EOS vs Balmi - Battle of the Sphere Lip Balms!

When I first heard of a British dupe for the ever popular EOS lip balms, I made a mental note to check them out ASAP.  As a lip balm junkie, I always have several on the go at any one time, so what was one more to add to my happy stash party?  Luckily for my bank balance, I had imposed a spending ban on such balms at the time, so I missed out on the hype when Balmi launched in Boots.  But I knew I was going to get one at some point, and lo and behold, one arrived in last month's Joliebox!  So now I can finally do a comparison review, let the battle of the sphere lip balms commence!   

For this versus battle, I am going to compare EOS (which stands for Evolution of Smooth if you were curious) in Summer Fruit and Balmi in Coconut.

Ingredients: When it comes to ingredients, EOS clearly wins for me.  They are 100% natural, 95% organic, are free from parabens, petrolatum, phthalates and the formula includes Vitamin E, Shea Butter and Jojoba Oil.  Balmis on the other hand are mostly all chemical, and include parabens, petrolatum, liquid paraffin etc, but they do have some natural ingredients like shea butter and jojoba oil.  All Balmis come with SPF 15 and EOS have one flavour (Lemon Drop) that has SPF 15.

Flavour/Scent:  Balmis come in 5 flavours: Strawberry, Coconut, Blackcurrant, Mint and Raspberry.  EOS balms come in 6 flavours: Summer Fruit, Lemon Drop, Strawberry Sorbet, Honeysuckle Honeydew, Medicated Tangerine and Sweet Mint.  I find that Balmi flavours come across as very fake and can be more on the subtle side (though the Coconut flavour is quite strong IMO), whilst the EOS flavours are stronger and obviously more natural.

Packaging & Size: EOS lip balms are packaged in a much more bigger and harder plastic sphere and is more egg shaped, whereas Balmis are smaller and have a smooth, slightly rubberized style packaging. However, looks are deceiving; EOS balms have 7g of product, whereas Balmis have 10.5g. Balmis have an attachment at the bottom (see photo above) where you can put it onto keys, bags etc, but if this attachment comes off, the bottom of the balm is left exposed.  EOS balms have no attachment.

 
Texture & Formula: EOS balms have a harder and waxier texture which gives the lips a smooth, semi-matte base which is ideal for applying lipsticks over.  Balmis are much softer and give the lips a glossy sheen.  Moisturising wise, I find that I have to apply Balmis more often throughout the day than EOS, but like for like, they do have similar moisturising properties.

Availability & Price: Balmis are £4.99 each and are available nationwide in Boots.  EOS are an American brand, but are readily available online in the UK via Cutecosmetics, Naturally Fabulous and Naturismo with prices starting at around £4.75 - £5.95 each.  You can also pick up EOS balms via the usual suspects such as Amazon and eBay but you'll likely be paying a lot more.  I would recommend Naturismo because they have free worldwide shipping (and excellent customer service too!).

Which do I prefer? Definitely EOS, I like the texture and flavour a lot more than Balmi and I love that EOS balms are 100% natural and mostly organic too, so I'm happier to pay that little bit extra for them!

Have you tried either of these sphere lip balms? 

 Which do you prefer?

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