I know we were all pretty excited to see the Cinnamon Sugar party pack get some early love on the new web-store, and I’ve been meaning to review the set for a few days now.
I’m going to go in order, starting with Coconut Cake. I’ve always loved this flavor (it’s more coconut than cake!) and this re-release stays true to its formula. It works.
Here’s the whole family, excluding the vintage biggy Piece-a-Cake which kicked off this tropical tradition:
The legacy of our favorite Cinnamon Sugar lives on. Or does it? It seems heavier and different from what I remember, with none of the sugary sweetness to balance it.
Sure, I do pick up on notes of cinnamon which makes the name technically correct, but those of us begging for its return undoubtedly wanted the true-to-heart 90s formula. Unfortunately this should have probably been released under a different name entirely. Maybe Cinnamon Toast?
Cherry Cobbler is always a decent scent in my book.
Caramel Corn is also pretty good, and a bit different from other attempts in the past. An all around solidly sweet popcorn flavor.
Unexpectedly, Grape Jelly is one of the standout flavors in the set for me. It’s everything the 90’s GJ was, and I love it today as much as I did then.
Sprinkle Donut will probably be a hit with the right person. I’m never a good judge of these kinds of smackers; it falls under Sprinkle Cookie for me 😛
Last in the pack is Sour Apple, a good interpretation of its name. The sour is there but it isn’t overwhelming. For me, this and Grape Jelly are the stars of the show.
Then there is Ice Cream Sandwich, another early surprise! I definitely pick up its namesake, though perhaps leaning slightly more toward cookie.
Overall it’s an alright set, the excitement of which is dampened by the redone Cin Sug. With that out of mind, the quality of the balms themselves are as good as usual.
What do you guys think?
I can’t wait until I get mine in the mail. Cinnamon sugar even has a different color to it! I wish bonne bell would stick with the original formula. I feel like some of they’re products are leaning towards the weaker scent side. Some of my newer lipbalms from within the last year I notice are turning and the flavor isn’t as strong and as lasting as I remember. 🙁
I can agree as I feel like lately their flavors seem rushed and have lacked authenticity. A few have stood out but even some formulas, depending on the flavor, seem less moisturizing. The Cherry Chocolate they just put out for holiday was another disappointment. It was basically Cherry Cream Soda with a cocoa flavor added. Sigh. Hopefully this isn’t the beginning of something. I’ve never been repeatedly disappointed in Lip Smackers until lately.
Hey Joyce, definitely let us know what you think when you get them 🙂
I concur! This new ‘Cinnamon Sugar’ is a TOTAL FAIL! I was SO, INCREDIBLY, disappointed to say the least. To me it smells like a potpourri-ish almost stale chai scent/flavor. Just overall bad. Even if it was named something else, I still would not like this AT ALL. I’m not kidding when I say I was *going* to own stock in this flavor, but unfortunately this will be the only one I own.
Especially after waiting years, and after last years fiasco with it supposed to be under the Paul Frank line, I’m still in shock at how bad this flavor turned out. I hope the people at Bonne Bell read these and redeem theirselves. To me cinnamon sugar is Cinnamon Toast Crunch, churros or even elephant ears you get at the fair. I’ve lost ho
I concur! This new ‘Cinnamon Sugar’ is a TOTAL FAIL! I was SO, INCREDIBLY, disappointed to say the least. To me it smells like a potpourri-ish almost stale chai scent/flavor. Just overall bad. Even if it was named something else, I still would not like this AT ALL. I’m not kidding when I say I was *going* to own stock in this flavor, but unfortunately this will be the only one I own.
Especially after waiting years, and after last years fiasco with it supposed to be under the Paul Frank line, I’m still in shock at how bad this flavor turned out. I hope the people at Bonne Bell read these and redeem theirselves. To me cinnamon sugar is Cinnamon Toast Crunch, churros or even elephant ears you get at the fair. I’ve lost hope for this flavor now.
