lipgloss

June 13, 2013

June 2013 Birchbox vs Ipsy Glambag

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

My Birchbox unboxing AND my Ipsy unbagging in the video below along with some swatches and commentary. AKA June 2013 Birchbox vs Ipsy Glambag:

My June 2013 Birchbox:

Davines 3-Step System – Davines Love Smoothing Shampoo, Davines Love Smoothing Conditioner, Davines OI/ OIL. dimethicone… 0/5 stars
Mirenesse Glossy Kiss in “Quick Kiss” – the color was growing on me and at first glance I thought that the ingredient list looked ok. Not super healthy but not super toxic. What I missed was that they include fragrance AND dimethicone. The dimethicone is a deal breaker for me personally. And it’s a gorgeous color.Argh. Cosmetics database custom report has it about a 4. Since I had already swatched on my hand, I tried on my lips just because I was curious about the color. I think it might be a little hard to wear but I do think it might have certain occassions that it would be nice to have that extra pop. Then I washed my face intensely and I’m hoping that a limited test isn’t going to cause cystic pimples anywhere near my mouth. I was thinking of the Laqa & Co Lil’ Lip Duo when I was doing the video so I’m frustrated I didn’t get this product. 0/5 stars for the Mirenesse (would have been a 5 star if it had been without dimethicone and fragrance … or if it had been the other product.)
Color Club Wanderlust Collection – I received “Pardon My French” which is a nice lavendar but I was hoping for “Reign in Spain” because I have a thing for corals. My problem with this isn’t that I have to buy the nail polish color I want, it’s that they don’t have full size bottles and you can only buy the set. Since you already have one of the colors, then you’re buying a second of that color no matter what you got in your box. The purple is a good enough color to have as a mini but I don’t need two and I really wish that they offered these as full sized individual bottles instead of the collection. I will probably buy the collection though at $8 and free shipping, so whatever. 3/5 stars (I’m just not a big purple fan plus my comments about the collection above and no full size products even available. For purple it’s an excellent shade and always love the Color Club polishes.)
Oscar de la Renta Something Blue – synthetic fragrance. They now have a new check box for “don’t send me more than 6 fragrances a year” but I really wish I could make that setting “don’t ever send me fragrances” …. maybe with the additional of “I’m allergic to half of them and I don’t want to use the other half and this is such a waste. One even gave me a headache just from opening the box so please stop sending perfume already.” Sigh. Just know, unless it’s natural / organic and it doesn’t give me a headache (which does exist, just rare) I’m not going to give a fragrance a positive review. 0/5 stars

My June 2013 Ipsy Glambag:

Starlooks Lip Pencil in “Bare” – I had high hopes for this one. However the color made me unsure if it was meant to be a lip liner or a light eyeliner (though lip liner makes more sense …) Nothing jumped out as obviously bad ingredients that I could identify. No dimethicone, no frangrance, no parabens. But the custom report, it ended up a 6. (pdf linked on this one.) 0/5 stars
J.Cat Beauty Eyelash + Eyelash Glue – even the glue on this isn’t bad for you. I may cut these apart into individual lashes instead of trying to use the full strip but I’m happy enough with these. Until you get into some really specific eyelashes, those in the under $8 price point are all fairly decent and your biggest factor is lash style / cut. Latex free glue. And these are human hair … ok so a little higher quality than your average drugstore lashes but also a little creepy in that sense. Cruelty free (not tested on animals.) I don’t wear false lashes maybe more than … once every three years but I will be using these for an upcoming special event probably fairly soon. 5/5 stars
Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter Pencil – AWESOME no cones. Turns up a 3 in a custom report. Talc is the worst ingredient and in this case I’ll forgive it since it’s not going to go on my eyelids (where talc tends to crease) and it’s not filler reducing impact of some other pigment. I love this in the inside corner of my eye and this looks perfect and natural. No shimmer so it can be used easily and I wonder if it might make a good concealing pencil as a result as well. 5/5 stars
J.Cat Beauty Sparkling Cream Palette – this is categorized under “body glitter” instead of eyeshadow. It’s a chunky glitter so this makes more sense. No, just no for so many reasons. Plus there are the ingredients which aren’t good as well. Kind of on par with petroleum jelly mixed with glitter. It even says “This product should be used on the body and not on the eye area.” I’m not sure what they were thinking. Halloween? Rave? 8 year old girls? I don’t know and this just really doesn’t seem like a great fit for an ipsy bag even ignoring the ingredients for a minute. Yes it’s wild but… Might have made more sense it to be sent out in October just for the Halloween reason. 0/5 stars
NYX Blush in “Pecan” – awesome bronzer shade but there’s dimethicone and talc so I won’t be using it. I haven’t swatched this but I suspect the color is excellent for a beachy summer look. 0/5 stars

