nail polish

August 18, 2015

My Ipsy August 2015 & EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database scores for each of the products

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

My Ipsy August 2015 and EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database scores for each of the products

Trust Fund Beauty Nail Polish in Elegantly Wasted – this is a slightly dusty light purple. Very interesting shade. One that I think may look better on than in the bottle. Something about it seems kinda 90’s to me and I’m not sure why. Not in a dated way but in a resurrection of a style way. This nail polish is 5-free. Since I ran the EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. score for the OPI that came in my birchbox, I’m running the EWG score on this too. So while this is “5-free,” the OPI is healthier. This comes in at a 5. Still going to try it because it’s nail polish.

LATHER ultra mild face wash – didn’t I get this recently in my birchbox? It seems familiar…Wait … nope. It was the face lotion not the wash and it was an ipsy glambag. Anywho. Nothing bad looking in here. Scores a 3 and none of the ingredients scream “run” so I may give this a shot. I am however very happy with soapless cleansers like the Liz Earle now so it would take a lot for this one to win me over.

Hikari Cosmetics Lip Gloss in Salsa – Parabens, Mineral oil, I’m out even if this one has a healthy score. Lip glosses that use mineral oil just feel weird and wrong on my skin now. This comes in at a 4 – not horrible but I know better.

Briogeo Blossom & Bloom ™ Ginseng + Biotin Volumizer – I really liked their conditioner and the ingredient list here looks excellent too. This scores a 3 and one of the ingredients it was docked for was over contamination concerns … so if they sourced that one well it isn’t really a concern right? Anyway – looking forwards to trying this one.

Starlooks Luxe Longwear Eye Liner Pen – no fragrance and no cones or parabens. Looks good. Though I tend to personally aim for a waterproof eyeliner which seems to be the only downside. So the EWG score is only a 2 which is good. Might try it when I want a distinctive cat eye just to see…

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August 18, 2015

My Birchbox August 2015 & EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database scores for each of the products

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

My Birchbox August 2015 and EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database scores for each of the products

St. Tropez Gradual Tan In Shower Lotion – no dimethicone (a personal issue) but it does have fragrance added. Which appears to be the worst thing in this. Overall score is a 5 with the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database score. It could be better but really as I said the worst thing is the fragrance. There are a couple of other things they could probably swap for something more natural for it to be healthier but this is probably one of the better tanning lotions score-wise … and from what I hear, it’s one of the better self tanners color-wise so I MAY give it a shot even though the score is a little higher than I would like. The scent will probably be the determining factor here for me. Things that cause me (or Tim if it doesn’t wash off) problems scent wise end up a no-go. I kinda like the form factor – that it’s a gradual shower lotion instead of something that you have to carefully put on, let dry and then wash your hands immediately.

dr. brandt® microdermabrasion skin exfoliant – fragrance, parabens, and a couple of other things that aren’t so healthy. No cones though. This ends up a 6 with the EWG skin deep cosmetics database. It’s the ingredients and not the score that’s going to keep me from trying this one.

OPI Venice Collection Amore at the Grand Canal – so instead of a score I’m going to check and see if it’s “5-free.” Does it any of the following:

formaldehyde – not in here
dibutyl phthalate – not in here
toluene – not in here
camphor – not in here
formaldehyde resin – not in here

For the heck of it I also ran an EWG report on this too … I don’t think I’ve ever run one on a nail polish. It came out a surprising 2!

This is a really nice rich red. The photo on the birchbox site does not do it justice. I think it will make a really nice fall color.

Rene Furterer LISSEA Leave-in Smoothing Fluid – this one I think I can smell through the container. The fragrance in this one makes it a no-go for me along with the dimethicone. It’s also not really that healthy coming in at a 5.

LAQA & Co. in Humble Brag – no cones, no parfum, no parabens, we may have a winner! BHT seems to be the worst ingredient here but the overall score here is a 2. So winner winner chicken dinner. 🙂

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January 30, 2015

Zoya Haul

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish

#nailpolishhaul I have a weakness… #Zoya tempted me with one of their deals and I ended up with 9 new shades!

Left to right: Wendy, LC, Tori, Emalia, Genvieve, Ling, Anais, Charlotte, Severine. I’ll be doing swatches hopefully soon! 🙂

July 19, 2014

Ipsy glambag July 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

bareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15 – holy cow, a BB cream with no dimethicone! YAY! Granted it’s eyeshadow instead of a foundation but I’m still excited. No fragrance or parabens etc. Ranks a healthy 2 with the cosmetics database. (ps: I have checked and the bareminerals foundation style bb cream has cones. As mentioned in the past, this might be a personal allergy but cones cause my skin to break out.) So the only negative here with the eyeshadow BB cream is that I can’t seem to find a shade name on what I received! I THINK I got the “Divine Wine” but since all of the shared are neutral and very similar it’s hard to tell (as I know print runs are not always perfectly accurate as well.) There’s a chance that I received Barely Nude as ipsy says “ipsy subscribers who receive this product will receive shades Divine Wine or Barely Nude.”

Befine Food Skin Care Daily Moisturizer with SPF 15 – another one I’m excited to try. Super healthy ingredients – so healthy it actually ranks a zero. Yay!

