The inspiration for Lanolips doesn’t hail from the make-up studios of the rich and famous or just a science lab, it comes from a humble sheep farm in South Australia where Lanolips creator Kirsten Carriol spent her childhood holidays.

Lanolin is a completely natural substance found in freshly shorn sheep’s wool, and it was in the farm shed that Kirsten loved to spend her summer holidays. Couple that with her DNA scientist father’s* – Professor Leigh Burgoyne – passion for using natural ingredients that really work and you have the foundation for Kirsten’s love of lanolin, nature’s wonder moisturiser, and ultimately – Lanolips.

Kirsten wanted something more than the myriad of lip glosses and balms out there that just didn't do the job. So, she set out to create an ultra-pure lip ointment, one that gave the best moisturisation available and that had a lush, glossy finish whilst remaining natural – something that didn’t exist in the cosmetics world. She enlisted the help of her father, and a brilliant cosmetic Pharmacist, Lester Blou, to help her dream become a reality. Kirsten worked to develop her perfect formula – one that was nourishing, moisturising, naturally glossy, totally pure and completely natural.

So Lanolips grew from a simple idea into a labour of love for over six years; from its humble beginnings on Kirsten’s grandparents farm to the fabulous must-have for your make-up bag it is today. Kirsten found out that lanolin was indeed the greatest moisturiser but the cosmetic industry usually blended it with many other items. This was because, in its raw format, it smelt bad, looked ugly, melted too easily and was sticky and gooey to use. And she also worked out pretty quickly that to refine it to the highest levels was also very expensive. Her house got covered in sample pots; the ovens and fridges were filled with testings of samples until she found a lab that could properly refine lanolin from raw to clean, to odourless, to colourless, to Medical Grade and then ultimately to Ultra Medical Grade purity. After that the beauty junkie in Kirsten pestered and prodded until she created her perfect “I want to wear that” formula. A formula that was comfortable to wear, made her lips feel great and made of nothing other than completely natural, Ultra Medical Grade lanolin.

At this point she kicked off her expensive high heels and popped open a bottle of South Australian Black Sparkling Shiraz as Lanolips, her third child, was born.

*Kirsten’s father is a Professor of Genetics and a molecular scientist based in Adelaide, South Australia. He holds and co-holds over 12 patents and has been published more than 66 times. He’s been awarded ‘South Australian of the Year’ for his work in science. When he told her that the secret to moisturisation laid in the structural format of lanolin – she listened.