lipstick

May 26, 2015

My Birchbox May 2015 – and EWG scores

Benefit Total Moisture Facial Cream fragrance but otherwise at a glance this looks pretty good. Off to EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. skin deep cosmetics database to get the score. I missed the BHT. So the score isn’t as good as I hoped here. It’s a 5 and there are other moisturizers out there that are just a little bit healthier and still good.

Number 4™ Blow Dry Lotion fragrance, cones, I can’t use this. I think I’ve smelled some the Number 4 products before and this is just too strong to even consider. Plus cones. Let’s see what this ranks with EWG. Looks like an another 5 here.

Real Chemistry Luminous 3-Minute Peel I deliberately chose this because I didn’t see another item I wanted more. I actually like this product enough to have purchased a full sized version and received it in a previous birchbox. I figured I might like a travel size or just a little extra here.

Whish Flawless Swipes the fragrance is a dealbreaker for me on this one. The whish products seem to be very fake sweet scented and not my cup of tea. And it’s not natural. But according to the EWG skin deep cosmetics database it’s not horrible, it’s a 3.

Chosungah 22 Flavorful Lipstick in vanilla berry fragrance but no parabens or cones so it’s on the the list of maybe to try. However it’s not exactly that healthy. Mostly it’s the fragrance though that brings it up to a 5 – a little more toxic than I’m usually willing to try. I’m debating trying this … and then I remember that I have a pixi lipstick that’s healthier and in the same shade range. I’ll probably do a swatch comparison.

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March 25, 2015

Ipsy Glambag March 2015

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

March 2015 – FLORAL FANTASY

Mary Kay At Play® Eye Crayon – first ingredient is dimethicone so this product is out for me personally. Reminder, cones cause my skin to break out for some reason. No parabens, no fragrance but it does contain aluminum powder. It ranks a 4 with the EWG skin deep cosmetics database. Not great but not bad.

Coolway Glow Oil Treatment – second ingredient is dimethicone, also out for me. Along with dimethicone it also includes fragrance and ranks a 5 with the EWG skin deep cosmetics database. There are a lot of better oil and hair treatment options out there. Also one of the things about cones (for those that aren’t allergic) they may make your hair look good the first few uses but they can be not so great for your hair over time.

NYX Cosmetics Butter Lipstick – no cones, no parabens, but it does have fragrance/parfum. It also doesn’t have mineral oil or parafin which, although not toxic, are ingredients that don’t feel right on my skin. So I could technically use it but it’s also a VERY purple shade. Going back to the EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. skin deep score on this one and it’s just not healthy. It’s a 7 due to many of the other ingredients used. So nope, not using this one.

LANEIGE BB Cushion – more cones so again this one is out for me. No parabens but it does include fragrance again. When I started to run it through the cosmetics database custom score builder I ended up with it having problems finding the following:

CROSSPOLYMER
ETHYLHEXYL
POLYRICINOLEATE
ACRYLATES/STEARYL
ACRYLATE/DIMETHICONE
DIMETHICONE/VINYLDIMETHICONE
CROSSPOLYMER

So the score does not reflect these ingredients. And yet still it’s a horribly unhealthy 9. Nope, nope I would not use this product.

skyn ICELAND Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels – no cones, no parabens, no fragrances/parfumes added. So far so good here. And an EWG skin deep report shows this as a healthy 2 and a closer look at the ingredients and everything looks pretty good. Healthy and gentle is something you want with the more delicate skin around the eyes. Definitely going to give these a try.

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January 14, 2015

Worth Sharing: Lipstick / Lipgloss smackdown
What’s Non-Toxic, Cruelty-Free & Works?

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics

So I think they left off lip glosses (the kind with a tube and wand) and I’m hoping they’ll come back and do that as a roundup.

via: http://kriscarr.com/blog-video/best-natural-vegan-cruelty-free-lipstick/

CrazySexyLipstickRoundup

October 17, 2014

Birchbox October 2014 unboxing & ewg scores

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Lord & Berry Paillettes Eye Pencil soooooo this was the item I picked out this month and somehow it wasn’t in my box. I posted a photo on instagram and did contact Birchbox customer service and they’re shipping one out to me but it will be 10 days before I might get it. So without having it in hand to review let’s look at why I chose it. It doesn’t have cones (I break out with cones) and some of the other nasties I normally see. However I missed the parabens when I was checking this out and choosing it. So lets see how this scores with the EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. skin deep cosmetics database scores it. OUCH. Wow. I did horribly in picking this out. It’s a solid 10 from the cosmetics database. On a scale from 0 to 10 with 0 being the healthiest. UGHHH! And I thought this was going to be maybe a 4 based on skimming through the ingredient list and was the product I was most looking forward to trying!

Harvey Prince Petaly Noir – nope. Just no. No synthetic fragrances for me. Worse, I can smell the Harvey Prince perfumes just by opening the box and they typically give me a headache without opening them. I REALLY really hope that Birchbox will give us the option to opt out of perfumes. I particularly dislike the Harvey Prince products they have been on a roll with sending me each month too. September I complained about this. August same complaint. You aren’t going to win me over. Headaches just make me mean. Stop it. Pretty please?

ModelCo Party Proof Lipstick in Kitty – well another I had high hopes for but it fails. No cones but there’s fragrance. Also one of the ingredients that isn’t harmful I tend to avoid and that’s mineral oil. So with the EWG cosmetics database rating of a 9 I don’t think I’ll be trying this one. Do you know how much lipstick/lipgloss you accidentally eat? Ew.

