Beauty & Skin

November 17, 2013

Color Club Baldwin Blues swatch

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?) 🙂

Still not signed up for Birchbox?
http://birchbox.com?raf=3l3e7
{ yes it’s an affiliate link, I get 50 points which equals $5 credit – share the love! }

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?

http://birchbox.com?raf=3l3e7
{ yes it’s an affiliate link, I get 50 points which equals $5 credit – share the love! }

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? 😀
http://birchbox.com?raf=3l3e7
{ yes it’s an affiliate link, I get 50 points which equals $5 credit – share the love! }

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
{affiliate link – I get 250 points which points equal products but it’s still a little unclear how many points to the dollar}

October 31, 2013

Reviews Influenster Voxbox #RoseVoxBox

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Clothing, Makeup / Cosmetics, Nail Polish, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

I just received my first Influenster Voxbox in the mail. It’s the “RoseVoxBox” and it’s filled with an assortment of items I’ll be reviewing below. But first…

“I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.”

But here’s the deal. I ALWAYS believe in reviewing authentically and not based on the fact that I was given something for free. I pretend that I paid for it or I’m deciding on whether I would be buying more. In some cases it will be reviewing ingredients to determine if I even want that on my skin or in my body. If you read this blog regularly, you also already know that I tend to check ingredients A LOT.

In this Influenster Voxbox RoseVoxBox:

Rimmel London Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara
Dr. Scholl’s For Her Cozy Cushions
belVita crunchy Breakfast Biscuits
Kiss Gradation Polishes
Lindt LINDOR Milk Chocolate Truffles
Vitabath Hydrating Lotion

Reviews:

Rimmel London Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara (MSRP $5.99) Well first things first…. what they sent me is not waterproof and you know that what I wear daily is waterproof. It’s the one and only product that I sacrifice the healthy quest on for the tradeoff of being waterproof. And they do not appear to make the “Glam Retro” in a waterproof mascara. They do have a “Scandaleyes Waterproof” but the brush shape is different and brush shape is VERY important with a mascara. I’m fairly certain that the ingredients for this mascara are the same as several of their other mascaras. A custom report with the cosmetic database gives this a 5. For mascara that isn’t waterproof that’s a bit on the high and unhealthy side here. So since it’s raining out and this isn’t waterproof mascara, I’ll just be reviewing this on the brush and initial application. It’s ok but I’m not wowed.

If I’m going to wear a non-waterproof mascara it would probably be either the Physicians Formula organicwear because it’s a super healthy 1 with the cosmetics database and still makes my lashes look good or I would go with the Dior Diorshow Extase mascara because the brush shape does amazing things to my lashes. For reference, what I’m wearing 90% of the time at the moment is the Dior Diorshow Waterproof Mascara (if they had the “Extase” in waterproof, the shape of that wand is better.)

Dr. Scholl’s For Her Cozy Cushions (MSRP $12.49) These are not going to replace the real shearling insoles in my uggs (the real shearling insoles cost $15 a pair for comparison and they are REAL shearling) but these might be suited better for non-ugg shoes. I would prefer real shearling because shearling has natural moisture and oder wicking properties. These only claim to help keep feet warm and dry so I’m not sure how they will smell over time. I trimmed them down to a size 8 (I wear typically an 8.5) and I’m throwing them in some other boots I own and we’ll see how I like them after a week. Oh wait … now I remember why I haven’t bothered buying fuzzy insoles for my other shoes. Last time I tried to put a pair into any of my other shoes, they all seem too narrow for this kind of insole. It says that they will work in dress boots … I did manage to cram them in but then the shoes were too tight and that was without a pair of socks. Ballet flats? At least with mine that was also a no-go. Unless you do a LOT of extra cutting dress shoes don’t seem reasonable (maybe on a wide width shoe they would work? Maybe?) But over all I think you need a pair of shoes that are loose or maybe even a half size too large for your foot in order to comfortably use these fuzzy insoles because they are thick. :/

belVita crunchy Breakfast Biscuits (MSRP $3.69 for a box of 5 packats of 4 biscuits) These are pretend healthy. Ok fine, they’ve tried here: B-vitamins, and whole grains and No HFCS and 230 calories. They are better than what most Americans call breakfast. But to me this is still a horrible breakfast choice. Personally I need some proteins and fats to start my day right. This is mostly grains and sugars. I also just don’t eat a lot of grains that aren’t accompanied by meat or eggs anymore. Proteins and fats to help even out my starches / grains. Some of this may be a bit of me personally so if you are looking something to replace cereal with, this is going to be SO much better than that. It is crumbly or at least the one I received was so I’m not sure that this is a “eat while driving” food. I received the blueberry and it does smell intensely of blueberry and the flavor is a bit like blueberry muffin meets a cookie. Tasty sure … will I be buying these anytime soon personally? No.

Kiss Gradation Polishes (MSRP $6.99) I think this is 3-free. I had three different polishes to read the ingredients on since this doesn’t note that it’s 3-free on their website or anywhere. Three free means no: dibutyl phthalate, toluene, or formaldehyde. I received “Film Noir” though my base polish is more a silver than a white as shown on their site and in other pictures. Just in case the product number on my box is 58085 MGE01. This reminds me of the reverse of my nails that I did last year for halloween. I followed their instructions and applied step 3 polish before step 2 polish was dry and ended up with a smudged nail that wasn’t a gradient. I’ll try again when I have more time and not follow the directions as exactly. Tip: be sure to get all of the nail polishes out of the package’s plastic tray before you start – if you’re doing all of your nails you might smudge the first coat trying to get to the rest out. For $7, if you like all of the colors, this is still a decent deal on nail polishes.

