Boston Globe Press Feature

For the love of lip balm

By Jill Radsken, BOSTON GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

Moroccan Magic is the product of two of Kristina Tsipouras’s loves: start-up companies and lip balm.

“I’m a self proclaimed lip balm addict,” said the Milton-based entrepreneur, who launched the organic argan oil-infused product this month.

Tsipouras, whose first success came in April 2014 when she co-founded Zoos Greek iced tea, turned her efforts to what she calls “magical liquid gold” after a friend brought a bottle of argan oil back from Morocco this year.

The oil, named for the tree fruit and traditionally produced by hand, has become popular in hair care products for its smoothing, moisturizing properties. The 30-year-old Tsipouras decided to experiment with it on skin and believes she has found lip-obsession perfection.

“I was shocked,” she said. “No one’s hit the market with argan oil lip balm.”

Moroccan Magic comes in a eucalyptus peppermint scent; unscented, rose, and lemon thyme versions are in development. Manufactured in Iowa, it sells for $3.99 at Christine’s Day Spa in Newton, The Gift Garden in Milton, and online (www.moroccan

magicbeauty.com), and will roll out at select Whole Foods stores in the coming months. Tsipouras said there is a glut of lip balm on the market, but believes the organic labeling will set the product apart.

“If you’re eating organic, you should be wearing organic,” she said.

A Top 15 finalist in the MassChallenge class of 2015 for Zoos, which now sells in 600 stores nationwide, Tsipouras recommended using the balm twice a day. But she also recalled her obsession with Chapstick as a child.

“My mom had to stop buying it for me. She had to wean me off,” she said.

Jill Radsken can be reached at jill.radsken@gmail.com