Hang Ten Dark Tanning Oil SPF 08 – no cones and again with the healthy ingredients! (Really hope we continue to see more brands using healthier ingredients!) But it does rank a 5 with with cosmetics database because of the OCTINOXATE and a couple of other ingredients (flavor? why does this need flavor? Or was the flavor for scent?) Octinoxate is NOT one of the top suncreen ingredients to avoid though. % could be worse but could be better when it comes to sunscreens. Check back to my previous article on sunscreens that includes the top ingredients to avoid: http://clothingcult.com/2013/05/19/find-a-healthier-natural-spf-sunscreen/ And EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. has a specific page to help you find healthy sunscreens here: http://www.ewg.org/2014sunscreen/

Pixi Beauty Mini Tinted Brilliance Balm in Unique Pink – no cones, no fragrance, no parabens. I’ve been really happy with about half of the pixi beauty products I have. Most wear really well but some shades are just really weird when applied which is the only reason I’m half and half on this company. I can’t remember which product looked chalky on me but one did. HOWEVER I have been regularly using the pixi pink lip balm I received in the May Birchbox which actually came as a surprise to me since usually I grab lip glosses over anything that’s a balm or lipstick. “unique pink” is a “pH reactive pink” but it seems to just be clear on me. Not sure if that’s just me or not. The cosmetics database ranks this as a 6. Mostly for the vitamin A and the limonen which are ingredients that don’t worry me as much personally. So although this ranks higher than I normally would go, I’m still willing to give it a try.

wHet Nail Polish in Facetious – this is a 3-free nail polish which is thankfully becoming the industry standard. It actually looks like it’s a dup for the color club Insta-This nail polish. We’ll see how well it wears!

Note on this month’s bag. When I opened my package I thought “what in here am I going to have to throw out?” It’s the cute scalloped bag itself that smells a little bit chemically and toxic. :/

Overall I’m really REALLY happy with this month’s ipsy glambag though! 🙂

July 16, 2014

Zoya Rocha, Wendy & Kitridge swatches
Summer 2014 tickled collection

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Nail Polish

I recently took advantage of one of Zoya’s three free promos ($12 shipping for three polishes) so I picked up several of the new polishes from the Tickled Collection: Rocha, Wendy & Kitridge. One of the things I haven’t seen would be swatches comparing them side by side so I decided to take some quick photos.

Particularly because when they first arrived in the mail I was concerned I made a mistake in buying all three because in the bottle they looked almost too similar. On my nails though they looked different enough that I was still glad I bought all of them.

(Ignore the tiny little mistakes on the polish – I actually did this quickly in the car. Parked of course.)

I’m in love with the fact that these are all very vibrant and a bit neon.

Zoya Kitridge is a vibrant light bubble gum shade.
Zoya Wendy is a bright coral or salmon shade.
Zoya Rocha is what I’m calling neon red which is actually a bit orange … without really looking orange. Rocha is actually a dead on match for a maxi dress I bought last week and it’s a really happy sophisticated color. (I need to share photos of those dresses on this blog! Oops.)

These polishes are a bit hard to photograph so I decided to take a few photos of them at different angles with slightly different lighting so you can get a better sense of the colors. All photos were done in natural lighting, no flash, no photo editing (other than adding text.)

Super happy with these polishes. All three of the colors I can see wearing a lot and they’re good summer colors. They look great against a summer tan.

July 13, 2014

Birchbox unboxing July 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Cynthia Rowley Beauty Eyeliner – cones rule this one out for me personally. Actually what’s odd is that some of the colors of this eyeliner use cones and some don’t so I had a 50/50 chance of being able to use this. They sent me the black which gets a healthy 1 with the cosmetics database. Which means it sucks that I react to cones by breaking out badly.

RUFFIAN Nail Lacquer – Ambrosia – This shade is a metalic orchid / purple shade. I don’t think it’s a good summer color but I do think I will wear it come fall and winter.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 4 RUFFIAN Dressing Room Nail Lacquer Remover Towelettes – while not horrible (no nail polish remover will rank a zero and this isn’t bad at a 4 with the cosmetics database) the added fragrance AND no added healthy oils means I will likely stick with the LA FRESH® Eco Beauty Acetone-Free Nail Polish Removers. They are also a 4 but they have aloe, rosemary extract, vitamin E and a few other things that I’ve liked.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 4 Naobay Body Radiance Lotion – no cones, no parabens, and many of the ingredients are organic. I’m excited to try this one. One caveate … fragrance (parfum) is hidden in there and I don’t know if it’s from essential oils or not. The description says no synthetic dyes but it doesn’t say no synthetic fragrances. If they want to be truly natural, that needs to be clarified. In the meantime, “Fragrance” gets them some point docked both by myself as well as on the cosmetics database report making this a 4. Still not bad but it would be SO much better if fragrance were from essential oils. And it might be which would mean this would rank better than a 4 if that were the case. It’s just not clear from anything on the Birchbox OR the company website whether or not the fragrance is synthetic or from natural ingredients.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 2 Real Chemistry Luminous 3-Minute Peel – no cones, no fragrances, no parabens… but I don’t expect this to rank well simply because almost no face peels rank well. So keeping that in mind… wow this actually ranked low! It’s a surprising 2 with the cosmetics database! I love peels and exfoliators so I will likely try this.

ewg skindeep cosmetics database score 2 100% Pure Gingerade Shower Gel (Honey Cream Wash) – no cones, excellent ingredient list and is a 2 with the cosmetics database. I’m excited to try this one though I hate little packages like this for the shower. I have to remember to cut them open before I get in the shower because they are nearly impossible to open otherwise particularly after you get your hands wet.

There’s also a magazine subscription bonus in here. A year’s subscription to Women’s Health and it doesn’t look like there’s any strings attached! (I’ll have to read the fine print in a bit.)

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