Annee de Mamiel has created a lot of culty products that many can’t go without. Among the culti-est: her Rosey Lip Balm, which went on sabbatical before we brought de Mamiel onto our shelves.
So we were thrilled when we heard that it was back, in a formula that was even better. Find out how Annee went about tweaking the formula in this interview — and snap one up here. You'll see why it had a waiting list in the thousands.

Dara: Your Rosey Lip Balm was one of your most beloved products, and now it’s back with extra goodies! Why was Rosey Lip Balm such a cult favorite, and what prompted you to tweak the formula and reintroduce it as Lip Rx?

ANNEE: It’s hilarious — I don’t know why it became such a favorite! We have so many people waiting for it. There’s an amazing film director who, for the past 18 months, has kept on at me: “Can you send me some, can you send me some?” I’d find bits of it when I could and send it in a blank jar.

The original formula just came about one day in the kitchen: I was throwing together some waxes and a few bits and bobs, and there was the Rosey Lip Balm. And I loved the smell, the rosey-ness of it. It’s a funny old thing that just came together in an afternoon. Sometimes that happens, as it did with the Altitude Oil. And they’re usually the formulas that are so right: when the penny drops, it drops. And it’s also about sourcing and provenance and making sure it all works together and does its job.

But I noticed that the rose wax supply started to come through very dark, due to the changes in regulations around rose. So I wanted to go back and reformulate, because I didn’t like that dark color. It took a long time for me to pull the new formula together so that I could still feel it excelled in doing its job while still letting the softness of the rose come through.

Dara: Why do you think everyone loves the scent of rose so much?

ANNEE For me, rose is about the heart. It’s the most feminine of oils. It nourishes our yin, it’s just…it reminds me of my home, it’s comforting, there’s something about rose that I’m always, always drawn to. It nourishes our heart.

Sometimes people can find jasmine a little too much, but rose: there’s a delicateness to it. It’s delicate without being fragile; it’s a heavy hitter.

Dara: Tell us what makes the formula so powerful and what makes it different from the usual lip balm.

ANNEE: There’s evening primrose oil, which is a great hormone balancer: in putting on our lips, it helps it sit in that unique femininity. There are also calendula and pomegranate: those oils that may sound exotic, but they’re not. They’re so good to use every day. But there’s something really special about rose. When you look at a kilo of rose oil, you can pay 40-50,000 pounds for certain roses; it’s something that’s special, but here it’s attainable, and it’s yours. It feeds the soul.

Dara: Do you have any special usage tips for it?

ANNEE: I don’t, really; I think about it as an essential part of your routine, an essential part of what you do. Literally, just put it in your handbag next to your Altitude Oil, and think of it as “I deserve this” – that constant smell, scent, nourishment is there for you. Just take it. It’s lip balm! Use it, enjoy it, embrace it.

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Shop the de Mamiel collection at Ayla here.