Beauty & Skin

April 20, 2013

Birchbox April 2013 Unboxing & Reviews

Posted in Hair, Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

In my Birchbox for April 2013:

Caudalie Divine Oil – “Fragrance“… otherwise the ingredients are good. I’ll have to try this for a day to see if I react to it. They have an excellent ethics policy on their website so I decided to check further and see if there was any chance that the “fragrance” was from essential oils – nope. Too bad. This is what their website says at the bottom of their FAQ page “What is the origin (natural or synthetic) of your fragrances? We prefer synthetic molecules for our face care products and Fresh Fragrances to prevent the risk of sensitization. Essential oils are indeed known for their photosensitizing and allergic risk.” I really disagree with this statement as it relates to allergies. Personally, I’m more likely to have an allergic sinus reaction to a synthetic fragrance than one from a natural ingredient. Synthetic cause allergic reactions as well and you could have an allergic reaction to the other ingredients + check out what the cosmetics database says about FRAGRANCE. I’ll probably try this since it doesn’t make my nose itch. I’m still going to dock it a star for synthetics fragrance when there’s just no need.
Juice Beauty Stem Cellular Repair CC Cream – Excellent ingredients. I’m REALLY excited to try this one. Hmm except “Warm Glow” is not a match to my color. I’m going to dock it a star for two reasons: 1) I still get to try it but I can’t go around looking like an oompa loompa so I can’t try it for a full day 2) The product only comes in two color options (“neutral glow” and “warm glow”) seems like it would make it less likely work for people. $39 is a bit of a hefty price to pay to check a shade so with only two colors they should have either sent two samples OR included with the single bigger sample one of those peel back shade numbers they tend to use in magazines with all shades. Just sayin’ – it’s not like lipgloss and the goal is to get me interested to buy a full size version right?
Hail Merry Macaroons – More excellent ingredients. Gluten Free. Non-GMO. Vegan (this last one I don’t care that much about.) Made with Coconut and Coconut Oil – Nom.
Ojon rare blend™ Deep Conditioner – Seriously? What have you done with my birchbox, ingredients look good on this one as well and I’ll be trying it! Use like conditioner at the end of your shower except leave it in for at least 2 minutes before rinsing it out. I went ahead and tried this and I’m in love with it. Soft lovely hair.
Supergoop!® Advanced SPF 37 Anti-Aging Eye Cream – Paraben, Fragrance,and Oxybenzone Free. BUT it has dimethicone listed as an ingredient (linked to ingredient list.) Without a doubt will break me out. :/ Ugh. So SO close but not for me. I am however giving it one star because it is so SO close and usually the ones that have dimethicone in them aren’t!
Elizabeth Arden – 3 samples in one: 0/5 stars for these next three.
- Visible Difference Skin Balancing Exfoliating Cleanser – Fragrance and Parabens. :/ There’s no dimethicone in this one but I’m not sure I’m going to try it out. I checked it on the cosmetics database with a custom report using the ingredients listed on Birchbox’s site and it came up a 5. It’s on the higher side for me but it’s also not the worst product out there (they go up to 10.) FRAGRANCE and PROPYLPARABEN are the ingredients that really affect this one’s score – it would probably be around a 3 and acceptable with healthier versions of these. I’m giving it one star because despite the score I’m tempted to try this one. I love exfoliators and it’s not horrendous (but I won’t try it if the smell makes my nose itch.)
- Visible Difference Optimizing Skin Serum – again with Fragrance and Parabens. Dimethicone means I won’t be trying this one. And when I ran it through the cosmetics database, the custom report generator based on the ingredients this one came up a 10. 10 is the worst score you can get.
- Visible Difference Skin Balancing Lotion – more fragrance and parabens but again the dimethicone is the killer for me. I ran it through the cosmetics database and it came up an 8 so it’s pretty bad for your health as well.

AND OH MY GOODNESS — NO CRAPPY PERFUME SAMPLES!!!! THANK YOU!!!! Now the brands could work a bit on the synthetic fragrance IN products side of things but that’s notsomething Birchbox can control.

If you tally my numbers above we have a little over 3 stars for this box. 🙂

Birchbox April 2013 is a good one for me.

I think the product I’m most excited about is the Ojon rare blend™ Deep Conditioner because my hair looks like this without using a curling iron or straightener.

