number 4

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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June 11, 2014

Birchbox unboxing June 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Benefit Cosmetics – Benefit They’re Real! Mascara: no cones but not waterproof and I’m not a huge fan of the brush type. I can’t ever seem to get the spiky ones to work as well as the brush type wands. It ranks a 4 with the cosmetics database which is ok though.

Cynthia Rowley Beauty Creamy Lip Stain in Valentine: cones rule this out for me which is too bad because it’s a cute shade AND it’s a healthy 2 with the skin deep cosmetics database. So healthy and cute but I can’t use it personally.

English Laundry Signature for Her: no no no. Not only is it a synthetic fragrance but it has even more unhealthy ingredients beyond that. On the plus side though this one came in a sealed pouch so it didn’t kill me when I opened the box so that part’s good. It ranks an unhealthy 7.

Evologie Stay Clear Cleanser: looks good. It’s ok. I’ve used it for about three days now. Not a miracle worker but seems pretty good. Not too harsh which is one of the problems with many of the acne focused cleansers. It has not caused any problems and I do wonder if it would have better results over time because it’s not harsh. If you want a soap style cleanser this seems like a good choice. It’s going to be tough for anything to beat the Liz Earle hot wash cleanser though. This ranks a decently healthy 3 with the skin deep cosmetics database.

Number 4™ Super Comb Prep & Protect cones rules this out for me. If they hadn’t added fragrance though it would be pretty healthy too – it ranks a 3 as well.

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January 19, 2013

Number 4 Clarifying Shampoo review

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Hair

I was really underwhelmed by the Number 4 Clarifying Shampoo. It felt like it was coating my hair in something rather oddly when I was “rinse lather repeating” in the shower. Most clarifying shampoos feel like they’re pulling gunk and buildup OUT of your hair instead of depositing it. I continued and gave it a shot anyway.

The biggest thing that made me a little hesitant to try it was the fragrance. The other ingredients looked pretty good. The scent was also fairly strong but luckily it wasn’t affecting my allergies. I have tried shampoos that were so bad I had to get another shower because I knew I was going to be sick by the end of the day if I didn’t wash again with my regular shampoo.

Photos below are just after drying my hair with a hair dryer (pre curling iron.) It’s a bit frizzier than usual and it’s not nearly as shiny. No additional products. I take that back, I used a little of my own conditioner because I felt that if I didn’t my hair would be a complete mess.

After using the curling iron on my hair it looked a bit better but it was lacking volume and still wasn’t amazing looking. The shampoo I currently use daily does a better job than this does and at a fraction of the price.

Basically the fragrance and the lackluster performance are going to keep me from using this again. I had high hopes for it but it’s just not for me.

January 16, 2013

Birchbox January 2013

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

My Birchbox January 2013

number4 clarifying shampoo – yay! Interested in trying this one
the balm hot mama – was excited about this until I read dimeticone on the ingredients – it breaks me out
fresh lotus youth face cream – dimethicone strikes again
lashem – my eyelashes are thick enough so no interest
harvey prince skinny chic – when are they going to stop sending me synthetic fragrances – I haven’t even opened it and the smell coming from it is giving me a headache. They need to stop sending me fragrances already. Particularly since they aren’t sending anything that’s natural.

Anyone want to swap? The only one I plan to try is the shampoo. And I also think I’m going to try ipsy.

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