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Dr. Jart+

July 21, 2015

Birchbox July 2015 and EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database Scores

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 5

stila look at me liquid lipstick in bella – I thought this was one with dimethicone in it but in looking at the Birchbox listing, it isn’t (cones rule things out for me – allergy-like issue.) It does have parabens though. This MAY fall into a category of “unhealthy but use once in a blue moon” because the color just pops and is fun. Actually it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s not healthy but it’s a 5. Right in the middle. Mostly because of Propylparaben. I think I may give this one a shot here. Just for those times when I want a super vibrant neon pink lip. 🙂

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 5

Juice Beauty® GREEN APPLE™ Peel Sensitive – I’m half and half on Juice Beauty products. Although most are SUPER healthy, I have found that only about half of them seem effective on me in doing what they claim. Juice Beauty’s oil-free moisturizer was one I used until I came across the Derma that trumped it. With that in mind, the ingredients here look good. It’s going to get docked some points with EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. for Vit A and maybe a few things that would make this a good peel … but it’s a PEEL. Yup right about where I expected it to be – it’s a 5 with Vit A causing a lot of that. Look over the ingredients and decide for yourself. I’m going to give this a try.

Keep in mind that with peels you don’t want to use them and then say go to the pool for a couple of hours. I like to use peels and exfoliators at night so I can apply some heavier moisturizers and give my face some time to heal.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 6

Macadamia Professional™ Weightless Moisture Leave-In Conditioning Mist – Cones rule this one out for me personally but there are a lot of long ingredients in here that are throwing up warning flags as well. There is fragrance but no parabens. Let’s see what other ingredients get called out and why…. right off the bat “POLYQUATERIUM-37” doesn’t match anything. No obvious alternative name so going from there. Ah yes … an ingredient I’m starting to see more because people have become aware of parabens. Companies are choosing other preservatives that can be just as bad. In this case: METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE So this ranks a 6 with the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 6

Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Liquid – so not a “cone” by name but dimethiconol is a silicone polymer which rules this one out for me personally (personal issue with cones.) Two other ingredients were clearly misread by OCR “crosspolyrner” should be “crosspolymer” for example. Yet again with that tricky paraben preservative replacement – Methylisothiazolinone … what a mouthful. This ends up ranking a surprising 6 with the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 8

English Laundry Eau de Parfum No. 7 for Her – synthetic fragrance. Headache and itchy nose without even opening it. Seriously I need them to realize that this HURTS me and makes me think each month I get a fragrance about quitting. And I would readily accept having one less product in my box if it meant not having to be exposed to synthetic fragrance samples that affect my allergies. And if you think “how do you live with people around you who use these products” to which I say “there’s a reason I don’t live in NYC or some of the other major cities.” And yes I have left places when someone’s perfume was overwhelming. Fragrance is an unhealthy 8. PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE BIRCHBOX GIVE ME A WAY TO OPT OUT OF FRAGRANCE SAMPLES! I know I may still get a scented shower gel I can’t handle but I would at least like to stop getting little vials of insta-headaches. PLEASE!!!

Stila in Bella below: 


July 21, 2015

Birchbox June 2015 and EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database Scores


I’m a little behind on posting this – oops…

Marcelle Mini Waterproof Eyeliner – Ok I’m not believing the ingredient list on Birchbox. “C11-12 Isoparaffin. May contain: Ferric ferrocyanide, carmine” is not the full list of ingredients. The ingredients are printed on the side and it’s a much longer list. Tiny print but longer. I don’t see any cones, fragrance or parabens at a glance so I may try this but it also might be awhile before I type it all in to get a score.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 8

TOCCA Eau de Parfum, Bianca – Fragrance, synthetic fragrance. Just a NO.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 2