What I used in my hair for this photo and video below:

Desert Essence Organics Fragrance Free Shampoo
Ojon Rare Blend Deep Conditioner – healthier, softer, nicer looking
Alba Botanica soft hold style cream – adds a bit of volume and a little control
Shea Moisture Organic Hold & Shine Hair Moisture Mist Coconut & Hibiscus – not really for hold, but acts more as a detangler for my hair because the Alba style cream seems to make it more tangle prone

Birchbox April 2013 Unboxing video below:

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! }

Update May 16th: The Ojon has dimeticone in it -ARGH!!! I was trying to figure out what I had used recently that was breaking out my chin and I’ve used this a couple times the last few weeks. I thought maybe it was stress but then I reviewed the ingredients and there it was. ARGH!

April 12, 2013

Ipsy bag April 2013 – product overview & review

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Hair, Makeup / Cosmetics, Nail Polish, Subscription boxes

April’s Ipsy bag is “Pretty in Pink”

So let’s just start off by saying there are some excellent things in this bag but I don’t buy a lot of pink eyeshadows and I have a natural pink to my cheeks so I opt for bronzer over blush. That said, I’m going to judge based on ingredients moreso than color this go round.

In my bag:

MicaBeauty Mineral Eye Shadow – mica and no bad stuff. Excited to try this though pink isn’t something I jump up and down over most of the time. First I’ve heard of this brand though so I’ll be checking out their other products. I actually like the color as well. It’s got some sparkle to it but it’s not overkill either.
Sexy Hair Soy Renewal – nope … soy and I don’t get along and if that weren’t bad enough it has dimethicone as an ingredient. Moving on.
Miss Professional Nail Sation Nail Lacquer – this is a 3-free brand. Three free means no: dibutyl phthalate, toluene, or formaldehyde. I got the “Love At First Byte” color and it was the color I wanted of the two they shipped but the shade doesn’t wow me. I thought it was a dup to Zoya’s Lulu at first but it’s just very similar only a little darker. It’s very similar to my skin tone. Two coats shown in the Love at First Byte swatch below. I’ll update later with how long this lasted before chipping.
Be A Bombshell Blush – I checked out the ingredients …. talc and mineral oil…. I didn’t even read any further, it’s also bright bright pink so this is not for me.

In the glamroom but NOT my bag:

Sexy Hair Powder Play – this scored a 1 when doing a custom report with the cosmetics database. No dimethicone and I WAS really excited to try this!! BUT it’s NOT in my bag!! This was the item I wanted the MOST. More about this in a minute.
Two Cosmetics Duo Eye Shadow – first ingredient is talc and the last is “synthetic” something … usually means the eyeshadow isn’t going to be that great and will crease as the day wears on. So this product is not for me.

Overall I’m good with the bag. It was love it or hate it but I found out about some new to me brands and this bag also showed me that SOME of the Big Sexy Hair products could be good and acceptable ingredients-wise (though some of their products are also not going to touch my head.)

Now here’s where I’m REALLY annoyed – Sexy Hair’s Powder Play: It’s that whole “other people got it but I didn’t” thing. The product I wanted to TRY the most, I didn’t get. I tried using the sexy hair store locator on their website but I couldn’t get it to select the state from my iphone!!!!! I wanted it enough that I decided to hit all of the drugstores on the way home from the mail (business mailbox) because I knew I had seen the product lines those places.

WORSE:
I tried Rite Aide, I tried CVS, I tried Walgreens, I tried Target, I tried Meijer. I’m not kidding.

I could not find the Sexy Hair “Powder Play” any of these places. So … back home I check online and the one place I forgot was Ulta. So I’ll try there soon. If I don’t find it there, I’ll buy it on amazon.com (Ipsy’s $5 off of $25 purchase of the product from the ulta site isn’t a “deal” when you have to pay shipping… plus spend more money.)

Almost forgot. A discount code to GenBeauty in LA. The fact that it’s in LA I won’t be attending but the coupon code can be used by multiple people so I thought I would post it:

And the unboxing video (this time I remembered the tripod! But my angles are a little off):

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April 7, 2013

Has anyone tried…
Sally Hansen Salon Insta-Gel Strips ?
Or SensatioNail Gel Polish ?

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish

Has anyone tried the Sally Hansen Salon Insta-Gel Strips or the SensatioNail Gel Polish? I saw both starter kits at Walgreens the other day.

I’ve heard good things about gel polishes but this seems to be taking things a little too far for me. While the Sally kit was around $30 or they have these mega kits with ten applications for around $60. Seems like a hefty investment when I thought part of the point of doing your nails at home was to cut your costs. Yes, you do get multiple application out of one kit but still…

What are your thoughts? Has anyone tried these? And do they really last two weeks?