I also just realized that people were commenting below the products on ipsy (linked to in the glamroom) if they wanted to trade. OR there’s also http://mygl.am/glammieswapforum (though the other seems more efficient… or makeupalley would also work better than the facebook page.)

And I’m happy with the leopard bag with the neon zipper. I’ve been leaving the chevron bag in my swim bag recently just to throw my jewelry in so it’s not lost at the bottom of the bigger bag. I’ll probably find a use for this one too.

So there you have it … another mildly disappointing month with Birchbox and a good month with Ipsy. I think I wouldn’t even be saying this if I had received the Reign in Spain polish and the other lip gloss Birchbox had promoted on facebook. Actually I’d probably have been happy with just the other shade of nail polish just because the swatches I saw of it looked like a nice bright fun summer color. The creamy shade is one that I already own something similar and the green … meh, not as versatile. Actually the purple I already own something similar to as well just the that Color Club purple is just a hint better actually.

Swatches of some of the products from these boxes:

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?

March 13, 2013

Burt’s Bees new lipgloss tubes

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics

I’ve had a couple of Burt’s Bees new lip glosses for maybe about a month now and really love them so time to do a review.

I first saw these at CVS near where I live around the beginning of January (I think) but some jerk had broken the seal on every single tube. So it wasn’t until I managed to head over to another CVS that I managed to buy my first tube.

My favorite natural lipgloss has been Gabrielle Cosmetics Zuzu Luxe and I find the Burt’s Bee’s new lipgloss tubes to be very comparing in consistency, quality and staying power. Zuzu Luxe is about $18 a pop at Wholefoods or online. Burt’s Bee’s is about $9 each which makes them very appealing particularly if you like variety.

Burt’s Bees lipgloss tube 251 “Evening Glow”

Back in November I bought Zuzu Luxe in “Tango” (I keep meaning to do my Zuzu Luxe haul post but haven’t yet.) Evening Glow is a dead ringer for this shade. My only problem with it … is I didn’t mean to buy a dup of something I already owned! And it’s a little darker than my daily wear.

click for a larger view

Burt’s Bees lipgloss tube 221 – “Sunny Day”

Sunny Day is a really nice perfect light pinky peachy color – it’s a very easy to wear color. A sort of “your lips but better” option and I’ve been using it a surprising amount. Before I used Zuzu Luxe “Crystal” which is a nice clear gloss but I like this just that little bit more for daily wear. This one is definitely a lot less pigmented.

Both colors have a certain amount of shimmer to them but neither of them is over the top or glittery on your lips. I don’t think any of the available shades don’t use mica which is what gives it that shimmer (no matte or cream gloss here.)

Overall I’m really pleased with these and I’ve got my eye on a couple of additional shades to try out. 🙂 https://www.burtsbees.com/natural-products/lips-lip-color/lip-gloss.html

Zuzu Luxe lip glosses:
http://www.gabrielcosmeticsinc.com/index.cfm/product/43_20/zuzu-luxe-lip-gloss.cfm

If you prefer lip gloss sticks, check out my posts on Burt’s Bees vs Wet N Wild Lip Shimmers.
http://clothingcult.com/2010/11/03/burts-bees-vs-wet-n-wild-natural-blend-lip-shimmers/

Side note about Burt’s Bees: Burt’s Bees company was purchased by Clorox in 2007 but Burt’s Bees still does NOT do product testing on animals. Some people dislike the parent company enough to not want to purchase products from them, and that is your right to make that choice. I however am reviewing based on healthy ingredients and quality instead of politics on this post. It can be hard to find good natural makeup resources and I personally don’t plan on disqualifying Burt’s Bees over their parent company alone.