I do like the rest, however, I was hoping Sprinkle Donut would be a little stronger. It honestly reminds me of Yankee Candles retired Jelly Donut scent. I do smell a little hint of the Candy Confetti Lip Smacker in this too. I was hoping the Sour Apple would be like their old Green Apple Spritz Flip Gloss they used to make. That was thee best. Lastly, you’re right, Caramel Corn is different then flavors prior but I do like it quite a bit. It has a sweet, light salted caramel popcorn flavor.
Thanks for the interesting comments, I’ve enjoyed reading everything! Churro is a great description for how I remember the original Cin Sug.
Also you made me re-evaluate Sprinkle Donut and it’s growing on me a bit… 🙂
Cinnamon Sugar, what a huge fail! I’m so disappointed. Firstly, I’m from Canada and had to pay over $50.00 to get FREE shipping on the Lip Smacker website. I wanted the Cinnamon Sugar SO bad because I’ve been waiting since 1996 for it to come back. Pretty sad, huh? Ha! I even ordered two…however, they only sent me ONE and still charged me for the other one. I e-mailed Bonne Bell 3 times throughout a 2 week period about getting a free coupon or to take the charge off my credit card…and I still haven’t heard back from them.
Secondly, the new Cinnamon Sugar smells nothing like the original. The colour is off, I don’t like the tube design (what’s with the pink?)and the smell…ugh. It smells (to me) like stale brown sugar with a hint of maple. I don’t smell any Cinnamon in it at all! They should have named it the “Crap Stick”…because that’s what it is. I’m kind of glad they didn’t send me the other one. Keep it! Lol.
Last but not least, I’m sad that I spent $52.00 CAD on these crappy Lip Smackers. They def. don’t make them how they use to in the 90s and 2000s. A lot of the flavours that I ordered were either weak smelling, or sickly smelling. The Ice Cream Sandwich and Cherry Chocolate – bleh! Peppermint Cream, Orange Sherbet, Sour Grapes are very weak smelling. The Banana doesn’t even smell like Banana and the Cherry Cream Soda and Root Beet Float both are weak and smell awful. But these are just my opinions.
PS – this is my first time commenting. Thank you for posting an original Cinnamon Sugar. It brought back a lot of memories! I really want to find an original Cinnamon Sugar. I’ve been looking on eBay since Spring. No luck! 🙁 You don’t have an extra one, do you?
Happy Holidays!
Thanks for the comment 🙂
And, oh no, the ladies that work there are sweet so I think they must be swamped or something?! You should give them a call, try google voice if it’s long distance. Might be free.
The 90’s Cin Sugs do show up time to time on eBay, and they did earlier this year. So not all hope is lost. They have lost their scent though, after all these years.
I agree about some but some Lip Smackers have to be used for the flavor to break out. I feel like that after they’re sealed and dry from being poured during assembly, sometimes it seals the flavor in, until you use it.
I think Ice Cream Sandwich smells accurate. The cream breaks through the strong chocolate flavor after using it, I’ve noticed. Banana has been a long time favorite, still love it. It’s strong, just use it. The flavor is on point, too! Cherry Cream Soda couldn’t be more accurate. It’s dead on to me. Cherry Chocolate was a let down for sure, seems to me they mixed the Cherry Cream Soda with a weak cocoa sent for this. The original smells just like a cherry Tootsie Roll Pop. Root Beer Float has a plastic-y note as well, very odd since they do great root beer flavors originally (Barq’s).
I like your ” crap stick ” idea!!
All you ladies and guys are right some of their flavors are really going down hill!!
If Bonne and Bell people read this then here is some thing for you GET YOUR OLD SCIENTIST BACK or what ever you call just get them back!!!
i appreciate the honest review……i thought it was just me so im glad to know that something is really wrong with cinnamon sugar.
