Ipsy glambag February 2015 including EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database scores

CARGO Cosmetics Mini Lip Gloss in Anguilla – no cones, no fragrance added, no parabens. I have high hopes for this one and it’s not too bad at a 3 with the EWG skin deep cosmetics database. I’m looking forward to trying this one and it’s a really nice basic shade as well that looks like it would work well with a lot of skin tones – very neutral but maybe a little bit light depending on how opaque it ends up being.

Eva NYC Up All Night Volumizing Spray – dimethicone rules this one out for me. It also has fragrance though and diazolidinyl urea (formaldehyde releaser) though and this ranks a 7 with the EWG skin deep cosmetic database so I wouldn’t want to use this anyway.

Hey Honey Take It Off! Exfoliating Honey Peel Off Mask – the only negative ingredient I see on the list here is fragrance. Since all the other ingredients are all natural I decided to go see if I could find anything on the company site that might indicate natural or essential oils used as fragrance instead of synthetic (ingredient labels have certain requirements and lump all “fragrance” under the same label.) While they do have a very thorough rundown of the ingredients, fragrance is not specifically addressed in any of the main sections that would or could normally address this. Thus I’m going to have to assume it is in fact a synthetic fragrance. That said, there are some other ingredients that are “harmful” according to EWG that are included because this is in fact an exfoliating peel. A peel SHOULD take off some layers on purpose but because of some of the ingredients, it gets a higher score even though I would still consider this a fairly healthy product. It ranks a 5 with the skin deep cosmetics database. This is why I always take the EWG scores with a grain of salt. I’m going to give this one a shot … after sniffing it to make sure the scent isn’t going to trigger my sinus allergies of course.

ModelCo BLUSH Cheek Powder in Peach Bellini – no cones, no fragrance, no parabens. But it does have paraffin and talc … neither of which feels right on my skin anymore for some reason. BUT this ranks pretty well with the cosmetics database at a 3. So although I probably won’t be trying this, it is healthy. Also another reason I typically don’t jump for joy over blush is that I have naturally rosy cheeks so I tend to stick with bronzer. Blushes tend to make me look a little …. overdone or clown-like and that’s not even about the quality or shade but my own skin. It IS however a really nice shade so if blush is your thing you might want to give this one a shot.

“Pencil Me In” Cosmetics Natural Eye Liner Pencil in Amethyst (purple) – no cones, no fragrances, no parabens, everything is looking good. But apparently vitamin A brings this one’s score down – it ranks a 4 with the skin deep cosmetics database. This is yet another score I’m going to take a grain of salt. I’m going to try this product especially since I don’t think purple is going to be a shade I wear daily.

And the bag this month is super cute. 🙂

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Birchbox unboxing December 2014

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.
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.

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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Birchbox November 2014 unboxing & ewg scores

Chuao Chocolatier Assorted ChocoPod – it’s chocolate and I really like this brand. Nice extra. I got the Maple Bacon … mmmmm bacon…. 🙂

DevaCurl 3-Step System – This is a three part product so I’m going to review each piece separately. No cones, no parabens but there is fragrance added to these and there’s no indication that it’s from essential oils.

No-Poo™ – Cleanse: The ingredients don’t match the current EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database listing for this so I went ahead and did a custom report. It’s still a healthy 2 with the custom report. Good news here and there’s no fragrance or other nasties.

One Condition – Hydrate: This is a not-so-bad 4 with EWG’s Skin Deep Costmetics Database. So we’re still hanging in there with the ratings. Since this is a system I think I should try the whole thing to really judge it. I really wish I could easily open these and check out scent and consistency without needing to use them immediately…

Light Defining Gel – Define: Again with a not-so-bad rating of 4 with EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database. I think if DevaCurl would lose the synthetic fragrances this would be even better.

My last comment on the DevaCurl system is that while it’s a great sample to be one sample in my Birchbox, I wish it had come in mini bottles instead of packets you tear open. It’s always frustratingly difficult to keep samples like this if they are more than one use. Also I kinda wanted to sniff them and have Tim sniff them to make sure it wasn’t a scent either of us was outright allergic to and since you have to cut them open I can’t just twist off a top to check.

Gilchrist & Soames Spa Therapy Body Lotion in “Relaxing Sea Fennel” – no parabens, phthalates, petrol-derived ingredients, mineral oil, urea, DEA, TEA or propylene glycol. But I can’t find the actual ingredient list anywhere online. So I’m going to type them up:

Ingredients: water, cetearyl alcohol, cocos nucifera oil, glycerine, ceteareth 20, helianthus annuus seed oil, parfum/fragrance, macrocystis pyrifera extract, chondrus crispus extract, crithmum maritimum extract, fucus vesiculosus extract, ulva lactuca extract, citric acid, dimethicone, glyceryl dilaurate, stearic acid, benzyl alcohol, dehydroacetic acid, acrylates/C10-30 alkyl acrylate crosspolymer, sodium hydroxide, tocopheryl acetate, alpha-isomethyl lonone, benzyl salicylate, butylphenyl methylpropional (lilial), citronellol, eugenol, hexyl cinnamal, limonene, linalool

So this has dimethicone in it which I can’t use. It’s not the worst product though as it ranks a 4 with the EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetic Database.

theBalm® cosmetics Cindy-Lou Manizer® – this has dimethicone in it which makes me break out so this is a no go for me personally. Otherwise it’s fairly healthy. It ranks a 3 with the cosmetics database. It looks like it’s a nice color and should work well as a highlighter OR if you don’t like highlighters I would recommend trying it as an eyeshadow.

Not Soap, Radio Body Wash – fragrance and synthetic colors. I don’t think that synthetic colors in soap is really necessary. Actually the color is the only way I was able to tell which one I received. Since it’s yellow I received “Joy Inducing” Lemon + Sugar. Or to complicate things further, it’s “Pheonix” in the ingredients lists listed on Birchbox.com and “Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil” is not listed on the back of the bottle (I wish they would stop making me work so hard on these ingredients!) It’s a 4 with EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.

Royal Apothic Cuppa Cuppa Firming Tea Treatment Mask – no obvious nasties except for fragrance. Then Phenoxyethanol is a preservative used in cosmetics and personal care products and it’s not great either. If they would work on these then it would probably be perfect. It’s low enough that if it doesn’t make my nose itch though that I will be trying this. It’s a 4 with the cosmetics database.

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Ipsy Glambag August 2014 unboxing

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. 🙂