Author

Hilary Baumann

November 18, 2013

Mox Botanicals Bath Milk ingredients

I emailed Mox Botanicals for the ingredients and got the list for all of the bath milks! I figured I would post them all for anyone who has allergies and/or is curious.:)

INGREDIENTS:

Mox Botanicals Jasmine Petal Milk Bath – Organic Whole Dry Milk Powder, Sodium Bicarbonate, Oryza (Rice) Powder, Sodium Chloride, Jasmine Officinale (Flowers), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Fractionated Coconut Oil), Jasminum Grandiflorum, Cananga Ordorata (Ylang Ylang Essential Oil), Citrus Sinensis (Orange Essential Oil)
Rated a 1 with the cosmetics database! Yay!

Mox Botanicals Calendula & Oatmeal Bath Milk – Organic Whole Dry Milk Powder, Oat Flour, Sodium Bicarbonate, Sodium Chloride, Oryza (Rice) Powder, Calendula Officinalis Flowers, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Fractionated Coconut Oil), Calendula Officinalis Extract
Even better – a ZERO with the cosmetics database!!

Mox Botanicals Coconut & Vanilla Bean Bath Milk – Organic Whole Dry Milk Powder, Sodium Bicarbonate, Oryza (Rice) Powder, Sodium Chloride, cocos nucifera (coconut) milk powder, cocos nucifera (coconut powder), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Fractionated Coconut Oil), Vanilla Planifolia (Vanilla Absolute), Vanilla Planifolia Bean, Maltodextrin (Natural Source), Casein
Another ZERO with the cosmetics database! Remember, lower is better and zero is the lowest possible!

Mox Botanicals Rose Petal Bath Milk – Organic Whole Dry Milk Powder, Sodium Bicarbonate, Oryza (Rice) Powder, Sodium Chloride, Rose Centifolla (Flowers), Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride (Fractionated Coconut Oil), Rosa Centifolla (Absolute), Cananga Odorata (Ylang Ylang Essential Oil), Vanilla Planifolia (Vanilla Absolute)
And another 1 from the cosmetics database!

So excellent product when it comes to the ingredients!

November 17, 2013

Nailtini champagne swatch nail polish

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish

Nailtini champagne swatch nail polish video (better than photos even if you mute it!)

Nailtini champagne swatch nail polish

November 17, 2013

Color Club Baldwin Blues swatch

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish, Subscription boxes

I’ve taken Color Club “Baldwin Blues” swatch photos and videos and linked them below.

Color Club Baldwin Blues swatch nail polish video below:

Color Club in “Baldwin Blues” is listed as “a sophisticated not-quite-navy blue” but I think it has just enough of a touch of green to call it a “sophisticated deep deep teal” that I think is perfect for fall and winter. It is a color with a lot of depth to it from its glossy sheen to its creamy, no frost, no frills, no nonsense bold color. And it is BOLD – I love it. Somehow despite the unusualness of this shade, I think it will go with plenty of fall outfits.

You absolutely need to wear a base polish with this nail polish. I painted a couple of nails really quickly when it first came in and even in the couple of hours I had it on without a base coat, it looked like it had stained my nail a bit. And a top coat would also be a good idea because several of my nails have wear marks on them already because I was lazy last night and just didn’t want to wait one more round of drying time.

I must admit … I’ve been watching “Pretty Little Liars” lately and Color Club’s Baldwin Blues share reminds me of a color that the character Aria might wear (I should go back and screen capture nail polishes I like from that show … or is that a little too weird and obsessive?) 🙂

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November 16, 2013

@Birchbox unboxing and reviews November 2013 #moregood

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Beauty & Skin, Hair, Makeup / Cosmetics, Nail Polish, Subscription boxes