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April 5, 2013

Natural & Organic Shampoo & Conditioner
{My Natural Hair Series Part 1}

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Hair

I once heard what sounded like some great advice: if you find a shampoo and conditioner you love, try the hair sprays, volumizers and other styling products in the same brand and you’ll probably end up liking them too.

The only problem is that really doesn’t hold true particularly when you hit organic and natural product lines. Worse is that many natural and organic companies that make shampoo and conditioner are very sparse when it comes to styling and finishing options.

And even worse than that, I have issues with anything rose scented and Tim can’t be around me if the rosemary or lavendar is too strong (and rosemary makes my hair look A-Maz-ing! Argh!) I would be using Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo and their Organic Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner but the rosemary in them gave Tim a headache. :/

So what’s a girl to do when she she has allergies, her significant other has allergies AND she wants to go with a natural product? Research a LOT and try a LOT of products until one clicks.

For reference and for those familiar with the Naturally Curly hair types, I’m either a 2b or a 3a since most of the time the curls don’t go to the crown of my head, sometimes they coil but sometimes they just do a simple “s” and I can also straighten my hair (not pin straight) without too much trouble (unless I go out in the rain.)

So let’s start with the basics, Desert Essence Fragrance Free Shampoo & Conditioner:

Desert Essence Fragrance Free Shampoo | Desert Essence Fragrance Free Conditioner
The shampoo is a 2 with EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment.’s Cosmetic’s Database, and the conditioner is a 3

This is not my be all end all perfect combo but it’s what I can use daily and my hair looks good without killing me or Tim. I do want to try some of the other Desert Essence Shampoos and Conditioners but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet and keep rebuying this one.

What I love about these Desert Essence Fragrance Free products :

It doesn’t weight down my hair.
It doesn’t build up in my hair.
You can use it week after week with the same results instead of feeling like it’s no longer doing it’s job after a few weeks.
I don’t have what I would call “hippy hair” like I have with some other natural shampoos & conditioners (Dr. Bronner’s, I’m sorry, but I’m looking at you.)
“Fragrance Free” is NOT a gimmick and scents are not masked by “light” added fragrances like some other products. There is a light light scent when sniffed directly in the bottle, but that’s really from the product ingredients AND it really does rinse out. I recommend reading over the ingredients to see if there’s anything you know you personally might have a problem with but this is one of the best fragrance free products I’ve found.
It’s a good base for everything else.
No: cones (dimethicone), parabens, phthalates, paraffin, gluten, propylene glycol, mineral oil, synthetic fragrance, animal testing, PABA, synthetic color, DEA, or sulfates

What I don’t like:

I have had better. Namely the St. Ives Hair Repair Conditioner that no longer exists and the Shu Uemura Art of Hair Cleansing Oil Shampoo which is neither natural (close but synthetic fragrance is added) nor cheap at $55 for 400ml (ouch.) Or as I mentioned above, the Shea Moisture Organic Raw Shea Butter Moisture Retention Shampoo and their Organic Raw Shea Butter Restorative Conditioner if you and your significant other isn’t allergic to it (sigh.)

Where I would suggest starting if you don’t already use a natural / organic shampoo, conditioner or other styling products – Shea Moisture kits:

Now that I’ve spent all of this time talking about the Desert Essences Fragrance Free line, I’m going to switch gears. If you are looking for somewhere to start in your journey for natural hair care products, I would highly recommend starting with the Shea Moisture kits. Particularly since I’m going to talk about some of their styling products from these kits that I DO use:

Shea Moisture Organic Curl & Shine Kit Coconut & Hibiscus | Shea Moisture Hair Repair & Transition Kit Raw Shea Butter & Argan Oil

I was able to pick both of these up at my local Walgreens. And don’t worry too much about the fact that they’re in the ethnic hair care section. Unless your hair is super thin and straight, I think at least a couple of products in these kits will work for many different types of hair.

Like the Desert Essence shampoo and conditioner, the Shea Moisture products are also free of: cones (dimethicone), parabens, phthalates, paraffin, gluten, propylene glycol, mineral oil, synthetic fragrance, animal testing, PABA, synthetic color, DEA, or sulfates

If these don’t work for you or you have allergies or scent sensitivities I would move on to the Desert Essence Fragrance Free line.

