Skin Care

June 10, 2013

Update :: a better link to EWG’s 2013 Natural SPF Sunscreens

Previously I wrote about finding a healthier natural spf sunscreen and I found a better link to EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment.’s 2013 Natural SPF Sunscreens. It’s an excellent resource:

http://www.ewg.org/2013sunscreen/

As well as an iphone app if you want detailed info on the go (maybe you’re flying somewhere, only taking a carry-on and can’t take more than 3oz of sunscreen with you…)

May 28, 2013

Natural Oils SPF – sunscreen alternative

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Skin Care

Recently I posted about choosing a more natural healthier sunscreen this summer. I wanted to follow up that article with some information my local co-op grocery store recently posted about natural oils SPF properties. Some in these natural oils even provide the 15-30 SPF range that most people choose when they’re shopping for sunscreen.

Source: http://livelovefruit.com/2013/05/natural-sunscreen/

List of 10 oils with natural UV-ray protecting properties:

Carrot Seed Oil: SPF 38-40
Raspberry Seed Oil: SPF 28-50
Wheatgerm Oil: SPF 20
Avocado Oil: SPF 4-15
Coconut Oil: SPF 2-8
Olive Oil: SPF 2-8
Macadamia Nut Oil: SPF 6
Almond Oil: SPF 5
Shea Butter: SPF 3-6
Jojoba Oil: SPF 4

Many of these have antioxidant properties if they are cold-pressed oils. Always look for cold-pressed when possible anyway because it will have retained more of it’s natural healthy qualities over something that has been heated.

So which Natural Oils SPF should I choose for sunscreen?

A quick glance through options and it looks like wheatgerm oil would be the best bang for your buck. 32 oz for about $25 with Amazon Prime or 16oz for around $10 from other suppliers or Vitacost. Raspberry or Carrot seed oils are in the $16-$19 price range for 2oz.

However wheat germ oil will probably leave you feeling a bit oily whereas the Raspberry and Carrot Seed oils absorb more readily so you may want to opt for those for your face and the wheatgerm oil for your body.

How accurate are these SPF numbers?

http://livelovefruit.com/2013/05/natural-sunscreen/ references several studies but I also went looking for a little more info because I was curious where they came up with the SPF info since that seems a little vague (and some of the sources referenced were more about vitamin D production or how bad standard sunscreens are):

In a study published in “Pharmacognosy Magazine” in 2009, a sunscreen comprised of wheatgerm and vitamin E had a natural SPF rating of 20. Read more: http://www.ehow.com/list_7557101_natural-oils-contain-spf.html#ixzz2Ubir3JBF

So even though I can find multiple sources stating the same SPF figures for each oil, after a quick search I could only find one study mentioning a study of SPF for Wheatgerm. Yet another reason this one is probably your best bet. But I do wish I knew how much the Vitamin E affects the SPF value.

IF you can find studies that show SPF for each of these oils please link up those studies in the comments.

SPF doesn’t mean it protects 100% from the suns rays, it just extends the amount of time you can spend outside before you burn so your own personal tolerance to UV is also a factor in how long you can stay outside with or without SPF. If you want to understand SPF better, check out the wikipedia article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunscreen

Wide brim hats and clothes are a better UV blocker than anything topical. But I don’t know anyone who wants to go swimming in full head to toe clothing and a hat. 🙂

Natural Oil vs Allergies and Skin Sensitivities:

Also note – don’t go slathering these on without checking for allergies first. If you know you have skin sensitivities definitely do a patch test over the course of three days to see if you react. No one wants a head to toe rash!

Now get out and enjoy the summer!

And if you’re hesitant about using Natural Oils SPF as your choice of sunscreen, check out my previous article on choosing a healthier sunscreen.

UPDATE May 29th 2013:

Ok I’ve reviewed in more detail the article mentioned in ehow … :
http://www.phcog.com/article.asp?issn=0973-1296;year=2009;volume=5;issue=19;spage=238;epage=248;aulast=Kapoor

… and come up with this.

That study was done on fourteen commercial herbal sunscreens that were purchased from local dealer of Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India. I can’t seem to find the proportions that comprise those herbal sunscreens. And I suspect that “Water melon” isn’t the same thing I’m thinking of (or would be some sort of extract or seed extract.) In other words, the study is still incredibly vague.

