mascara

December 23, 2014

Birchbox unboxing December 2014

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

Vasanti Kajal Extreme Intense Eye Pencil in rose gold – die dimethicone die! Why must you make my face break out? And yes this is an eyeliner and my eyes don’t break out but I can smear or the process of taking makeup off … yeah. Annoying. Because otherwise this isn’t that unhealthy and the color is gorgeous. It’s a 3 with the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.

Mirenesse iCurl Secret Weapon 24 Hour Mascara – more cones … and it’s not waterproof but it’s healthy. It ranks a 2 with the cosmetics database. And good reviews so you might want to try this.
ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 3 JUARA Turmeric Antioxidant Radiance Mask – 3 for 3 for me here with dimethicone again and my own personal problems with that. Not too bad on the rest though. This is a 3 with the cosmetics database. 3 for 3 is a 3! Hehe … SMH… nevermind.
W3LL PEOPLE Bio Brightener Stick – I believe I chose this one because of the healthy ingredients. It gets knocked down a notch unnecessarily for “unspecified oils” because of the essential oil blend. Granted it annoys me a little to not have a full list for allergy related reasons but it’s not enough to worry me with this brand. This ranks a surprising 4 with the cosmetics database. This is one of those “take it with a grain of salt and review the full report” situations in my opinion though.

ewg-skindeep-cosmetics-database-score-unknown Davines Replumping Shampoo & Conditioner – So the ingredient list on Birchbox for both is not accurate. There’s WAY more than “Essential petit grain oil, plum phytoceutical, gentle surfactants” in each of these. And I just don’t have the patience at the moment to type out the ingredient list for both of these at the moment. The bad: fragrance. The good: no cones, no parabens and nothing else that looks too bad. I’ve been wrong before but I think this would be pretty healthy and I do want to try it.

Davines Replumping Superactive – I couldn’t identify 2 of the ingredients but even so this ranks a 5 with the cosmetics database without those. Cones rules this one out for me but it’s also not very healthy.

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December 23, 2014

Ipsy Glambag unboxing December 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Beauty Without Cruelty A.H.A. 3% Facial Cleanser – No cones, no parabens, no fragrance. This is actually a fairly healthy product. It ranks a 3 with the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. I believe that the reason it is this high has to do with the acids that help turn over skin cells. Like a lighter version of a chemical peel, these may also cause skin irritation for those with certain skin sensitivities. But there are essential oils that should help calm and alleviate some of the irritation. Glycolic acid is in fact something that typically does good things for my skin. I haven’t used glycolic acids in awhile though due to the fragrances and other unhealthy ingredients in most of the products that contain it. I look forward to trying this.

CAILYN Cosmetics Just Mineral Eye Polish – with only three ingredients, this is a healthy 1 with the cosmetics database. This is one of those products that could be wonderful or it could have no staying power. It may also flake out which is what I had happen with some of the Jessi’s Girl eyeshadow pigments. Despite being named “orchid” it’s more of a neutral shade the reminds me of champagne with just a touch of ballet slipper pink. Point shoe … thats the color it reminds me of…

NYX Cosmetics Butter Lip Balm – dimethicone (makes me break out), fragrance, petrolatum. This is a cheap and cheaply made product and is a 5 with the cosmetics database. I won’t be trying it. The four colors they sent out are very appealing shades however.

Sexy Hair 450° Blow Out Heat Defense Blow Dry Spray Mini – Cones fragrance and this is an unhealthy 6 with the cosmetics database. Why is it so hard to find healthy and effective hair sprays? Particularly in drugstore products … even if they are higher end drugstore products.

tarte deluxe lights, camera, lashes™ 4-in-1 mascara – why does no one ever send waterproof mascaras? Aside from that, this is pretty good for a mascara. Just not great and there are better. No cones or fragrances or parabens and it’s a 4 with the cosmetics database.

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October 18, 2014

Ipsy Glambag October 2014 unboxing & EWG scores

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

Figs & Rouge Hand Cream in Mango Mandarin. So this is petroleum free, paraben and mineral oil free and all natural ingredients. Well that last one is a little fib because in my research carbomer is one of the few unnatural (but harmless) ingredients in many natural products. So the EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. score I’m going to cut some slack … because the fragrance in this instance is from natural ingredients. Soooo with the assumption that this is synthetic fragrances EWG scores it a 7. But if you assume as they say on the website that the fragrance is from natural ingredients then the score would be more realistically at … a 6? This still seems awfully high for the ingredient list. Bah. I don’t know … I’m thinking about trying it on my feet despite the score.

