.
Birchbox posted an excellent breakdown of 7 different ecological certification organizations that often are displayed to differentiate products from simple “natural” marketing hype. I couldn’t have said it better myself so here’s the link! 🙂
http://www.birchbox.com/the-haute-box/the-beauty-label-breakdown/
And a not so “spoiler” spoiler – April’s Birchbox is supposed to be filled with natural goodies! Yay! I hope we keep seeing more natural products in future Birchboxes as well.
First I started with a coat of Sinful Color base, then Sinful Colors in “Bikini” which is a BRIGHT pink shade. And to think, at the beginning of February I thought that Zoya’s “Lo” was bright.
I have now reapplied this color when it started to chip. AND it’s stayed on without chipping for a very long time (I’m thinking around 7 days) before chipping. And I’m not gentle to my nails. I love how smooth this polish goes on and the fact that both times I’ve used it, I’ve been smudge and dent free on top and stayed that way.
Then I found this at CVS: Spoiled by Wet N’ Wild in “Did I dye it too blonde?” 🙂 And I was thinking “let’s take this to the next level, it’s only $2, I want to try this neon yellow thing out too.”
Next was several failed attempts at applying this yellow. It’s rather sheer:
Pictured here with the heart nail file from one of my previous Birchbox’s.
Review of the polishes (not the colors) below:
I will say I’m not amazed by this particular brand nail polish, Spoiled, just because it IS so sheer and it does stay as clean and smooth looking as the Sinful Colors. I’m not sure if this is the entire brand or the color itself. I would give both a second chance. I do think I might invest in a better neon yellow though if my second attempt doesn’t go so well with this yellow.
I am in love with the Sinful Colors “Bikini” pink though because it goes on and stays on so well. I do think the quality there is almost on par with $7-10 nail polishes (did I mention Sinful Colors is a $2 nail polish as well?)
It IS a cheap way to give neon a try.
Affiliate link below (the opinions above are my own, I only sought out the affiliate link because I like the product so much!)
In the box:
I’m actually really happy with the contents of this box. What I got was a little more along the lines of things I will use (with the exception of the perfume.)
I do think it’s funny that both times that they’ve sent me nail polish, it has been super similar to something I already own. I will at some point do a side by side comparison of both the teals and both of the glittery pinks.
And sorry if I sound a little congested in this video. Also note – changed my mind on the blotting papers. See above.
Birchbox is only $10/month so sign up here!: http://www.birchbox.com?raf=3l3e7
I did actually have fun with this this month even though it wasn’t something I would really wear. My first makeup video (wait, I may have done one other before…) and I know I need to try and keep things shorter and ramble less next time.
REVIEWED:
I didn’t manage to review all of the products for the blog this month but wanted to go ahead and post this.
Klorane Soothing eye makeup remover with coneflower
My ingredients differed from those listed in the Cosmetics Database so I ran my own report. The Cosmetics Database gave this a 3 (left image) which was already good but with the ingredients from the bottle I got a 2 (right image.) Click to enlarge either report.
I ended up not trying this ONLY because the flowery smell made my nose itch (I can’t handle some flowery scents hanging around on me all day, allergies.)
LaRocca Champagne and Shimmer Body Scrub:
http://www.laroccaskincare.com/products/body/Champagne_and_Shimmer_Acai_Sugar_Polish.html
Notice the contradicting in marketing there? Fragrance in the ingredients but then just after that they’re trying to market that it’s fragrance free? Meh.
The rest of the ingredients were good so I did try this. I do wonder because it had a wonderful cooling feel after I rinsed if there wasn’t mint or something else that’s not listed in the ingredients. It wasn’t quite the same feel as mint oil but similar in some way.
While still fun, I’m less excited about it this month.
Two words: dimethicone and fragrance.
Almost everything I got has dimethicone in it which makes me break out. Now you might be thinking “you don’t put hair product on your face” but trust me, anytime I put it on my hair, my hair touches my face and I again break out. I’m just over trying anything with dimethicone because even expensive products with this ingredient break me out. I keep watching hair tutorials with gorgeous silky hair and inevitably they use some serum with, yup, dimethicone (usually Frizz Ease.) The painful kind of zits, not just the ugly kind. I really wanted to try the Laura Geller bronzing primer too. 🙁 But I’ll pass.
As for fragrance … really do I need to cover this one? Allergies, toxins, overpowering scent. At least the Ahava hand cream was overpowering even in the tube.
The one item I’m looking forward to trying is the “Sunday Riley Modern Skincare Juno Transformative Lipid Serum.” Amazing ingredient list. Tried a little on my hand and it’s clearly good stuff but a little … hippie smelling. And natural products don’t need to smell … hippie. I really have no better word for it. No not patchouli hippie, it’s just not exactly bad but it’s not exactly good smelling either. I don’t want them to add fragrance, no way, but I’ll be spraying my homemade lavender spray on my face to see if that helps.
Serum INGREDIENTS: Acai seed oil, Argan oil, Black Cumin seed oil, Blackberry seed oil, Blueberry seed oil, Broccoli seed oil, Carrot seed oil, Chardonnay Grape seed oil, Cranberry seed oil, Marula oil, Meadowfoam seed oil, Pomegranate seed oil, Red Raspberry seed oil.
At $125 a pop (30 ml) I probably won’t be buying this puppy unless it also fixes me coffee in the morning but the 5ml sample might last awhile. Hey never say never. If I can suddenly get less redness, more even skintone and not need foundation I’d consider it.
It’s still exciting to get something fun to sort through and that serum sample alone is worth the price of the box. I guess I just wish this were a more natural selection of products that I could really dive into more.