Mox Botanicals Bath Milk in Vanilla and Coconut – “All Mox Botanicals products contain no parabens, sulfates, chemical preservatives, synthetic fragrances or dyes.” YES!!! So excited. I’ll list out the ingredients for the Bath Milk for those who have strange allergies, since I couldn’t find that info online but the company’s philosophy rocks! Ok … not on the product packaging either so I’ll have to email the company… More than likely these would rate a 1 … but that’s just guessing! 🙂

Ahmad Teas Assorted Teas – ok it’s tea, I’m good, not wowed but I suspect the quality will be good on these (though coffee would win though if you pit in a fight to the death against each other.) English Tea No. 1, Raspberry Indulgence, and Jasmine Romance. Probably not going to review these here late. 🙂

Chella Highlighter Pencil in Ivory Lace – I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this. I got this in one of my ipsy bags back in June and I’m actually running low on this and needed to reorder. It’s a great multitasker. It’s a concealer, it’s a light highlighter, it blends well AND it’s super healthy!!! When I saw this was a possible product in this month’s box I got super excited … not only at the possibility of getting one in my box but I was hoping that at the very least I could snap a few more up with the free shipping that typically accompanies products included in a specific month. It has lasted about 4 months which is not bad for a multitasking product I use a LOT. I’ll be ordering more of these!! See my Chella Highlighter Pencil Ivory Lace swatch and review here as well as the EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. cosmetics database review (it’s a 2!)

Miss Jessie’s® Original Leave-In Condish – the only major negative with this is the fragrance… pretty good on the ingredient list otherwise. It still ends up a 4 with the cosmetic database … synthetic frangrance really takes it’s toll folks! (And I’m not just going on what I’m told, reducing the number of synthetic fragrances in my life has been one of MANY factors in reducing my allergies.) I may give this a try still as long as it doesn’t make my nose immediately rebel (there are some that are more intolerable than others… heck I don’t even do well personally with some natural florals.)

Nope nope – Miss Jessie, the scent killed this one for me. Tim gaged and coughed when I walked into the room and said I smelled like an old lady and I thought it smelled like VERY strong laundry. I started to feel like I wanted to get away from the scent after about 15 minutes but I couldn’t because it was ON my head so there was no getting away. I ended up drying my hair just to see if heat would help remove some of the scent and it didn’t. It felt like if I had let it air dry I would have had amazing curls though. But the overpowering scent led to me washing my hair three times and still smelled like it but at least it was more tolerable. If they got rid of the scent I would try it again.

Allergies and synthetic fragrance toxicity aside, if I wanted to wear a perfume of my choosing, this product would obliterate that as well. Why do companies feel the need to so much scent in everything? I know that scent is tied to emotion and can make some products more desirable but there’s really a limit how far you should take that.

And please please please … if you’re going to tout natural, paraben free etc. maybe think about the scent being natural as well please! SO close on this product!

Color Club® Harlem Lights Collection in Baldwin Blues – I don’t think I’ve met any Color Club nail polish that I didn’t like. This collection has a few standout colors. The Baldwin Blues is one that was my top pick and Sugar Rays is an interesting subtle holographic shade that looks like it will change based on the angle you look at it (I might go back and buy this one.) The Baldwin Blues looks a little bit more blue online but in person it’s a little more teal. Like a perfect deep deep creamy teal perfect for fall and winter. I’m already in love with this one! Swatch video coming soon.

So my top pics from the November 2013 Birchbox are …

the Chella Highlighter Pencil in Ivory Lace and the Color Club nail polish in Baldwin Blues. I think I may like the bath milk as well but I’m not big on taking a lot of baths.

Still not signed up for Birchbox?

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Did you get one of the Color Club nail polishes?
Do you like the color? Have a photo to share?

Still not signed up for Birchbox? 😀
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November 15, 2013

Chella Highlighter Pencil ivory lace swatch & review

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Subscription boxes

The Chella Highlighter Pencil, swatch photos in “ivory lace” below, is the epitome of an incredibly useful multitasker and now a makeup staple for me.

