Labello flowers

Spring is coming and random flowers catch my eye here and there. It’s time for another art project, and believe it or not, it’s been 17 years in making!

Since young age, I tend to collect series of things. I used to travel from school by train and got a little pocket money to buy myself a snack. I bought a balloon every day to make a nice birthday party. I tried every ice cream flavor from my favorite place. The collection mania or “You gotta catch them all” empowered me to buy teenage magazines and fairytale CDs at the same time.

One of my long-term addictions started in 2007. I have always loved lip balms from Labello. Lovely smells and tastes, lovely colors. Once I started traveling abroad with my friend Nina, I discovered that different countries sell different Labello flavors! Ever since then, I paid visits to random cosmetic stores all over the world. It still works, a new Labello is one of my favorite souvenirs. Some flavors only exist in certain countries and for a short amount of time. Maybe it reminds me of the evanescence of life, but deep down it just amazes me how many flavors they could come up with.

Let’s do some statistics now:

• 37
  Labello sticks/17 years (and many more partially eaten ones awaiting graceful consumption)
• 7
  Lip balms from other brands/17 years
• 2.5 lip balms/year
  Average weight 4.8 g –> 212.2 g of lip balms consumed. Considering that the major ingredient is fat, this would be a great thing to have on a desert island!

I kept the lids, all this time, waiting for an artistic idea, sometimes sorting my collection by colors for the sake of pleasure. No big project idea popped up, so I changed the strategy and opted for something simple. From flavors to flowers… let Labellos come alive!