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October 16, 2012

October 2012 Birchbox Goop edition

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

What was in the box:

DDF® Wrinkle Resist Plus Pore Minimizer Moisturizing Serum – Ingredients: Water, Cyclopentasiloxane, Glycerin, Niacinamide, Dimethicone, Crosspolymer, Polymethylsilsesquiioxane, Tocopheryl Acetate, Palmitoyl Pentapeptide-4, Sodium Hayaluronate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Butylene Glycol, Caprylyl Glycol, Hexylene Glycol, Triethanolamine, Panthenol, PEG-100 Stearate, Carbomer, C30-45 Alkyl Cetearyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Benzyl Alcohol, Triethoxycaprylysilane, Titanium Diozide, PPG-15 Stearyl Ether, Polyhydrozystearic Acid, Mica, Methicone, Dimethicone, PEG/PPG-18/18 Dimethicone, Alumina, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, DMDM Hydantoin, Disodium EDTA, Phenozyethanol, Fragrance, Iron Oxides.
As I’ve said before, cones break me out so I won’t even be trying this product. There are however many other ingredients here that make this a non-natural product.
OROFLUIDO Elixir – Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, Cyclotetrasiloxane, Dimethiconol, Argania Spinosa Kernel Oil, Cyperus Esculentus Root Oil, Parfum (Fragrance), Isopropyl Palmitate, Linum Usitatissimum (Linseed)Seed Oil, Hydroxyisohexyl 3-Cyclohexene Carboxaldehyde, CI 47000 (Yellow 11), CI 26100 (Red 17)
Another I won’t be trying: It says “fragrance” but in this case based on the rest of the ingredients I’m inclined to think it might be from oils. The “Dimethiconol” is a cone however. Probably does amazing things for your hair though.
LUNA Bar – unfermented soy. If you’re fine with soy, go for it. They’re tasty (I’ve had them before) but soy and I are not best buds.
Chantecaille Brilliant Gloss – the ingredients were not readily available but I did find them on another blog, “Truth In Aging” here. I’m not wowed. A $32-$34 lip gloss that touts natural ingredients that’s full of bad for you ingredients. I’m inclined to believe the post since Chantecaille’s own website avoids listing the full ingredient list as well.
So I probably won’t be trying this one on. The other problem here is that even if I liked it, I’m not sure what color it is. It’s not labeled on the product or the card. I think it might be “Folly” but it’s hard to tell when you’re looking online. Could be “Charm”?
Miracle Skin Transformer SPF20 Face – They say “Free of synthetic fragrances, dyes, wax, mineral oils, and talc. Developed with selected natural ingredients.” Notice the “selected” in that statement. That doesn’t mean it’s natural either.
Active Ingredients: Octinoxate 7.5%, Octisalate 5.0%, Oxybenzone 2.0%, Zinc Oxide 1.5%.
Ingredients: Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Dimethicone/Vinyl Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Caprylyl Methicone, Cyclohexasiloxane, Water/Eau, Dicaprylyl Ether, Boron Nitride, Octyldodecanol, Passiflora Edulis Seed Oil, Glycerin, Dimethiconol, Ubiquinone, Tapioca Starch, Mica, Physalis Angulata Extract, Phenoxyethanol, Peg-10 Dimethicone, Caprylyl Glycol, Tocopheryl Acetate, Polysorbate 80, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Potassium Sorbate, Hydrated Silica, Serenoa Serrulata Fruit Extract, Hexylene Glycol, Silica, Isoceteth-10, Retinyl Palmitate, Benzyl Alcohol, Phytonadione, Cholecalciferol, Tocopherol, Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides.
Again: cones.

So while I had high hopes for at least two products initially, the hair elixer and the lip gloss, we struck out across the board on all products. 3 of which included dimethicone. :/

What’s funny is that at the end of my video I said that none of my boxes have been a complete bust and this one ended up having nothing in it that I’m going to try.

via YouTube

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October 2, 2011

Anastasia HydraFull Gloss {review}

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics

Full disclosure: The folks over at Anastasia sent me a lipgloss to try and review. I still believe in giving an honest review even if a product was given to me so here goes.