Since I went to the trouble of compiling this table from the presented information, I’m posting it here (since it simplifies some of the information in the study):

code	ingredients	SPF (in vivo - real life tests)
HS1	Watermelon	10 SPF
HS2	Sandalwood, Winter Cherry, Cobras Saffron, Wheatgerm, Honey, Red Sandalwood, Symplocos, Aloe Vera	29.5 SPF
HS3	Carrot, Symplococos, Wheat Germ	40.6 SPF
HS4	Aloe Vera, Apple	14.5 SPF
HS5	Sunflower, Indian Madder, Cucumber	19 SPF
HS6	Aloe Vera	19.9 SPF
HS7	Orange, Vitamin C	25.2 SPF
HS8	Coriander, Vitamin E	20.5 SPF
HS9	Aloe Vera, Vitamin E	24.5 SPF
HS10	Aloe Vera, Basil, Tumeric	30.8 SPF
HS11	Sandalwood, Aloe Vera, Carrot, Honey, Sunflower	15.1 SPF
HS12	Wheatgerm, Vitamin E	14.9 SPF
HS13	Aloe Vera, Vitamin E	19.0 SPF
HS14	Cucumber, Jojoba, Orange, Sandalwood, Lavendar, Vitamin A, C, E	29.9 SPF

There is one surprising finding. That Aloe Vera appears to have an SPF of about 20 with no additional ingredients.

So there you have it. If you’re in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, India you might be able to pick up some nice herbal sunscreen that really does what it says it does. Otherwise this study doesn’t seem to cover as much in the way of individual ingredients.

I’ll continue to look for studies that do cover the oils mentioned on the LiveLoveFruit article and post that information if I find it.

May 19, 2013

Find a healthier natural spf sunscreen

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Skin Care

Natural and organic spf sunscreens used to be harder to find but due to demand, more and more have become available in recent years.

Picking a Natural SPF Sunscreen for the sake of our HEALTH:

You should avoid the following ingredients:

Oxybenzone
Vitamin A (Retinyl palmitate)
Aerosol spray and powder sunscreen
Added insect repellant like deet
Parabens
Fragrance

On the “powdered sunscreen” I have to note that I think powdered mineral makeup that has natural mineral sunscreen for regular daily wear would be an exception.

If you haven’t noticed yet, one of my favorite resources is the Cosmetics Database from EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment.. For a list of general ingredients to avoid by product category, check out their guides:

Tips for safer products: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/top-tips-for-safer-products
Wallet Guide: http://static.ewg.org/skindeep/pdf/EWG_cosmeticsguide.pdf

For a full listing of some of the best options, check out their listings here:

SPF 15 to 30 : http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/browse/sunscreen:+SPF+15-30/
SPF 30+ : http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/browse/sunscreen:+SPF+greater+than+30/

** UPDATE: Better link and iphone app here **

Picking a Natural SPF Sunscreen for the sake of our OCEANS:

Not only is it important to be concerned about what we put on our skin but since many people are wearing sunscreen on beaches and into the ocean, how it affects ocean wildlife is something to think about as well.

Be sure to avoid sunblocks with:

octylmethoxycinnamate
benzophenone-3
parabens
octocrylene

These cause complete coral reef bleaching at very low concentrations. If you want to read more about this bleaching phenomenon, check out this National Geographic Article.

What sunscreens are both healthy and won’t harm our ocean wildlife – BOTH?

Well the easiest to find would probably be Badger. They even have one of the easiest to follow explanations about the coral reefs. Most of their sunscreens are within the 1-2 range (lower is better) with the cosmetics database. They ARE mineral based sunscreens so they may leave some white residue and they are in the $15-$20 price range. I haven’t tried this one yet so I can’t tell you from personal experience the pros and cons.

Honestly the next sunscreen I’m probably going to buy will be from Coola. I was really impressed with the sample in my birchbox AND it does fit both health and ocean requirements. I’ll probably get the Coola Face SPF 30 Unscented for general use and Coola Classic Sport SPF 45 Sunscreen Unscented for longer outdoor / swimming use. These are again in the 1-2 range with the cosmetics database (the Coola brand has some older listings that are higher.)

Since there area lot of personal preferences, I’m probably not going to try and go through a whole lot of sunscreens simply to review them but I am going to go through a few for myself just to find what I personally like. What I had been using wasn’t very healthy.

