Beauty & Skin

November 29, 2014

Ipsy Glambag November 2014 unboxing & EWG scores

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

Be A Bombshell Cosmetics Eye Base in the shade “Submissive” – no cones, no fragrance but parabens. This is a 4 with the EWG Skin Deep cosmetics database. If they were to find a healthier preservative this would be a really healthy product. I’m probably going to give this a shot just because that is the only thing in it that’s bad. Buuuuuttt … it has mineral oil in it … this not only doesn’t feel right on my skin but on my eyelids means it will probably crease badly. Meh. Anyone try this? Is it worth the effort or am I going to have an eyelid mess by the end of the day?

Elizabeth Mott you’re so FINE Eyeliner – no cones, no fragrance but parabens. Aluminium powder… hmmm… and this has some other unhealthy ingredients. This ranks an unhealthy 8 with EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database.

Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Volume Shine Hairspray – no cones, no parabens, but fragrance. And then some other unhealthy ingredients and it’s a spray so you’re more likely to breathe them in. This ranks an unhealthy 7 with EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database.

tarte deluxe maracuja oil – two ingredients, nothing bad. They say “Not all oil is created equal” and I’m excited to try this hydrating skin oil. It’s high in omeg-3 fatty acids. This ranks a super healthy 0 with EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database.

Wet n Wild MegaSlicks Balm Stain in shade “Lady & The Vamp”– no cones, no parabens, no fragrance but mineral oil. This is actually not that unhealthy. This ranks a not-so-bad 3 with EWG’s Skin Deep cosmetics database. But mineral oil makes my skin feel weird so I tend to avoid it.

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November 29, 2014

Birchbox November 2014 unboxing & ewg scores

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Chuao Chocolatier Assorted ChocoPod – it’s chocolate and I really like this brand. Nice extra. I got the Maple Bacon … mmmmm bacon…. 🙂

DevaCurl 3-Step System – This is a three part product so I’m going to review each piece separately. No cones, no parabens but there is fragrance added to these and there’s no indication that it’s from essential oils.

No-Poo™ – Cleanse: The ingredients don’t match the current EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database listing for this so I went ahead and did a custom report. It’s still a healthy 2 with the custom report. Good news here and there’s no fragrance or other nasties.

One Condition – Hydrate: This is a not-so-bad 4 with EWG’s Skin Deep Costmetics Database. So we’re still hanging in there with the ratings. Since this is a system I think I should try the whole thing to really judge it. I really wish I could easily open these and check out scent and consistency without needing to use them immediately…

Light Defining Gel – Define: Again with a not-so-bad rating of 4 with EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. I think if DevaCurl would lose the synthetic fragrances this would be even better.

My last comment on the DevaCurl system is that while it’s a great sample to be one sample in my Birchbox, I wish it had come in mini bottles instead of packets you tear open. It’s always frustratingly difficult to keep samples like this if they are more than one use. Also I kinda wanted to sniff them and have Tim sniff them to make sure it wasn’t a scent either of us was outright allergic to and since you have to cut them open I can’t just twist off a top to check.

Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Lotion in “Relaxing Sea Fennel” – no parabens, phthalates, petrol-derived ingredients, mineral oil, urea, DEA, TEA or propylene glycol. But I can’t find the actual ingredient list anywhere online. So I’m going to type them up:

Ingredients: water, cetearyl alcohol, cocos nucifera oil, glycerine, ceteareth 20, helianthus annuus seed oil, parfum/fragrance, macrocystis pyrifera extract, chondrus crispus extract, crithmum maritimum extract, fucus vesiculosus extract, ulva lactuca extract, citric acid, dimethicone, glyceryl dilaurate, stearic acid, benzyl alcohol, dehydroacetic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, sodium hydroxide, tocopheryl acetate, alpha-isomethyl lonone, benzyl salicylate, butylphenyl methylpropional (lilial), citronellol, eugenol, hexyl cinnamal, limonene, linalool

So this has dimethicone in it which I can’t use. It’s not the worst product though as it ranks a 4 with the EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.

theBalm® cosmetics Cindy-Lou Manizer® – this has dimethicone in it which makes me break out so this is a no go for me personally. Otherwise it’s fairly healthy. It ranks a 3 with the cosmetics database. It looks like it’s a nice color and should work well as a highlighter OR if you don’t like highlighters I would recommend trying it as an eyeshadow.

Not Soap, Radio Body Wash – fragrance and synthetic colors. I don’t think that synthetic colors in soap is really necessary. Actually the color is the only way I was able to tell which one I received. Since it’s yellow I received “Joy Inducing” Lemon + Sugar. Or to complicate things further, it’s “Pheonix” in the ingredients lists listed on Birchbox.com and “Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil” is not listed on the back of the bottle (I wish they would stop making me work so hard on these ingredients!) It’s a 4 with EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.

Royal Apothic Cuppa Cuppa Firming Tea Treatment Mask – no obvious nasties except for fragrance. Then Phenoxyethanol is a preservative used in cosmetics and personal care products and it’s not great either. If they would work on these then it would probably be perfect. It’s low enough that if it doesn’t make my nose itch though that I will be trying this. It’s a 4 with the cosmetics database.

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November 13, 2014

#nailsnaps custom #nailwraps 1st order!