Dr. Jart+ Dermaclear™ Micro Water – I see nothing here that’s bad which is why this was my choice of product for this month’s box. That said, let’s see if EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. brings any other ingredients to my attention. “GALACTOMYCES FERMENT FILTRATE” is “natural yeast extract” but I still couldn’t get EWG to recognize that ingredient. It shows up as a healthy 2 however. I picked well. 🙂

ewg-skindeep-cosmetics-database-score-unknown

Kérastase Masque Chroma Captive – Treat – cones rule this one out for me. Lack of online ingredients for me to copy and paste rule out me bothering to look up what the EWG score is at the moment.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 6

COOLA® SPF 50 Sport – Mango –  Fragrance is the biggest downside to this. Coola is actually one of my preferred SPF options but I go for the unscented version. This ends up being a 6 with the fragrance. Without fragrance it would be a 4. Some of their other products rate a little bit better even then. This is still probably one of the healthier sunscreens out there. So much of it is super toxic.

Then add in the number that are now aerosol so you’re breathing it in as well (I know your kids are impatient and you feel the need to hose them down before they jump in the pool but please stop hosing down the rest of us.) Rant for another day…. 🙂

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 0

Pura Vida Lace Headband Set – My head is not the right shape for elastic headbands. Even one with a grippy backside won’t stay in place more than a few seconds on me. HOWEVER I think that I can cut this and turn it into some hair ties.


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July 17, 2013

July 2013 Birchbox vs Ipsy

Unboxing video for both the July Birchbox as well as the July Ipsy:

In my July 2013 Birchbox:

  • Marcelle BB Cream Golden Glow – perfume free is a pro on this one … but there are two forms of dimethicone in this. Some good ingredients in this and some ingredients I recognize to not be so healthy. I can’t find the ingredient list online to copy and paste and it’s rather lengthy so I’m not going to run it through the cosmetic database for a score (it’s not in there without the custom report.)  staremptystaremptystaremptystaremptystarempty 0/5 stars
  • Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Cream – I don’t know how accurate or current this ingredient list is but it does say there is dimethicone which rules it out for me personally. There are too many ingredients here for me to type it all into the cosmetic database for you to check the score to see if it is otherwise healthy for you. Generally it doesn’t look too bad but for me this is a  staremptystaremptystaremptystaremptystarempty 0/5 stars  (Can more companies or Birchbox start posting full ingredient lists online in a way that’s more accessible? This gets frustrating even outside of Birchbox at times.)
  • Beauty Protector Protect & Shampoo – fragrance and two types of dimethicone. Custom cosmetics database report on the ingredients brings it up as a 6 which is not exactly healthy either. staremptystaremptystaremptystaremptystarempty 0/5 stars
  • Beauty Protector Protect & Condition –  fragrance and  dimethicone. Custom cosmetics database report on the ingredients brings it up as a 5 so again not exactly healthy either. staremptystaremptystaremptystaremptystarempty 0/5 stars
  • FRAIS™ Towelettes Individualsamazing ingredients but I think this has to be one of the most expensive per use products to date. Cosmetics database ranks it a 2 which is excellent and there are a lot of healthy oils and other ingredients in this AND it’s supposed to remove waterproof mascara. However most makeup remover, moisturizing facial towelettes come in packages of 30 for between $6-$10 (so at most about $0.33 each.) This is $8 for a package of 7 towelettes! ($1.42 per use!) Since it’s individual packets I do think this might be good for travel but … I just can’t see using this regularly. Then again Birchbox hooked me on the LA Fresh nail polish removers for $0.50 a pop when regular bottles of nailpolish removers are only a couple of dollars and last an untold number of uses. So we shall see. Since I haven’t docked any others for price I’m going to leave this at starstarstarstar 5/5 stars

In my July 2013 Ipsy:My July 2013 Ipsy bag - cute hot pink!

