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ModelCo

February 14, 2015

Ipsy glambag February 2015 including EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database scores

Ipsy glambag February 2015 including EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database scores via ClothingCult.com

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 3CARGO 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.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 7Eva 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 EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. skin deep cosmetic database so I wouldn’t want to use this anyway.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 5Hey 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.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 3ModelCo 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.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 4“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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October 17, 2014

Birchbox October 2014 unboxing & ewg scores

Birchbox October 2014 unboxing & ewg scores

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 10Lord & 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!

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 8Harvey 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?

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 9ModelCo 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.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 4BeeKind™ 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.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 6dr. 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…


 Still not signed up for Birchbox? :D

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July 22, 2014

August 2014 Birchbox sample choice –
how they stack up based on ingredients

I was impressed last month when Birchbox gave us a choice of colors on the nail polishes we received. They decided to extend that this month and let us again have a choice on one of the sample items in our boxes but this time it’s bigger than just the color. This time they’re going to let us choose between four products.

So I thought I would go ahead and do 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 reports for each of these products now in case anyone wanted factor how healthy they are into their decision making.

* * * * SPOILER ALERT * * * *

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ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 2ModelCo Bronzer (full size retails for $22.00) Keeping in mind that they often send sample sizes, this one would still be the most expensive to try on your own. This IS free of cones, parabens, and fragrance and other nasties and it ranks a healthy 2 with the cosmetics database.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 2Laura Geller Beauty Cool Lids Cream Eyeshadow (full size retails for $19) color me impressed. This is another healthy item at 2 out of 2 ranking a 2 with the cosmetic database. This is a shimmery cream eyeshadow in “silver sands.”

 

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 3ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 5ewg-skindeep-cosmetics-database-score-unknowntheBalm® cosmetics Stainiac (full size retails for $17.00) this is one of those products that many many people fall in love with that I just wasn’t personally enamored with it. I’ve had this as a sample before and I just didn’t use it. It’s a dual purpose stain and I stick with bronzers for my cheeks so that might be part of it. But it’s a top seller so…

The link in the cosmetics database may be missing some of the ingredients or might be using an older ingredient list so I decided to do a custom report. It does contain fragrance and parabens and but it ranks somewhere between a 3 (using the report above) or a 5 based on the custom report I did using the ingredient list off of the nordstrom website. The ingredient list wasn’t available though birchbox’s website nor through theBalm site. I didn’t want to go dig out my sample because it may actually be old and might not have the current ingredients either… so it’s somewhere between a 3 and a 5.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 1Noir Long-Wear Eyeliner (full size retails for $15.00) I actually already own this. It’s a good black eyeliner pencil but I’ve found I’m the weird one who can apply a gel liner faster and better than most pencil liners so I prefer those most of the time. So although I don’t need a backup of this, I’ve kept this one around because it’s a good black pencil liner and it’s a super healthy 1 with the cosmetics database.


 

So I own the last two already. And the first two are a tie when it comes to the ingredient ratings… Surprisingly all of the options are good choices when it comes to the ingredients  (theBalm’s stainiac is the only iffy one and it still isn’t horrendous.)
… Decisions decisions….
Which one do you think you’ll choose? 🙂


 Still not signed up for Birchbox? :D

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{ yes it’s an affiliate link, I get 50 points which equals $5 credit – share the love! }

 


* * * * UPDATE – even more choices! * * * *

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