Tokyo Milk Dark Lip Elixirs Review and Discount Codes

I bought one of the Tokyo Milk Lip Elixir lip balms a few weeks back at Sephora, (which was believe it or not my first time shopping at a Sephora, I know right, what have I been doing all my life!?) because of a kind of strange reason. They started popping up as a redeemable points bonus perk on Ipsy, but I found out they were only $7 and I didn't want to use my points to get something I could buy for $7. (Come on Ipsy, give us the Benefit High Beam, we know you have it!)

So I put it on my list of things to check out, and the more I was looking at these delicious looking lip balms, I decided to buy one at Sephora. Well, I loved it so much I bought 4 more flavors online! They finally all arrived, so I wanted to review them all together for you!

In case you haven't ever heard of the Lip Elixirs or even the Tokyo Milk brand, they have all kinds of products including candles, perfume, lotion, soap, etc. but they also have this line of hand cream, perfume and lip balms under the Tokyo Milk Dark product line. These lip elixirs are part of that, and have some wild and crazy flavors like Salted Caramel, Absinthe, Clove Cigarette...you get the idea. Basically I had to have them, they gave me no choice.

So I have for you a review of the Cherry Bourbon, Coco Noir, Dead Sexy, Salted Caramel, and Smoked Salt flavors. They have a few others I wasn't adventurous enough to get. I may have gone a little overboard though on the flavors.

I've found that the Cherry Bourbon one is very difficult to open without some sort of tool. I've resorted to leaving it partially open on one side so I can manage while I'm out and about. I only cut one side of the sticker band going across the product on the 4 I just got, and they seem very easy to open. So I'm not sure if it's just these ones that are easier, or if utilizing one side of the paper band as a hinge is working better. Also it's hard to tell, but they are very large! .7 oz. of lip balm in each of these, plenty if you were getting just one. Here's a photo, even though I have big hands, you can see these aren't dinky lip balms:

The texture of the balm is kind of like solid Vasoline, which makes sense because they do contain petrolatum. It's easy to just use a little, or build it up for a more lip gloss-like appearance. The smell is a little overwhelming in some when it's in the container, but once applied you only get a hint of it. It lasts a while, you could only apply once or twice a day, but I like to apply more just because I like the smell of them so much, and I like the feel of them on my lips when I swipe the product a few times on each lip.

Cherry Bourbon - Flavor Notes: Cherry Brandy, Whiskey, Aged Wood, Clove; I think this may still be my absolute favorite of the bunch, you can definitely smell and taste the cherry flavor, but the bourbon is more subtle. Just adds a little something to cut the cloying sweetness of cherries. It's more like a traditional lip balm flavor.

Coco Noir - Flavor Notes: Dark Rum, Maraschino Cherry, Sweet Milk, Cacao Bean; This one is pretty close to the cherry bourbon, but more chocolatey. Definitely sweet, also one of my favorites.

Dead Sexy - Flavor Notes: Ebony Wood, Warm Vanilla, Citrus Peel, Rosewater; I was a little disappointed with this one when I first opened it. Then I kept smelling it. And now I've been sitting here with it and I keep smelling it and putting some on. It's grown on me. Definitely the most interesting, intricate flavor I bought. I think by now I actually can smell all of the flavor notes. It's hard to describe, but it smells warm, and sweet, and the rosewater is definitely there. To me it smells very similar to the Smoked Salt flavor, but more sweet I think. It's a scent that I think if I wore as a perfume would give me a headache, warm woodsy scents tend to do that, but as a lip balm it's not strong. If I keep smelling it though I may get that headache! It's pretty overpowering when you first open it, but I think it "airs" out a little, and is less overpowering. Most of the others are an opaque white color, but this one is yellow, like beeswax.

Salted Caramel - Flavor Notes: Sweet Cream, Sea Salt, Caramelized Sugar, Toasted Vanilla Bean; This one has a big popcorn like smell to me, definitely the sweetest of the bunch. I wouldn't say this should be the go-to flavor that you should get, even though I think this is the flavor people tend to gravitate towards.

Smoked Salt - Flavor Notes: Smoked Sea Salt, Burnt Sugar, Molasses, Vanilla Bean; To me this is like a less intricate flavor profile than the Dead Sexy flavor, but a little similar. You can definitely smell the smoky flavor, and the saltiness. This one is probably my least favorite of the bunch, but I still enjoy it, so take that for what it's worth.

Here are the backs of the balms, showing the flavors.

Originally, you may remember I bought one from Sephora and it was $7. But I got the remainder from Skincare By Alana because they were 15% off and free shipping on all orders. Now, I want to warn you before you rush over there to order these, I had a few problems with their service, and I've heard some bad things from others. They say all orders will be shipped within 24-48 hours and you'll receive them in 5-7 days from start of shipping. This wasn't the case for me, I ordered 3/24. Checked on the status of my order 3/28. Got a respond 3/29 saying they would check. 3/31 they said it would ship 4/1. It shipped 4/2 and arrived 4/4. So, two whole weeks from time I ordered to time I received my order.

The other problem is their website never says something is out of stock or backordered. You could order, forget about it, and not get it for 2 or more weeks. And I wonder what would have happened if I didn't try to check on my order. If you still want to order from them, even after I warned you about them not fulfilling their promise to ship it within 24-48 hours, go ahead. The code is ALSAVE15 for 15% off your lip elixir order, and they have free shipping. If they said "It may take up to two weeks for you to receive your order" I would have been like, fine I can wait. But, they made a promise and didn't stick to it, that's what bugs me.

Right now, it's chic week at Sephora, so you can get 15% off your order with the code TICKET. Now you won't get free shipping unless you spend $50 or more, but if you're already thinking of making a purchase, and want to add these, you can at a discounted price.

Overall, I really like these lip balms, if I ever thought I would run out (I definitely won't) I would order them again. I may eventually get the last few flavors I didn't get, but I'm not sure. I'm not a fan of rose scents in anything but actual roses, so I may skip the La Vie en Rose (even though fun fact: La Vie en Rose is a fairly famous French song and I once sang it in French class in high school with a partner. That has absolutely nothing to do with lip balm, moving on). They also have an Absinthe and Clove Cigarette flavor. I'm hesitant to buy these because I don't like licorice or the smell of cloves, but I'm sure they made them nice smelling. Maybe I will.