Lindt LINDOR Milk Chocolate Truffles ok it’s Lindt and it’s chocolate. I know it’s not super healthy but also not super bad. I’m not going to scrutinize the ingredients on this one (though I prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate.) Ate it first thing. It was tasty. That is all.

Vitabath Hydrating Lotion IN BLOOM™ Asian Orchid & Coconut (MSRP $7.99) – We are off to a good start because it’s free from parabens, propylene glycol, phthalates, sulfates, mineral oil, and synthetic color. BUT then we kinda fail miserably on the overwhelming synthetic fragrance. Overall looks like healthy ingredients and when I have some time I’ll type them all up (couldn’t find the ingredient list pre-typed online) and run a cosmetic database report. Even if I’m wrong on the scent being synthetic (not likely) it the scent was still overwhelming for me. I put the lotion on one arm and immediately went to wash it off. … and it still smells like I have it on. And it’s not even that pleasant – there are some synthetic scents that are still nice smelling, but to me this smells like cheap cologne. Keep in mind that I’ve switched to all natural scents (no not hippie scents like patchouli, I dislike that too even though it’s tolerable and doesn’t give me a headache) and I even use unscented laundry detergent. Now that I’ve showered, I have to note that I can still smell it!!! I scrubbed down my arms and I used multiple kinds of soaps! I even used some harsh soap I keep on hand for when the natural stuff isn’t cutting it and I can still smell it – ugh!!!!!! I even slathered my arms in coconut oil in case it was an issue with the scent needing an oil solvent and scrubbed down with soap again – that helped the most but I can STILL smell it!! What a MISTAKE!!! Ugh. Do NOT I repeat DO NOT apply this to yourself if you do not like the scent!!!! Hours later and I’m still regretting that I put this on my arms simply because of the scent. Headache. This scent = epic fail.

Review of Influenster itself:

Honestly for the time investment I’m not entirely sure I want to participate in future Influenster boxes. While it was fun to get a big box of stuff to try, it’s mostly cheaper drugstore items. And while it’s nice that they are accessible at the drugstore, I’ve seen most of these products there and not been wowed enough to actually buy them before (LINDOR truffles excluded … I have bought those before and will buy them again.) I DO still shop at the drugstore some (have you noticed the number of $2 Sinful Color nail polishes I have reviewed?) but I have moved into healthier higher quality products and that has, in general, reduced my drugstore shopping.

I’m also not sure how many of these tasks (below) I would have to do in order to be invited back. And since I’m not ok with promoting products I don’t exactly like without a review, I’m hesitant to do some of these tasks. Great from a marketing standpoint for these companies because people are being prompted positively, not so great for someone who wasn’t wowed by the products in the box.

I would have done a vine or youtube unboxing video if I had known about the PRIOR to getting the box in the mail. I had already opened a lot of it by the time I realized those were actual Influenster tasks (maybe I should have known.) I may still go back and to a post-unboxing video and submit that.

Oh wait – here we go … only REQUIRED part so you aren’t disqualified for future boxes is the survey at the end that hasn’t been sent out yet. 🙂

“I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.” Yes, and I tested them and I wasn’t wowed by anything but the chocolate. Sorry Influenster! :/

October 29, 2013

Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser & Muslins
my order weirdness

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Beauty & Skin, Makeup / Cosmetics, Subscription boxes

I will be doing a separate more thorough review late of the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser & Muslins. This is just a quick update on my ordering process weirdness.

Ok so I LOVE the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser & Muslins from the October Birchbox enough to buy more of it before I run out of the sample. That says a lot to me. BUT it seems that everyone else wanted to try this product too! I went in and bought the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser & Muslin KIT and then the next day I received the following message:

Ooook, so this is a good effort on Birchbox’s part for customer service by basically giving me $10 since the order had processed before they found out that they were out.

But I did feel a bit like they were taunting me when I got the email that said that I would get 50 points if I spent more than $35 on October products.

I tried throwing the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser without the muslins into my cart and then added a few more repeat buys that weren’t part of the October box. Nope. Coupon code doesn’t work.

And I don’t want to buy two of the Cleanse & Polish without the muslins. And I wasn’t thrilled enough by the other products in my October Birchbox to buy those so apparently that coupon code really only matters if you were in love with many of that month’s Birchbox items.

So I removed the nail polish remover and the chocolate and bought one bottle of the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser which ended up only costing me $1.50. Yes $1.50 since the item had free shipping AND I had 100 points from reviews and affiliate subscribers AND they gave me 100 points for the earlier snafu with the kit no longer being available (“Join Waitlist” was not showing at the time that I ordered … this is not a loophole you can abuse.) I was ready to pay for the kit in full but ended up with a bargain.

So while I ended up with a great deal, I DO hope that Birchbox gets more of the kits and the muslins in! If you shop from Liz Earle’s site there’s no free shipping option so the kit that’s $24.50 with Birchbox ends up being $32 on the Liz Earle site because of shipping.

Look for a review here soon on the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser & Muslins! Don’t forget to subscribe using your favorite RSS reader or Bloglovin’!

Update 10/30/2013: Seriously?! TODAY you get more back in the Birchbox store? After my order for the non-kit version has processed? Could you not have just sent me a message saying that my order was delayed for a few days due to high demand and the need to restock? It was only a delay of one day!!! Apparently I should have waited a day… I thought with the first message it would be more than a day though!! Sigh and an eye roll.