Well, I said in the first post about Cinnamon Sugar that this was my holy grail and I’d buy 100 if they sold it again. I was only half joking, lol.
I mean I don’t HATE this flavor, but it’s *not* Cinnamon Sugar. Selling it under a different name, like you said, would have been OK… I don’t think anyone would have connected it to the 90’s flavor, that’s for sure.
But, I bought one and that’s all I’m buying, for completionists sake. I never thought I could be so disappointed with a lip balm, but then again why shouldn’t I be? People get upset all the time when a beauty company changes ingredients, packaging, formula, etc.
Oh well.
PS: I wonder why Grape Jelly got the “90’s treatment” and Cin Sug (which was arguably the more in demand flavor) got screwed over?
That’s where I’m at with it. It could have been released with a different name. I don’t hate the flavor.
It’s almost like a cinnamon-ish flavor was developed and THEN given the Cin Sug name, rather than vice versa.
And it’s totally fair to be disappointed, in my opinion 🙂 There’s a lot of nostalgia built around this company.
As a 16 yrs old girl, I have asked Santa for this LS set for Christmas but after reading these reviews, I’m quite doubtful… I mean I have never smelled any of the 90’s scent so I hope I will like this new set since I can’t really compare them to their old version. I must agree though that I feel that LS has went a little bit downhill (at least for me)! Ever since they changed the packaging (I know I always blame it on the logo!), lip smackers are just different. I mean I still use the chapstick form but now I am gravitating more toward the liquid LS! They’re like my new favorites! 😀
Perfect, since you don’t know the 90’s scents you *need* to let us know what you think! 😀 It’s possible you’ll have a totally different opinion from most people!
I’m with you Emily I’m eleven so I can’t really compare them ether but my aunt was a collector so she has one and they do not have the same sent!!
Don’t even get me started, haha :/ It smells plastic-y.
Also wtf, there was a third Coconut Cake? What’s that middle one??
Yup! In the Desserts trio along with Strawberry Cheesecake & Chocolate Mousse. Kind of hard to find but it’s out there.
Here’s the thing with cosmetic companies; they aren’t just worried about capturing their already captured audience. (They did that years ago, look at us now, we’re still using them) They’re also trying to get the younger consumers because they’re possible life long customers. They need to get their attention while keeping us happy. Kids nowadays were exposed to Lotta Luv’s candle wax, ‘Made in China’ lip balms with American brands slapped on the label with generic scents that have no resemblance to the brand but the actual label on the tube. So naturally the market mixes these two brands together and people start thinking everything is Lip Smackers. The minute someone says they have a Reese’s ‘Lip Smacker’ I automatically lose interest. I just hope Lip Smacker didn’t cave and decide that quality control wasn’t a concern since it’s the last thing on their competitors minds. Other than Lotta Luv there’s Baby Lips and EOS. I don’t get the first and the later is mainly based on packaging because neither are groundbreaking. I hope Lip Smacker still spearheads the competition with what made them last for the last 40 years. I hate to say this but I wouldn’t mind less Lip Smacker flavors each release if that means better, authentic quality. Nothing will ever compare to a Lip Smacker. They need to get this Cinnamon Sugar flavor right as it hasn’t even hit the market yet and people are made (including myself)
I can’t wait to try the novelties and hope I’m not let down. I really looking forward to EACH one, including Red Licorice. They could easily (and I hope they don’t) use their candied strawberry flavors. I hope I open it and think Twizzler automatically. I was pretty happy with the Orange Juice flavor, it was on point. Lets hope…
One other point I wanted to make is to not expect the same packaging as the original. They’re going to make it different to market it to new people ( believe it or not NOT everyone nows what a Lip Smacker is, I feel bad for them too). Also with technology advancements flavors CAN be improved, but I myself can’t understand why they made the new Cinnamon Sugar smell this horrid and off. Clearly this wasn’t their priority. That being said they have ruined some originals, mainly Red Raspberry. The new one is too sweet and artificial smelling. My sister used to use it religiously for years, but since has moved on. Imagine if they could turn the Cinnamon Sugar flavor around quick. With the new web store, it can’t take that much to make a new batch and sell it on there.