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish

Designed & ordered my first set of #nailsnaps using one of my #tribal sketches with a watercolor filter applied to it #nailart #kickstarter – can’t wait to get these!

October 18, 2014

Ipsy Glambag October 2014 unboxing & EWG scores

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

Figs & Rouge Hand Cream in Mango Mandarin. So this is petroleum free, paraben and mineral oil free and all natural ingredients. Well that last one is a little fib because in my research carbomer is one of the few unnatural (but harmless) ingredients in many natural products. So the EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. score I’m going to cut some slack … because the fragrance in this instance is from natural ingredients. Soooo with the assumption that this is synthetic fragrances EWG scores it a 7. But if you assume as they say on the website that the fragrance is from natural ingredients then the score would be more realistically at … a 6? This still seems awfully high for the ingredient list. Bah. I don’t know … I’m thinking about trying it on my feet despite the score.

H2O+ Face Oasis™ Hydrating Treatment cones (rules this one out for me because cones break my skin out) but it’s the parabens and the synthetic fragrance that has me thinking this isn’t a healthy product anyway. Yup that would be an unhealthy 10 with the EWG skin deep cosmetics database.

NYC New York Color Big Bold Curl Mascara not waterproof is a deal breaker for me. Especially since I’ve found some good waterproof and healthy mascaras. So I’ll just check out the score for those interested here. 6 from the EWG skin deep cosmetics database. Could be healthier, could be worse.

Skyn Iceland Mini Glacial Cleansing Cloths I’m rather ambivalent on this – I don’t know that I really need a facial cloth, especially one with added fragrance. So this ranks a 5 with EWG’s cosmetics database.

Starlooks Lip Gloss in guilty pleasure – mineral oil and parabens … pass. Even thought this isn’t super toxic at a 5 it’s also not very healthy either.

October 17, 2014

Birchbox October 2014 unboxing & ewg scores

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Lord & Berry Paillettes Eye Pencil soooooo this was the item I picked out this month and somehow it wasn’t in my box. I posted a photo on instagram and did contact Birchbox customer service and they’re shipping one out to me but it will be 10 days before I might get it. So without having it in hand to review let’s look at why I chose it. It doesn’t have cones (I break out with cones) and some of the other nasties I normally see. However I missed the parabens when I was checking this out and choosing it. So lets see how this scores with the EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. skin deep cosmetics database scores it. OUCH. Wow. I did horribly in picking this out. It’s a solid 10 from the cosmetics database. On a scale from 0 to 10 with 0 being the healthiest. UGHHH! And I thought this was going to be maybe a 4 based on skimming through the ingredient list and was the product I was most looking forward to trying!

Harvey Prince Petaly Noir – nope. Just no. No synthetic fragrances for me. Worse, I can smell the Harvey Prince perfumes just by opening the box and they typically give me a headache without opening them. I REALLY really hope that Birchbox will give us the option to opt out of perfumes. I particularly dislike the Harvey Prince products they have been on a roll with sending me each month too. September I complained about this. August same complaint. You aren’t going to win me over. Headaches just make me mean. Stop it. Pretty please?

ModelCo Party Proof Lipstick in Kitty – well another I had high hopes for but it fails. No cones but there’s fragrance. Also one of the ingredients that isn’t harmful I tend to avoid and that’s mineral oil. So with the EWG cosmetics database rating of a 9 I don’t think I’ll be trying this one. Do you know how much lipstick/lipgloss you accidentally eat? Ew.

BeeKind™ Body Lotion – The website claims “The BeeKind™ Collection features Gilchrist & Soames’ Signature formulations, which contain no parabens, phthalates, petrol-derived ingredients, mineral oil, urea, DEA, TEA or propylene glycol.” The bad news for me is that it has dimethicone in it which rules it out for me. Since I couldn’t find the ingredient list online I typed it up from the back of the sample:

INGREDIENTS: water; ceteryl alcohol; cocos nucifera oil; glycerine; ceteareth 20; helianthus annuus seed oil; parfum; dimethicone; honey; trifolium pratense flower extract; calendula officinalis flower extract; chamomile recutita flower extract; Cymbopogon schoenanthus exctract; citric acid; glyceryl dilaurate; steric acid; benzyl alcohol; dehydroacetic acid; acrylates/ c10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer; sodium hydroxide; tocopheryl acetate; citral; citronellol; geraniol; hexyl cinnamal; limonene; linalool

If they dropped the added fragrance that would do a lot to make this a healthier product. Despite all of the things it doesn’t have in it, it’s a 4 with the skin deep database. This is not terrible but it’s also not as healthy as they might be leading you to believe.

dr. brandt® Exclusive Clean Up Nice Kit – This is actually just “pores no more cleanser” as the sample. Paraben, paraben, paraben. If they just went with a healthier preservative this would be a healthier overall product. As it is right now it’s a 6 with the ewg cosmetics database.

So I’m a little underwhelmed with the products in this month’s box. Since Birchbox started giving us a choice of one product in our boxes I can’t believe I picked something that unhealthy out of what was available (and I can’t remember what the other options were.) Anyway…

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September 26, 2014

#birchboxbrag – my #chella #realchemistry #lizearle order

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Skin Care

I just got in my order of #chella travel sharpener (less mess), #realchemistry luminous 3 minute peel (loved the sample), & #lizearle hot cloth cleanser (I’m addicted!)