  • POP Beauty – Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush – No dimeticone but it does use fragrance and petrolatum and mineral oil. A custom cosmetics database report brings it up as a 4. Between that and the fact it doesn’t have dimethicone I’m going to give it a try. It’s not super healthy but it’s … ok. If the manufacturer would skip the fragrance it would bring it’s score down quite a bit and be healthier even though it still would still not count as a natural product. I have tried this on and the shade is a little odd on me … I’m still undecided on it. starstarstarstaremptystarempty 3/5 stars
  • BH Cosmetics California Collection Eyeshadow Sample – mineral oil, talc, parabens. Meh moving on. I know I don’t want to use it. staremptystaremptystaremptystaremptystarempty 0/5 stars
  • COOLA Mineral Face SPF 20 Unscented Moisturizer –  I checked out this company’s full line back when I received the COOLA Classic SPF 30 Cucumber Moisturizer for Face back in the May Birchbox and pretty much everything looked awesome. So good in fact that I bought the unscented sport sunblock already but had been hoping to try the unscented face spf at some point. Scents right on your face can get a little old quickly if you aren’t in love with them and I wanted to see if this was something that worked better for say somewhere you might be out all day that isn’t the beach. starstarstarstarstar 5/5 stars
  • Sexy Hair – Weather Proof Humidity Resistant Spray – at first glance I thought “well it’s only the fragrance I’m annoyed about. Then I ran it through a custom report with EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment.’s skin deep cosmetic database and ended up with a 10 … TEN out of ten for highly hazardous ingredients. Bah! Ten is the worst possible score! But no dimethicone in this one… ugh. staremptystaremptystaremptystaremptystarempty 0/5 stars
  • derma e – Microdermabrasion Scrub – 100% vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, sulfate-free, mineral oil-free, glycol-free, lanolin-free, gluten free, GMO-free. No dimethicone or synthetic fragrance either (it does have a natural scent to it that smells fairly lemony.) And it ranks a measly 2 with the cosmetic database so this is a winner for being a healthy product and I look forward to trying it. Fingers crossed! starstarstarstarstar 5/5 stars

Birchbox 05/25 stars = 0.2 stars total staremptystaremptystaremptystaremptystarempty
Ipsy 13/25 stars = 1.92 stars total starstarstaremptystaremptystarempty

If I had to choose between the two boxes, month after month Ipsy has been winning hands down for me personally. It’s just those occasional gems and finding out about new brands along with Birchbox’s points system…. and well basically all the things I wrote about in this post that’s keeping me with Birchbox. It is what it is. 🙂

Hilary's July Birchbox vs Ipsy review and video

PS – my fun and funky straw fedora came from Kohl’s. Since Birchbox mentioned Power Plays being “A move that puts an individual in a position of victory and strength and/or maximizes one’s happiness or confidence and allows for extreme freedom”… I would have to say this hat would be my current power play. I hate having to dry my hair in the summer and this hides the fact that I keep washing and running or going to the pool and then not having styling tools with me… or for today it was an instance of not washing so I could make it to an early morning meeting and then my hair looking a little frazzled by the end of the day but I still wanted to get this video done so I plopped on the hat. I also wore it to Forecastle Music Festival so my forehead and ears didn’t get burned (with or without sunscreen my forehead seems to burn if out way too long) but I do think I need to find a hat that has a bit better ventilation because this one has a tendency to heat up when it’s 85+ degrees outside! 🙂

 

September 18, 2012

September 2012 Birchbox unboxing

 

What’s inside:

  • Birchbox and Color Club® Custom Collection in “Put a Pin In It” : love it, I’m thinking the other shades are enticing as well.
  • twistband™ Lace up for Fall
  • The Brush Guard Variety Pack
  • Fekkai Essential Shea Shampoo & Fekkai Essential Shea Conditioner : scary ingredients. Didn’t even bother running a custom report on this one after taking a closer look. Add in that it would cost $50 total for shampoo and conditioner and I’ll pass on buying a full size version any time soon.
  • Dr. Jart+ Water Fuse Beauty Balm SPF 25+ : This BB Cream is a 5 according to a custom report with the Cosmetics Database. The big problems are parabens. For me two additional problems (for breakouts) are talc and dimethicone. I tried it on anyway… it just was all wrong for me.
  • BVLGARI Mon Jasmin Noir : again with the synthetic fragrances

Bonuses:

So favorite things from this box: nail polish, hair tie, and brush covers.

Unboxing video:

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