Some other brands of natural / organic shampoo and conditioner that I’ve tried and thought were ok:

Avalon Organics: The Lavender OR Rosemary shampoos and conditioners I’ve tried and are good. And after I shower they aren’t intense enough to bother Tim. However when compared to the Desert Essence, my hair looks better with the Desert Essence. I haven’t tried the rest of the Avalon Organics line. Rosemary Shampoo is an EWG 4 and Conditioner is an EWG 3
Aubrey Organics: This line is very hit or miss. From my recollection one of my main problems with these was that there was product buildup. I needed to switch back and forth between two shampoos and conditioners to keep certain ones from weighing down my hair and others from stripping too much oil out. Some of these however would be excellent options for the more curly girls out there which is why I’m mentioning it. One of my favorites from their line is actually the Swimmer’s Normalizing Conditioner for Active Lifestyles – it’s a really thick and luxurious conditioner and I didn’t seem to have the same buildup problem with it. I used it for awhile with the Avalon Rosemary Shampoo.

I tried the following were “meh” or didn’t like them:

Burt’s Bees: I wanted so much to love these shampoos and conditioners but they just did not cut it for me. I tried at least two of their shampoos and conditioners and they did nothing good for my hair. I did so just after they came out (mentioning in case they adjusted the formula.)
Nature’s Gate: just meh. Not good, not bad for the hair just … nothing special. A little harsher on the hair than some of the others I’ve mentioned. Also some have parabens and some other ingredients I’m trying to reduce.
Dr. Bronner’s Castile Soap: Serious Hippy Hair … ugh. I love this company but I just can’t bring myself to use the castile soap for anything. I tried the castile soap for my hair over a period of three days once and it just never felt clean and wasn’t looking good either. Tangly, ratty, hard to work with and dirty feeling. I really hate having to say this because they do make some good products and I know some people who can and do use the castile soap instead of shampoo but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Do NOT start here and judge natural hair care based on this alone.

Others I haven’t tried but would / should:

Jason Naturals
Alba Botanica / Alba Hawaiian – I’ve tried practically their whole line but not the shampoo and conditioner yet
Say Yes to Carrots

Do YOU have a favorite natural / organic shampoo & conditioner that I haven’t mentioned here that I should try? Have you tried any of the products I mentioned and want to share your thoughts? Feel free to post in the comments below! 🙂

Up Next in { My Natural Hair Series } : Natural / Organic Styling Products I’m currently using

March 20, 2013

Easy Easter Nails – 3 options

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish

I meant to post last year several looks for easy Easter nails but never got around to it. But Easter comes around each year so you could also look at it as well planned for this year. 🙂

Start with a couple of good matte / cream pastel shades:

Your choice of colors can really affect whether these look Easter-y or not so I’ve put together a few options from different nail polish brands. Shown above left to right (what I used): Essie Turquoise & Caicos, Sinful Colors Sweet Tooth, Sinful Colors Orange Cream, Sinful Colors Unicorn, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Wet N’ Wild 210C Tropicalia

Possible Pastel Color Sets:

Sinful Colors pastels set “Sugar Rush” display:

Mint Apple (pastel green, not shown)
Unicorn (pastel yellow)
Orange Cream (pastel orange)
Sweet Tooth (pastel purple)
Sugar Rush (light turquoise)
Cotton Candy (pastel pink)
Sweet Nothing (pastel blue)
Candy Coated (another pastel purple with a hint more blue)
Sugar & Spice (another pastel pink but darker than Cotton Candy)

Essie pastels set:

(I’ll try and go back and take a few more photos of possible Essie colors soon)

Lapiz of luxury (periwinkle / blue purple)
Neo Whimsical (lilac / pinky purple)
Turquoise & Caicos (pastel turquoise)
Tart Deco (pastel orange with a hint of pink)
Check-up (though there are tons of pinks that are possible)

Wet N’ Wild pastels set:

201C Wet Cement
218A I Need a Refresh-Mint
213C On a Trip
208B Through the Grapevine
209C Candy-licious
210C Tropicalia
211B Club Havana

Additional polishes:

Base Coat
Any pure white nail polish (optional – used Sinful Colors “Snow Me White”)
Essie’s “matte about you” top coat (optional)
Your favorite glossy top coat (if no matte coat used)

Keep in mind that if you have trouble combining colors, want a simpler look OR simply want to spend less money on polishes, choose one pastel color and white for your pattern accent.

Option #1 – Your easiest option – Multi-color pastels (Least skill needed):

Just paint each nail a different pastel color. Base coat, multiple colors of nail polish, top coat, done. And if you have it available, I like matte like Essie’s “Matte About You” for the top coat. 🙂

Option #2 – Polka Dots (your second easiest option):

Additional tools needed: Something to make dots with. This can be any of the following:

a hairpin – you’ll need to straighten it some
toothpick – you may have to draw with this if the end is smaller than the dot you want
straight pin (sewing) – inserted in a pencil eraser for better control and so you don’t poke yourself

If you’re expecting perfection you either need a steady hand or maybe try out a stamping tool instead like Konad.