H2O+ Face Oasis™ Hydrating Treatment cones (rules this one out for me because cones break my skin out) but it’s the parabens and the synthetic fragrance that has me thinking this isn’t a healthy product anyway. Yup that would be an unhealthy 10 with the EWG skin deep cosmetics database.

NYC New York Color Big Bold Curl Mascara not waterproof is a deal breaker for me. Especially since I’ve found some good waterproof and healthy mascaras. So I’ll just check out the score for those interested here. 6 from the EWG skin deep cosmetics database. Could be healthier, could be worse.

Skyn Iceland Mini Glacial Cleansing Cloths I’m rather ambivalent on this – I don’t know that I really need a facial cloth, especially one with added fragrance. So this ranks a 5 with EWG’s cosmetics database.

Starlooks Lip Gloss in guilty pleasure – mineral oil and parabens … pass. Even thought this isn’t super toxic at a 5 it’s also not very healthy either.

August 19, 2014

Worth sharing: Mascara smackdown
What’s Non-Toxic, Cruelty-Free & Works?

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics

They missed my new favorite which is Pacifica’s Aquarian Gaze. It’s a 2 with EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. AND waterproof! Look for a review and photos here on this mascara soon!

via: http://kriscarr.com/blog-video/all-natural-mascara-reviews

August 16, 2014

Ipsy Glambag August 2014 unboxing

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Subscription boxes

Glamglow Youthmud® Tinglexfoliate Treatment – eeee it’s a 5 with ewg’s cosmetics database. The big negative is the fragrance. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to try this one or not. It’s right there on the edge. A bit higher than I would like on the ratings but for using maybe once or twice I might consider it. I like a good mask…

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara not waterproof or even water resistant. Therefor not my cup of tea. BUT it is a healthy 2 with the ewg skin deep cosmetics database so it does have that going for it. I just have now found some healthy AND waterproof mascara so I’m not even really interested in trying anything that isn’t waterproof.

Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo Lip Conditioner Uber healthy ingredients and ranks a 1 with the cosmetics database. No cones, no synthetic fragrances. Basically a healthy chapstick, no color. Plain, simple, healthy. Should be great for winter or for after the pool where the chlorine dries out my lips some.

Lord & Berry Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil no cones, no fragrances but it does have parabens. This is the most unhealthy product I think I’ve been sent in awhile, ranking an 8. It is also the smallest black eyeliner sample I’ve seen. I went to check the price just to see if there was some reason the sample was so small but their online store is offline. So if you want to take advantage of the ipsy discount promo code right now you can’t.

Manna Kadar Cosmetics Sheer Glo dimethicone rules this one out for me. It also uses parabens. It also ranks an unhealthy 6. This looks pretty similar to the e.l.f. Essential Shimmering Facial Whip but at $30 a bottle instead of $1. I will admit that since I’m not going to try this one there’s a chance that it may actually have more staying power than the elf product since the ingredients aren’t an exact match so it may be worth the money.

Given the other products that people were sent this month, I don’t think there were really better options. The few things that looked like I might be interested were ruled out by cones for me.

So some good chapstick. A little underwhelmed this month. But it does also come with a cute polka dot tube shaped makeup bag. 🙂

June 12, 2014

Ipsy Glambag June 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Be A Bombshell Lash Out Mascara – parabens, no cones (an ingredient that rules out makeup for me personally), but it’s not waterproof. Mascara as I’ve said before I will accept a little less healthy for the waterproof tradeoff. This is a 4 with the skin deep cosmetics database (reminder: low numbers are healthier! with 10 being the worst.)

DERMAdoctor DD Cream Dermatologically Defining BB Cream with Broad Spectrum SPF 30 – cones rule this one out for me. Ingredients aren’t too bad though with the skin deep consmetics database ranking it a 4.

Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray – no cones, but it has added fragrance. This ranks a 5 with the cosmetics database … and would rank lower if they hadn’t added the fragrance. I’m debating giving it a try anyway since I’m curious how it compares to the old discontinued John Frieda Beach Blonde Ocean Waves.

Nicka K New York Shimmer Eyeliner – cones rule this one out for me. It’s fairly healthy though since it ranks a 3 with the cosmetics database.

NYX Butter Gloss in Eclair – no cones but it has added fragrance. I’ll probably give it a shot since it’s only a 4 with the cosmetics database. It would be MUCH healthier if they hadn’t added the fragrance though.

(And a very cute patterned Rebecca Minkoff cosmetics bag!)