The lovely make-up artist on my job today was totally Paw Paw’d up to the max: as well as the standard and much-loved Lucas’ Ointment (red tube) she had Simmons Paw Paw Salve (yellow tube) and Pure Nutraceuticals Paw Paw Ointment with Calendula.

If you’re not familiar with Paw Paw Ointments, they have become increasingly popular for their skin healing properties. They can be applied to chapped skin, cuts, burns, bites, rashes, and about a hundred other things –  so they obviously work a treat on dry, flaky lips!

The make-up artist on today’s job had been doing a fair old test on the different ointments available: the Lucas’ Ointment (£3.69 for 25g) is the one that everyone seems to use, but, as she pointed out, it is petroleum based (same as Vaseline) and so quite greasy if it’s going on underneath lip-colour.

The Pure Neutraceuticals in the black tube (£3.99 for 30g) is petroleum free and the texture is very light and easily absorbed. I really liked this one, because I hate greasiness, especially if I’m going to be eating or drinking. It’s great that this one just sinks in and disappears!

The yellow tube, which is Simmons Paw Paw Salve (£3.79 for 25g) is also petroleum free, and was the make-up artist’s favourite. (Make-up Artist, please forgive me if you’re reading this; we were joking about not being able to remember names, and here I am without the foggiest memory of yours. You jinxed me on that one!) It is as thick as the Lucas’ Paw Paw, but more easily absorbed. This is probably the best one for wearing underneath lipstick; it seemed to provide a lovely soft lip surface without being greasy.

So there you have it! They’re all good – I didn’t even know that different versions of the Paw Paw Ointments existed – and they’re all around the same price. In terms of actual Paw Paw content (fermented fruit) then the Simmons (yellow tube) has a whopping 51mg/g – I think that this could possibly be my new Hero Balm.

I found the prices for these on www.pawpawstore.co.uk, which seems to offer very reasonable prices and £1.99 delivery. I’m off to stock up!