I’m with you Emily I’m eleven so I can’t really compare them ether but my aunt was a collector so she has one and they do not have the same sent!!
Hey but m I’m eleven and I have 3 eos but by far I like LS a lot better but I still use them
Another really insightful comment.
“The minute someone says they have a Reese’s ‘Lip Smacker’ I automatically lose interest.”
This cracked me up so hard, nothing truer has ever been written 🙂
Lotta Luv and other junk dollar-store brands being so prevalent today has really dampened the market (I speak from a consumer perspective, obviously).
I’ve seen rows and rows of the stuff at every store, with the only alternative being expensive/”mature” products like Burt’s Bees.
LS really has something special with the cost/quality line they’ve been able to walk for so many years.
I’m so glad to find someone who hates Lotta Luv as much as I do :). And I believe even they went down in quality. I bought some in 2003 or 2004 that were like mixed drink type flavors and they actually smelled really good. Yeah, as an actual moisturizing lip balm they sucked, but the scents were great. I remember they were made in Taiwan and not China at the time which I always found to be a bit weird. Anyway, I’d take a not up to par Lip Smacker anyday over LottaLuv’s junk, but that’s still no excuse for Lip Smackers to start slacking.
Oh no! I thought maybe I had a defective Cinnamon Sugar – wishful thinking! I am enjoying Coconut Cake again [had no idea it was available in another set…oops].
Perhaps M above is right and they can rectify this before store-wide release.
“M” I agree with you. I would rather have less Lip Smackers in a year in order to get fewer, yet better quality one’s. Bonne Bell is way over their head with all these Disney, Paul Frank, Soda, Original, Holiday, Easter, Fall and random sets. And there you have it, the Disney, Paul Frank, Girl Scouts Cookies, ect are the new, fresh and possibly exiting for the newer generation. Bonne Bell needs to balance the new market, and the OLD (80s-90s-2000s) because without us, they wouldn’t be at year 40 right now.
I personally buy Lip Smackers for nostalgia purposes only. I just turned 26 and my taste for products are more sophisticated now, but the little girl inside of me who got Lip Smackers every Christmas in my stocking and put Lip Smackers in my pencil cases in public school makes me want to buy them for warm memories sake. I don’t buy the Disney one’s, ect because I feel too mature to be rocking them (no offence to you older ladies who enjoy them) – there’s nothing wrong with classic Disney…I also think their sell outs and not a true Lip Smacker. However, I saw all of the Disney Collection while “Santa” was doing his wrapping and I’m the only one who likes LS, so I guess I will be getting them anyway. Ha! Oh well…I hope they smell good! But shhh, don’t tell him that I saw. 😉
Last Holiday, Lip Smacker had a Butter Cream Frosting and a Sprinkle Cookie. And what did they give us for 2013? Butter Cream Frosting and Sprinkle Cookie. Why do back-to-back of the same flavours? They also did a Sugar Plum Ice Cream and Candy Cane Cake….this year we just got a plain Sugar Plum and plain Candy Cane (which I like the plain one’s way better anyway). I thought it was very lazy of them to repeat back-to-back flavours when they could have focused on Cinnamon Sugar or newer Holiday flavs. I do like the other Holiday sets for this year, so I can’t complain too much about them. And what’s up with 2 Coconut Cakes? There is no reason to make 2 of them in a short amount of time.
Also, with it being their 40th year and them promising “vintage” flavours coming back, it was rather disappointing. I wanted to see those gem caps come back, and Blueberry, Peach, the ORIGINAL Cinnamon Sugar, Golden Pear – you know, rare one’s that we haven’t seen in a LONG time.
