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May 14, 2013

May Ipsy 2013 – unboxing … (unbagging?)

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

In my May Ipsy Bag – (a cute chevron makeup bag!):

yaby concealer refills in Buff
Zoya Nail Polish in Jacqueline
Pacifica Roll On Perfume in Tahitian Gardenia
Juice Beauty Reflecting Gloss in Pink
Nume Finishing Serum
BONUS – Urban Decay Moondust in Zodiac

My May Ipsy Glamroom:

My May Ipsy bag items in more detail review:

yaby concealer refills in Buff – well the color looks like it’s the correct shade but with cyclomethicone (cones!) and talc I’m not really interested in it. Mostly the cones keeping me away (yeah, I’m sure if you read regularly, my comment about cones causing breakouts for me has become annoying.) It however ranks a low 3 with cosmetics database which was surprising and a pro for it. 0/5 stars

Zoya Nail Polish in Jacqueline – love zoya. This is “5-free” and the shade is quite surprising. I wasn’t sure I liked it at first but after I put it on it grew on me quickly. It’s not a shade I would have chosen but I really like it. It’s very opaque and it’s almost a very subtle ivory-ish eggshell shade. It’s hard to describe and it’s also hard to get a great idea from pictures. It’s elegant and I think it will be a versatile shade. 5/5 stars

Pacifica Roll On Perfume in Tahitian Gardenia – I already own this and I love it. I don’t mind getting a second one! Love love love this company because they are one of the few that makes wonderful natural perfumes that don’t make you smell like a hippie and aren’t over the top expensive. No they aren’t drugstore cheap but they are worth every penny. I keep meaning to do a post on the scents I have bought from them. The roll on bottles are great for travel. The Tahitian Gardenia is a rich soft scent – not light, more deep and calming. Floral notes but not teen girl and surprisingly even though I have a hard time with some florals (even natural) this one seems to get along with my sinuses. It does have a vintage-ness to it. Older, more sophisticated. 5/5 stars

Juice Beauty Reflecting Gloss in Pink – ANOTHER winner. I double checked the ingredients just in case but this is perfect. No dimethicone, all natural organic. Nice subtle color with that touch of pink and shimmer. Not glittery. It’s a little lighter and a little more neutral than some of the other pinks I’ve bought lately. I think this would work well with a variety of skin tones. It’s is maybe a teensy little oily feeling but it feels like it stays and nourishes your lips. I still like the zuzu luxe and burt’s bees just a little better particularly since they have a wider range of colors but I almost feel like this will be my go to lip gloss in winter. 5/5 stars

Nume Finishing Serum – fail (for me at least.) It’s only a 3 with cosmetics database (mostly due to “fragrance” being an 8 on it’s own) but “DIMETHICONOL” is basically another cone in disguise. :/ If you don’t mind cones, I suspect this will tame flyaways and be excellent against humidity, just feels like it would do what is says it will. Also even if I didn’t break out I would still likely avoid regular use because cones aren’t good for hair either over time. (I swear I’m going to do a longer post about ‘cones’ soon and just link to it instead of repeating myself so much.) 0/5 stars

BONUS Urban Decay Moondust in Zodiac – This was apparently a bonus item for ipsy community members who are content creators (who knew!) You know how I feel about dimethicone however. BUT the shiny shimmery uniqueness has me intrigued. Since it’s eyeshadow and I don’t think I’ve ever broken out close to my eyes (and hopefully this won’t be a shade that migrates) I’m thinking about giving this one a go. It’s such an awesome shade. 3/5 stars … I really can’t make up my mind on this one.

At $20 a pop (and I did receive a full size sample) this is possibly the most expensive eyeshadow I’ve owned in awhile. Since I only got one color and was curious about the other colors (and to see if swatches would help me make a decision on the dimethicone breakout risk issue.) I came across this excellent video that shows the different shades and swatches. It kinda makes me want Space Cowboy. I’m about 90% likely to give this one a shot… we’ll see. If I do use it I’ll post some photos of it on and swatched.

May Ipsy Bag total score:

3/5 stars overall. But I REALLY REALLY liked several of the items in my May Ipsy bag. And should I start counting the bag? I don’t really use the bags but this one was really cute. I might have a thing for chevron lately though.

Oh and I almost forgot – the Nume Coupon Code:

I should upload the unbagging video I did soon. There was also a coupon code on a card for numeproducts.com/shop

I was thinking that their styling products were going to be super super expensive if they were offering a $110 discount and a free heat protector. I was right. However there was one hair straightener, the mini, that would have been cheap with the discount but it said it was backordered. I decided to give it a try. … It won’t let you backorder it. When I clicked checkout I just kept being brought back to the checkout page with a warning at the top that the item was out of stock. Can’t order something that’s out of stock even if you’re willing to wait for it. Which makes the other products that the coupon code qualifies for STILL over $45. :/

Has anyone tried their styling tools? I haven’t looked for reviews yet. I’d want mega reviews before I forked over the amount of money (even WITH a discount) that they are asking for their styling tools. I think the most expensive styling tool I’ve ever bought was … $60?

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!

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):

If you like what you see, don’t forget to pin it or share the link!

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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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March 10, 2013

Ipsy March 2013 Review

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

Ipsy subscription, my second month review for March 2013

Yaba eyeshadow minis – “so vein” and “sand dune” not thrilled with the ingredients of the eyeshows (dimethicone and parabens) and probably won’t use them BUT it is worth a quick mention that the site does have some other interesting things. It looks like a good resource for depotting eyeshadows since they sell pans ( empties ), magnets, pallets etc. http://www.yabycosmetics.com/

GlamRX – when I opened this I thought I had been shorted a blush or something. I actually had to look up what this was. It’s a magnetic palette that you can put various products in… like the yaba eyeshadows or your own products. If you have a lot of makeup that’s pan based then this would be a nice item to throw in your purse. Better than the version on their site that includes a second level with their own products. For me personally it’s kinda “meh” but I’m keeping it in case I have a need for it in the future. Biggest comment on this is that it should have been labeled so my gut reaction wasn’t super disappointment from thinking I had been shorted products.

Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist – ingredients are ok but my nose can’t handle anything that smells of roses which this does. So for me personally this is not a good one BUT otherwise it seems like a good product.

LA Fresh Travel-lite Makeup Remover Wipes – mineral oil and parabens and fragrance so not natural. I LOVE their nail polish remover wipes but I’m going to have to pass on these.

Nautical Anchor makeup bag – this is fairly cute.

Bottom line – if the juice beauty product hadn’t been rose scented I’d be pretty happy with this for $10. I had been interested in trying other LA Fresh products but I didn’t realize that not all of their products had the same level of natural ingredients. This feels a bit more like the Birchboxes have been for awhile for me so not as amazing as last month. I’m going to stick with Ipsy for awhile but at some point I’m wondering if I might instead just start buying $20 worth of makeup I pick out instead. There IS just something fun about a surprise bag though. ALSO seriously happy that there’s no perfume in the Ipsy selections.