For the most part, products 3 and under via the Cosmetics Database are going to also be safe for the oceans (but just quickly double check the ingredients to be sure!!)

infographic_sunscreen_web

May 10, 2013

May Birchbox 2013 – unboxing

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

What’s in my May Birchbox:

Pilot Corporation of America Acroball PureWhite®
Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner
Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle
Folle de Joie eau de parfum
COOLA Classic SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for Face

Reviews & more detail for my May Birchbox:

Pilot Corporation of America Acroball PureWhite® – It’s a pen … oooo. Um yeah, I’m neither here nor there on this one. I have favorite pens yes, and pens I hate, and pens I use. This falls into the “pens I use” whatever category. It IS a pink ink pen which I didn’t realize at first (and it kinda fun.) But it’s still a pen so I’m knocking off one star.
Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner – no ingredients … nada. I’m going to have to write another company for ingredients … sigh.
Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle – “Amodimethicone” ok so it’s not “dimethicone” specifically but it is a cone and it’s not one of the few water soluble cones either. Ranks well with the cosmetics database but likely to break me out. Pass. In case you’re wondering about its overall cosmetics database score, that would be a 6. It might be paraben free and sulfate-free but it’s not exactly on the healthy side of things still.
Folle de Joie eau de parfum – Since I can’t find any info on this on their website that says anything about organic or natural fragrance or anything I have to assume that this is a synthetic perfume. Too bad.
COOLA Classic SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for Face – Excellent ingredient list. THIS one I’m excited to try. The info on CosmeticsDatabase must be old because the product no longer has “fragrance” added. Old report says it’s a 4. My custom report with the current ingredients shows that it’s only a 2 which is not bad at all for a sunscreen. The scent is all natural and light however if you don’t like it, it’s going to be on your face. I did look this up and they have an unscented version. Actually I want to try the unscented sport version for swimming this summer!

Box score overall: 9 stars out of a possible 25 is 1.44 stars. We’re headed back towards thinking “step it up Birchbox, it still costs me $10/month and you’re sending me sample sizes.”

HOWEVER we have one product in the box that’s a real winner. Since it would have cost me $32 to try a full size bottle of the sunscreen, I’m good though. So my May Birchbox is not a complete loss or completely annoying box. 🙂

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April 20, 2013

Birchbox April 2013 Unboxing & Reviews

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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:

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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!

March 12, 2013

March 2013 Birchbox

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Alima Pure Luminous Shimmer Blush in Freja – This is a brand I’ve been wanting to try for awhile. The ingredients ARE all natural. My only disappointment in this sample is that I don’t really wear blush AND even if I did this shade pretty much disappears on my cheeks because it’s too close a match to what my cheeks already are. I’ll probably use it on my eyes for when I want a light pinky eyeshadow. For me I wish I had received a sample of the “Melon” color. Or the satin matte bronzer in Seychelles. IF you are pale or looking for a nice light blush and you aren’t naturally rosy, Freja IS an excellent color. Quality is there those so I will probably try some other products from this brand.
– 4 out of 5 stars

Macadamia Natural Oil Healing Oil Treatment – dimethicone …

Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Mask – dimethicone ..

Stella Cadent Miss Me Discrete Eau de Toilette – stop sending me perfume, particularly scents that aren’t natural please!!!

Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream (Blueberry) – The ingredient list looks good my only complaint would be the “fragrance” since but I’m going to give it the benefit of the doubt since all of the other ingredients look good and this will be going on my legs. It also doesn’t make my nose itch. UPDATE – tested. The bottle seemed to have a giant air pocket in it so there was just enough to use on my legs for shaving. I get a better shave using my everyday hair conditioner than this so I’m going to mark it down another star, I was just not wowed by this. I use a Schick Hydro Silk in case anyone is curious.
– 2 out of 5 stars

Madewell for Birchbox nail file – it’s a cute design and functional nail file. I’ll use it but I will not be replacing it for their $5 price tag. Sure it ships free but I can get my nail files at Sally Beauty for a much more reasonable price. Ok … one caveat. IF for some reason I was putting together a nail gift bag for someone, the floral pattern on this would be that extra cute little touch I might spend the money on.
– 4 out of 5 stars

Side note – I went to leave a review of the nail file and one of the questions was: “Did you use the $25 off $75+ Madewell offer? (emailed week of 3/11) *” and one of the options is “I haven’t received this offer yet” which has me suspect they are batch emailing this week. I haven’t received this offer yet but I wanted to mention it in case it gets caught by spam filters. I WILL probably use this coupon since I’ve wanted to buy some pants from them for awhile now to try.

Bottom line – another month with just enough products I’ll use. Not canceling just yet.

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