Bah Humbug! Maybe I should just grow up and stick to my higher end products.
You have some good thoughts.
Yeah, LS absolutely can have (and has had) the sophisticated quality you mentioned. The “fun” designs are deceiving–they are a beacon in a sea of junk products, as you probably agree. So I am sure there will be a return to quality.
I’m OK with some missteps if overall they’re consistent otherwise.
And I too would love to see a return to the flashier stuff like gem caps. I’m -still- mourning the GLITTER labels! I don’t mean metallic or shimmer, but straight up cosmic glitter, ha. But the rebranding has definitely taken a more mature turn, so those days might be over.
I, myself, too love high end beauty. I have drawers full of MAC, Bobbi Brown, bareMinerals, NARS, etc. but will always have a love for Bonne Bell products. The minute I see new products at the beginning of the year or new collections through out the seasons, I buy EVERY new product- no joke! I have never treated any other ‘drugstore’ brand the same. I love walking up to their display and seeing something new! If I love the product I’ll buy multiples. They’re something so unique about the brand that others don’t see- and I don’t get why! It’s still family owned in a sea of sell-out cosmetic companies, and still make a majority of products in the USA. My opinion is you can make any makeup looking professional if you know what your doing. Good brushes help too! Anyway- I think most of their quality throughout their different branded Lip Smackers are the same, not cheaper. If anything they put more focus on the branded Smackers than anything. I agree with your holiday comment, they were repetitive this year, but atleast they chose good flavors! I love Buttercream Frosting and any cookie flavor they do. They do this with Easter every year: have basically the same flavors with a different name and sometimes throw a new one in there. Hopefully the dont adopt this habit for the Christmas Smackers. I’d love to see Cotton Candy Cake, Merry Cherry Candy Cane and 70’s Butter Rum next year. I’m not loving the Candy Cane they’ve done the last couple years. It’s very weak for a mint flavor. Their the ones who got me into loving minty tingly-ness long before Burt’s Bee’s was prevelant. Candy Cane 1998 and 2005 is the formula I love. Anyway- Can’t wait to see all the new 2014 products pop up in stores. And PLEASE, Bonne Bell, fix this Cinnamon Sugar flavor!!!
I have really enjoyed reading all of these comments and found myself nodding along to a lot of what was said.
Obviously it’d be presumptuous of me to assume I know the inner-workings of a multi-national company, so take this with a grain of salt. Or rather, if anyone at Bonne Bell is reading this, this is how it feels looking at the company as a long-time fan. I’ve stuck with the product since the 70’s so forgive me if the following seems a little too ‘serious’. But I love the product and don’t want to see it fizzle out like everything else has.
I didn’t mind the logo change a few years back because as a 70’s kid, it reminds me of the original Smackers. I’m sure that was the intention, though at the same time it came across a bit like an identity crisis of sorts…..
This, combined with the absolute desert of availability across the country (unless you live in a tight radius near Bonne Bell headquarters), tells me that there is some internal strife about what to do next. Why are Lip Smackers so hard to find now? Why are they losing shelf space? It’s pretty clear…
Lotta Luv (thanks for mentioning their company name, I had no clue what to call that garbage) has clearly dominated the kid’s sector for a long time now. It’s in department stores, dollar stores, GROCERY STORES when I’m checking out……ugh! The quality is horrendous and they abuse their branding partnerships so terribly. I love Disney, but seeing Smackers partner with them (and thus associating themselves with Lotta Luv) made me so sad. It’s becoming hard to distinguish. And if that’s the case, why wouldn’t the cheaper junk product get more shelf space in a store? LS might be finding themselves pushed out of the very market they created.
I just beg Bonne Bell to keep making Smackers in the US, and to stay true to their roots! I will gladly buy online if that is what it takes. Shopping online is the bee’s knees anyway 🙂 I too would take less mediocre flavors in favor of really well done classic flavors!