Anastasia of Beverly Hills
HydraFull Lip Gloss
Paraben Free | Hypoallergenic | Dermatologist Tested
http://anastasia.net/
Price: $21.00

The color is a little brighter than pictured here – it’s hard to get a pic with the metallic lettering. “Sorbet” really looks like a raspberry sorbet in the tube.

First the good:

Applied to my hand I thought “how in the world is this ever going to look good on me, my skin doesn’t do pinks well… man this looks bright for me and I’m not going to be able to wear this out of the house.” Lets say I was a little worried.

But on my lips it gave them a nice pop that I thought “ok, maybe not everyday but it looks good.” Enough shine, a little color.

To me it looked a little more pink than in my photo below but not as bright as the photo above. I applied lightly and then rubbed my lips together to even it out which brings me to my next comment. (Photo was taken in the car with true daylight.)

I know that some people like or prefer what I’m going to call the “spackel applicator.” You know, the wand with the little plastic tip instead of the fuzzy one. I personally prefer the fuzzy tip applicators and hate trying to use the spackel type. I’m not holding the applicator against it though especially after what I did next.

I decided to experiment… yup I took it apart.

A trip to Sally Beauty and I had spent about $4 on some wands with the fuzzy tips. First try I tried to twist one out but that didn’t work because they’re glued in so I tried cracking the acrylic with a pair of pliers. That worked. The spackel tip in the Anastasia gloss pulled with a little tug and I popped in the new fuzzy tip.

So lets talk about how this lipgloss wears. If you’ve ever worn Mac’s Lipglass or Zuzu Luxe / Gabriel Cosmetics lipgloss I would say the Anastasia Hydragloss feels about the same as these and wears about the same amount of time. This means compared to drugstore brands it’s that little bit extra sticky and stays on a bit longer. It’s still a lipgloss though and doesn’t stay around forever so you’re going to want to throw it in your purse and reapply a couple of times during the day. Also like the Zuzu Luxe it has a nice moisturizing affect.

Now for the bad:

I had high hopes when I looked over the ingredient list because at a glance it looked pretty good. But I popped the list into the Cosmetics Database to get a better idea (it wasn’t a product they already had listed.) Lower is healthier.

Anastasia HydraGloss is a 5 [link to screencapture]
Zuzu Luxe lipgloss is a 2 [link to screencapture]
Mac LipGlass is somewhere between a 2 and a 6… maybe. (They don’t post their ingredients online and the old formulas for Mac LipGlass, nothing newer than 2007, could be a 2 or it could be a 6.) [link to screencapture]

Retail Price:

Anastasia HydraGloss $21
Zuzu Luxe lipgloss $18.15
Gabriel Cosmetics lipgloss $16.75
Mac LipGlass $14.50 or $18.50 for pro longwear

Just to be fair I’m going to break it down to price per fluid ounce here.

Anastasia Hydragloss: 0.07 oz = $300/oz**
Mac LipGlass: 0.17oz = $85.29/oz
Zuzu Luxe lipgloss: 0.25 oz = $72.60/oz
Gabriel Cosmetics lipgloss: 0.35 oz = $47.86/oz

** I know that some of the difference is the thickness of the walls on the tube for Anastasia but if you look at them side by side I can’t see how Anastasia would have less than the Mac LipGlass or Zuzu Luxe. IF Anastasia’s Hydragloss is .17oz like the Mac Lipglass then it’s $123.51/oz which still makes it the most expensive of the bunch but it’s a LOT closer to what I expected.

BOTTOM LINE:
Would I buy it? Probably not because there are healthier options. Even if Anastasia’s lipgloss were cheaper I would still pick Zuzu Luxe and Gabriel Cosmetics lipgloss because healthier is MY priority. I no longer buy Mac Lipglass either.

Is it a high quality lipgloss? Yes, I do think it’s good and I do think that it’s a bit better than the Mac Lipglass because it’s more moisturizing than the Mac.