Chella says that there are over 10 different uses for their Highlighter Pencil but summarized, the 3 main basics of what the Chella Highlighter Pencil can do are:

highlight and brighten
contour
light concealer

The Chella Highlighter Pencil comes in only three shades: ivory lace, latte and cinnamon – cinnamon is not sold on Birchbox’s site at the moment. With the limitations on shades, it may not double as a concealer for everyone but it is an excellent highlighter and contouring tool that blends well and will absolutely be a great addition to most people’s makeup collection. The fact that it blends well makes it very natural looking.

Watch the video below to see a better swatch and how the it blends:

I received my first Chella Highlighter Pencil in Ivory Lace back in my June 2013 Ipsy Glambag and have been using it daily ever since. When I found out I was receiving another in my Birchbox for November, it just made me realize that it was now a staple for me. One that I had already been thinking about re-purchasing before I received this latest sample and will probably be ordering a backup of. Oh and 1.4grams is the sample that they sent which IS a full size product.

It rates a healthy 2 with EWG’s Cosmetic Database. There are no added fragrances, no parabens, no cones. Basically there’s nothing not to love here! And if you’re a member with Birchbox, you can get free shipping on this product right now. And if you’re not a Birchbox subscriber and are interested in subscribing, please help out this blog by signing up below! 😉

Sign up for Birchbox and shop for this product
(with free shipping and earn birchbox points)!
http://birchbox.com?raf=3l3e7
{ yes it’s an affiliate link, I get 50 points which equals $5 credit – share the love! }

Or you can buy it from Chella directly here
(but you’ll pay about $7 shipping and don’t earn Birchbox points.)
http://chella.com/products/item/lace_highlighter_pencil
🙂 choices, choices

November 15, 2013

Ipsy glambag unboxing and reviews November 2013

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Beauty & Skin, Hair, Makeup / Cosmetics, Nail Polish, Subscription boxes

em michelle phan – pillow plush cushiony lip balm in vanilla – the color is almost non-existent. No cones or parabens – yay! fragrance, boooo. If they had left out the frangrance this would likely have rated a lot better than a 4 with the EWG cosmetics database.

Be a Bombshell Lip Crayon in “hot damn” – this is a cherry red shade. No cones or fragrances, yay! Parabens though, booo. This ranks a 5 with the cosmetics database.

Nailtini Straight Up Color Nail Lacquer in Champagne – this is a coppery color in the bottle but does actually look more like “champagne” when applied. And as I’ve established before – Nailtini is three free so all good here!

Pixi Beauty Bronzer – cones … I can’t use this personally (cones break me out without fail) but otherwise this is super healthy. It’s a 2 with the cosmetics database. Yay for healthy! Bad that I can’t use it. :/

Starlooks Gem Eye Pencil in Topaz – this is a silver eyeliner. No cones or fragrance … but parabens. It is another 5 with the cosmetics database. Remember, lower is better! The report actually calls out carbon black as the worst ingredient. Petrolatum and aluminum powder were also concerns but ranked 4s as ingredients.

TRESemmé® TRES Two Extra Hold Hairspray Travel Size – no cones or parabens but fragrance. :/ This ranks a whopping 7 though!! HORRIBLE health-wise. There were also two other reports for this so they apparently have changed the ingredients several times – none are healthy. Report 1 & report 2.

Swatches:

So this month’s Ipsy glambag is a bit of a bust for me…

The best items for me in the November 2013 ipsy glambag are the nailtini nailpolish and … well that’s about it. I’ll try the two lip products because they don’t have cones but they are a little less healthy than I would like. I also wish I could try the pixi bronzer because it IS healthy BUT it has cones in it. Oh and I do like the bag!

wish I had received …
Cailyn Built-In Sponge Tip Mineral Eye Shadow in Champagne! No cones and it’s super healthy. It ranks a meer 1 with the cosmetics database!

Sign up for Ipsy:

http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051sec1kqq5g8p
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