Oh, and I know this will never happen, but please bring back the etched tubes. And if those are too expensive, bring back the early 90’s plastic labeling. They were much better than the stickers you use today.
I received my lipsmackers today! I ordered the rest of the holiday ones and the ones from the cinnamon sugar pack. Sadly, I’ve never been more disappointed. 🙁 ice cream sandwich reminds me of how chocolate milk used to smell (or something close to it) cherry chocolate is very weak (I was looking forward to this one) cinnamon sugar is a HUGE fail. BB should not be trying to catch the younger audience with this since we from the 90’s requested it for years! Huge fail! Your right sour apple, and grape jelly are the stars and by far the only two I’m probably going to keep. 🙁
Cherry chocolate IS weak! The Paul Frank chocolate cherry is 100 times better. Think of it as a cherry tootsie pop flavor! I hate cinammon sugar. I just ordered grape jelly and I’m looking forward to it. :)!
I finally figured out what cinnamon sugar smells like! If anyone remembers, it reminds me of homespun cinnabun that came out during the holidays a few years back! Gotta be the same formula!
To me, the new Cinnamon Sugar smells like a more potpourri PF Bunny Girl’s Carrot Cake, but a little more stale, which I didn’t like in the first place. I know they can do a lot better at a carrot cake flavor than that. Also I was hoping it WOULDN’T smell like the Homespun Cinnabun because that, too, was off. It smelled like a pungent spiced chocolate flavor to me. Apparently someone at BB needs help figuring out what cinnamon sugar smells like and also a cinnamon bun, too. It can’t be hard at all, they’ve done it before! I’ve seen cinnamon sugar flavors trending a lot lately in beverage and food items.
I found your site by looking for reviews on this.
I got a bunch of these as a stocking gift from my boyfriend on Christmas Eve; unlike most people here, I haven’t used the product since the 90’s! I was excited because I recall Cinnamon Sugar, Grape Jelly, Peanut Butter, Star Fruit, Chocolate etc., very fondly.
The product is different now. It’s usable, and cute, but the smells are all wrong. It’s a shame because, when I saw that they were still being made, I probably would have began using them again.
You are right though, Grape Jelly is still good!
Just two cents from someone like me.
Merry Christmas and cool web-site!
I managed to get this recently. For some reason my party pack came with strawberry shortcake instead of ice cream sandwich…. weird. I really like this party pack. I seem to detect a fruity scent along with a donut scent with the sprinkle donut one. It almost smells like strawberry starfruit mixed with cake. Cherry cobbler has a more cherry scent to me than the Mickey Mouse one. Sour apple smells like candy, and grape jelly smels like it’s name. The caramel corn has a more buttery scent, and the coconut cake smells okay. The strawberry shortcake smells like the strawberry cupcake Easter Lip Smacker that came out YEARS ago!
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My favorite Bonne Bell lip smacker flavor has always been Dr. Pepper. I have used it for years and years, ever since I was 13 and it came in a big fat tube. : )
I’m really liking the cherry cobbler lately! I found a single Mickey mouse cherry cobbler at Walgreens for $1 so that was cool.
My strawberry shortcake Lip Smacker’s scent has faded. It barely has a scent anymore, which is a disappointment.
Wow, Faded that quick? I’m a bit alarmed now …I got over 100 backups of various Smackers. Hope they retain their scent. I recently got Strawberry Shortcake, Dulce de Luche and Ice Cream Cake trio and the Ice Cream Cake is yummy. I been using Tropical Punch a lot lately which is weird cuz I hate Fruit Punch. But this one is yummy.
I have a lot of lip smackers and hope mine retain their scent years from now too! I have 3 back ups of Worry Bears Honey Sweet which is one of my top Five favorite flavors. I’m obsessed with anything honey. 🙂
I just ordered the grape jelly on Ebay! Its a 90s flavor so it had to be mine! lol
I got Grape Jelly last month. Its sooo good!