Environmental Diva

Cargo Cosmetics brings you Plant Love, a lipstick packaged with biodegradable materials.

I heard about Plant Love a few months ago and have been meaning to try it. Since I was at the mall this weekend and have been looking for a daytime lipstick, I thought I’d give Plant Love a go.

Notes: The lipstick comes in a biodegradable cardboard box that is “embedded with wildflower seeds.” The lipstick tube is made from corn (also biodegradable). $2 from every purchase is donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Product Review:

Price: $20/tube from Sephora.

Color: Majella.

Packaging: The wildflower cardboard packaging is kind of cool. It reminds me of the homemade sheets of paper you get at craft stores - the kind with flower petals in it. The decorations on the lipstick tube are corny (ha!). People really need to get over the hippy thing. If I was a random shopper, the packaging would only appeal to me slightly. I’m a sucker for good packaging, and this would never catch my attention.

Animal Testing: I didn’t see Cargo Cosmetics on either of the Caring Consumer animal testing lists. Feel free to correct me.

Product Quality: The application is smooth; it glides on nicely and looks great. However, it tastes (and smells) like the cheap lipstick you wore in high school when all you could afford was Cover Girl - and Almay was the stuff you splurged on.

Colors: Apparently, Cargo isn’t tired of the celebrity thing. There are five celebrity-designed colors and six derived from places (don’t ask me how they came up with that one). There aren’t a lot of colors to choose from, but give it time.

Durability: Wears better than I expected. The color lasted for hours, and even drinking didn’t rub it all off.

Gleeful discoveries: Do me a favor and go to the celebrity page. Hover your mouse over the celebrity pictures so the lipstick appears. Did that amuse you as much as it amused me?

Comments from others: Here’s a tidbit from sustainable is good and a sassy bit from Kiss and Makeup.

Conclusion: Although it’s not the best lipstick I’ve ever tried, I’d buy it again. The only negatives are minor - cheap lipstick smell and cheap lipstick taste, but that’s not a deal breaker for me. If I can wear four inch heels for the sake of fashion, I can certainly wear cheap lipstick masquerading as top notch. It does excel in innovative biodegradable packaging, after all. It’s about time.

Over and out.