros and cons for packaging: I love the way they look, but wish they were more ergonomic in design.

I was also a little put off by how small they are, which definitely plays into my propensity to lose the little buggers. The product really only sits in half of the packaging, which means you don't get much product at all- about 30 uses per sphere according to nugg's site. That breaks down to about $0.3 per use if you go by nugg's listed price (which, depending on where you purchase the product, could be a low-ball or a higher amount). This seems about right for the scrub, but I could personally see the lip mask stretching beyond the 30-use rule, thus reducing the amount per use.

The scrub doesn't include as many exfoliating beads as I would prefer, so I definitely find myself scooping more than is strictly necessary in order to really smooth my smoocher. In contrast, the mask is a completely uniform consistency that melts across the lips with ease. In fact, when using too much, it can get weirdly patchy with the excess remaining white and not melting into the layer below it. So, that itty bitty bit goes a long way which I think makes the mask a better bang for your buck comparatively.

All-in-all, I do see an improvement in my lips' appearance. BUT! To really test just how mighty this tiny package is, I definitely want to save some of my 30 uses for when the weather gets colder. It's not hard to have gorgeously hydrated lips in the summer, but how will this little guy hold up to the majorly chapping factors of a New England Winter? We'll have to wait and see... as long as I can remember where I put the little shiny pokeballs for that long.