Option #3 – Zig Zag / Chevron (a little bit harder but still easy):

Additional tools needed:

Scotch tape
Zig Zag scissors / Pinking Shears (easily found at most craft or sewing stores)
Regular scissors (small is better in my opinion)
Glossy top coat required

Chevron-Stripes-nail-polish-easy-easter-nails

I have in fact tried the method shown by Birchbox here. When I tried directly on my own nails though, I must not have pressed down on the tape enough because I had nail polish leak under it in places. The only place I had good success with this method the few times I tried it was not on my own hand (on plastic nail trays.)

But I found an even simpler method – we’re going to create our own chevron nail striping tape which is easier to get right as well as creating crisper edges. We want easy Easter nails right?

Chevron Striping Tape Steps:

Paint your scotch tape with several coats of nail polish. Paint a little more tape than you think you will need. Paint and let dry, paint and let dry. Be sure to really let this dry before you move on to the next step. (For informational purposes – mine sat overnight on the tape dispenser because I thought I was going to do my nails yesterday but didn’t.)
.
Cut your tape with the zig zag scissors. This may take a couple of tries to get lined up the way you want so don’t worry if the first piece isn’t what you want on your nails. I used the mug in the photos to hold my tape parts temporarily.
.
Apply the chevron strips to your nails. Use as many or as few as you want (also depending on your nail size.) I didn’t use tweezers but they may help place the tape if you’re having trouble.
.
Trim the excess tape using your small regular scissors. Shown are sewing thread scissors. Cuticle scissors are also small.
.
Add a clear top coat or two to seal the tape in place and you’re done!

And there you have it, 3 options for easy Easter Nails!

Update: The chevron tape lasted about 3-4 days before the thinner chevrons started coming off. I’m not sure if it might last longer with an extra top coat or without the matte polish underneath.

March 13, 2013

Burt’s Bees new lipgloss tubes

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics

I’ve had a couple of Burt’s Bees new lip glosses for maybe about a month now and really love them so time to do a review.

I first saw these at CVS near where I live around the beginning of January (I think) but some jerk had broken the seal on every single tube. So it wasn’t until I managed to head over to another CVS that I managed to buy my first tube.

My favorite natural lipgloss has been Gabrielle Cosmetics Zuzu Luxe and I find the Burt’s Bee’s new lipgloss tubes to be very comparing in consistency, quality and staying power. Zuzu Luxe is about $18 a pop at Wholefoods or online. Burt’s Bee’s is about $9 each which makes them very appealing particularly if you like variety.

Burt’s Bees lipgloss tube 251 “Evening Glow”

Back in November I bought Zuzu Luxe in “Tango” (I keep meaning to do my Zuzu Luxe haul post but haven’t yet.) Evening Glow is a dead ringer for this shade. My only problem with it … is I didn’t mean to buy a dup of something I already owned! And it’s a little darker than my daily wear.

click for a larger view

Burt’s Bees lipgloss tube 221 – “Sunny Day”

Sunny Day is a really nice perfect light pinky peachy color – it’s a very easy to wear color. A sort of “your lips but better” option and I’ve been using it a surprising amount. Before I used Zuzu Luxe “Crystal” which is a nice clear gloss but I like this just that little bit more for daily wear. This one is definitely a lot less pigmented.

Both colors have a certain amount of shimmer to them but neither of them is over the top or glittery on your lips. I don’t think any of the available shades don’t use mica which is what gives it that shimmer (no matte or cream gloss here.)

Overall I’m really pleased with these and I’ve got my eye on a couple of additional shades to try out. 🙂 https://www.burtsbees.com/natural-products/lips-lip-color/lip-gloss.html

Zuzu Luxe lip glosses:
http://www.gabrielcosmeticsinc.com/index.cfm/product/43_20/zuzu-luxe-lip-gloss.cfm

If you prefer lip gloss sticks, check out my posts on Burt’s Bees vs Wet N Wild Lip Shimmers.
http://clothingcult.com/2010/11/03/burts-bees-vs-wet-n-wild-natural-blend-lip-shimmers/

Side note about Burt’s Bees: Burt’s Bees company was purchased by Clorox in 2007 but Burt’s Bees still does NOT do product testing on animals. Some people dislike the parent company enough to not want to purchase products from them, and that is your right to make that choice. I however am reviewing based on healthy ingredients and quality instead of politics on this post. It can be hard to find good natural makeup resources and I personally don’t plan on disqualifying Burt’s Bees over their parent company alone.

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