BeeKind™ Body Lotion – The website claims “The BeeKind™ Collection features Gilchrist & Soames’ Signature formulations, which contain no parabens, phthalates, petrol-derived ingredients, mineral oil, urea, DEA, TEA or propylene glycol.” The bad news for me is that it has dimethicone in it which rules it out for me. Since I couldn’t find the ingredient list online I typed it up from the back of the sample:

INGREDIENTS: water; ceteryl alcohol; cocos nucifera oil; glycerine; ceteareth 20; helianthus annuus seed oil; parfum; dimethicone; honey; trifolium pratense flower extract; calendula officinalis flower extract; chamomile recutita flower extract; Cymbopogon schoenanthus exctract; citric acid; glyceryl dilaurate; steric acid; benzyl alcohol; dehydroacetic acid; acrylates/ c10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer; sodium hydroxide; tocopheryl acetate; citral; citronellol; geraniol; hexyl cinnamal; limonene; linalool

If they dropped the added fragrance that would do a lot to make this a healthier product. Despite all of the things it doesn’t have in it, it’s a 4 with the skin deep database. This is not terrible but it’s also not as healthy as they might be leading you to believe.

dr. brandt® Exclusive Clean Up Nice Kit – This is actually just “pores no more cleanser” as the sample. Paraben, paraben, paraben. If they just went with a healthier preservative this would be a healthier overall product. As it is right now it’s a 6 with the ewg cosmetics database.

So I’m a little underwhelmed with the products in this month’s box. Since Birchbox started giving us a choice of one product in our boxes I can’t believe I picked something that unhealthy out of what was available (and I can’t remember what the other options were.) Anyway…

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September 19, 2014

Ipsy glambag September 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Crown Brush Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush – synthetic fibers double ended brush. I don’t have a preference over synthetic vs natural on brushes as long as it’s a good brush for the job. At first glance and feel this seems like a good quality brush and both ends I think I would be likely to use. I think the only thing I’m not sure about is that it’s double ended. I’ve been using brush guards on all of my brushes since I throw them in a bag. I don’t think I can use the brush guard with the double ended brush though. I’m excited to try this.

Hikari Lipstick in Cabernet – so one, I wear more lipgloss than lipstick. Two, I’m not big on red lipstick. It just looks weird on me (or maybe that’s just my imagination.) The good: No fragrance, no dimethicone. The bad: it has parabens and mineral oil. The mineral oil isn’t toxic but it feels weird on my skin so I avoid it. This lipstick is a 5 with the cosmetics database. Do you know how much lipstick and lipgloss you eat? Mmmm?

Pacifica Natural Water-Proof Eye Pencil in fringe (brown) – pacifica is pretty much a hands down winner brand in my opinion. A few products I can’t use because of cones but otherwise it’s a sure bet when it comes to healthy ingredients and a quality product. No cones in this (a reminder, cones aren’t unhealthy, they just break out my skin personally) so I’m excited to try it. Even better that it’s waterproof!! This is a healthy 1 with the skin deep cosmetics database.

Briogeo Don’t Despair, Repair!™ Deep Conditioning Mask – Let’s start with the fact that upfront they’ve said “This product is free of parabens, sulfates, phthalates, silicones, artificial fragrances, artificial dyes, and gluten. It is cruelty-free and contains organic ingredients.” WOW. A company that seems to get it. So let’s just check out the cosmetics database report on the full ingredient list. Sooooo EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. judges vitamin A just a little more harshly than I would and it gets an 8 … which makes this a 4 with the cosmetics database. I’m giving this one some slack since the vitamin A seems to be the worst thing here. My hair could use some deep conditioning mask after all of the swimming this summer.

LeeAnni Eco 3-in-1 Revolution Light – Toner, Serum, and Moisturizer in One … and I just ran out of my face moisturizer. No cones, no parabens, no synthetic fragrances, excellent ingredient list … done and done. The cosmetic database ranks it a 1. Trying this asap.

March 13, 2014

Ipsy glambag March 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie™ Lipstick in Get Ready – no cones. Good ingredients. Smallest lipstick sample ever! (It’s actually kinda cute … but almost in a funny ridiculous way.) I really would have preferred the lipgloss though. The color of this is just a little off for me. I realized that one of the reasons I prefer lipglosses is that the tubes are longer and are easier to find in my purse (and don’t pop open accidentally.)

NYX Love in Rio Eye Shadow – cones rule this one out for me. Gorgeous colors though.

Chella Indigo Blue Eyeliner – cones rule this one out for me.

Pixi Beauty Flawless Beauty Primer – cones rule this one out for me.

Well this month is a little bit of a bummer for me since cones cause my skin to break out badly and that means I can’t even try 3 out of 4 of the products. I do continue to appreciate that ipsy posts online 100% of the ingredients to the products they send. I’ll also create cosmetics database reports here soon since cones aren’t unhealthy and several of these products may be good choices for other people.

Wish I had received:

Pacifica Body Butter – obsessed with this brand.
bareMinerals – Marvelous Moxie™ Lipgloss in Rebel because although I love to try lipsticks, I tend to wear more lip glosses.
Vita Liberata pHenomenal 2-3 Week Tan Lotion – this one I’m hesitant on because I’m not much one for self tanners. But the ingredients look decent and I would have tried this if it had been in my bad.