nyx

March 25, 2015

Ipsy Glambag March 2015

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

March 2015 – FLORAL FANTASY

Mary Kay At Play® Eye Crayon – first ingredient is dimethicone so this product is out for me personally. Reminder, cones cause my skin to break out for some reason. No parabens, no fragrance but it does contain aluminum powder. It ranks a 4 with the EWG skin deep cosmetics database. Not great but not bad.

Coolway Glow Oil Treatment – second ingredient is dimethicone, also out for me. Along with dimethicone it also includes fragrance and ranks a 5 with the EWG skin deep cosmetics database. There are a lot of better oil and hair treatment options out there. Also one of the things about cones (for those that aren’t allergic) they may make your hair look good the first few uses but they can be not so great for your hair over time.

NYX Cosmetics Butter Lipstick – no cones, no parabens, but it does have fragrance/parfum. It also doesn’t have mineral oil or parafin which, although not toxic, are ingredients that don’t feel right on my skin. So I could technically use it but it’s also a VERY purple shade. Going back to 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 score on this one and it’s just not healthy. It’s a 7 due to many of the other ingredients used. So nope, not using this one.

LANEIGE BB Cushion – more cones so again this one is out for me. No parabens but it does include fragrance again. When I started to run it through the cosmetics database custom score builder I ended up with it having problems finding the following:

CROSSPOLYMER
ETHYLHEXYL
POLYRICINOLEATE
ACRYLATES/STEARYL
ACRYLATE/DIMETHICONE
DIMETHICONE/VINYLDIMETHICONE
CROSSPOLYMER

So the score does not reflect these ingredients. And yet still it’s a horribly unhealthy 9. Nope, nope I would not use this product.

skyn ICELAND Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels – no cones, no parabens, no fragrances/parfumes added. So far so good here. And an EWG skin deep report shows this as a healthy 2 and a closer look at the ingredients and everything looks pretty good. Healthy and gentle is something you want with the more delicate skin around the eyes. Definitely going to give these a try.

Sign up for Ipsy:

http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-h051sec1kqq5g8p
{affiliate link – I get 250 points which points equal products but it’s still a little unclear how many points to the dollar}

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.

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!)

March 13, 2014

Ipsy glambag March 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie™ Lipstick in Get Ready – no cones. Good ingredients. Smallest lipstick sample ever! (It’s actually kinda cute … but almost in a funny ridiculous way.) I really would have preferred the lipgloss though. The color of this is just a little off for me. I realized that one of the reasons I prefer lipglosses is that the tubes are longer and are easier to find in my purse (and don’t pop open accidentally.)

NYX Love in Rio Eye Shadow – cones rule this one out for me. Gorgeous colors though.

Chella Indigo Blue Eyeliner – cones rule this one out for me.

Pixi Beauty Flawless Beauty Primer – cones rule this one out for me.

Well this month is a little bit of a bummer for me since cones cause my skin to break out badly and that means I can’t even try 3 out of 4 of the products. I do continue to appreciate that ipsy posts online 100% of the ingredients to the products they send. I’ll also create cosmetics database reports here soon since cones aren’t unhealthy and several of these products may be good choices for other people.

Wish I had received:

Pacifica Body Butter – obsessed with this brand.
bareMinerals – Marvelous Moxie™ Lipgloss in Rebel because although I love to try lipsticks, I tend to wear more lip glosses.
Vita Liberata pHenomenal 2-3 Week Tan Lotion – this one I’m hesitant on because I’m not much one for self tanners. But the ingredients look decent and I would have tried this if it had been in my bad.

September 19, 2013

Ipsy glambag unboxing September 2013

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

Ipsy Glambag Unboxing September 2013

In my September Ipsy Glambag:

Elizabeth Mott It’s So Big Volumizing Mascara – it’s supposed to be smudge proof but I can’t find anything say about waterproof and I really prefer waterproof in a mascara. Color is black and it only comes in one color. The brush shape though looks good and it’s a bristle brush (instead of a weird plastic brush) so it should do a good job with making eyelashes bigger looking without clumping.I’m holding off on using this though in case anyone wants to swap (if no one is interested in it, I may try it.) It does use parabens which I prefer to avoid but it still turns out to be a 4 with the cosmetics database (lower numbers are better.) I’m a little more lenient on eyelashes particularly with waterproof since it shouldn’t be on my skin. At the same time it’s close to my eyes so anything that irritates also still has to go.

NYX Single Eye Shadow in Cryptonite (ES63A) – no cones yay! (for me at least.) It does have parabens, mineral oil and talc though. It’s a 4 with the cosmetics database which isn’t all that bad though. I may give this a shot (I could have sworn though that the last NYX product I was sent included dimethicone that ruled that out.) This is a nice shimmery looking charcoal eyeshadow that looks like it might work well for a smokey eye.

Starlooks Obsidian Kohl Eye Pencil – no cones again and no fragrance or parabens here either (yay!) – negatives, petrolatum (not natural but not unhealthy) and talc as well as carbon black …. I’m not sure about the carbon black and why that’s given such a harsh rating. Anyway, cosmetics database report on this is only a 3 overall which is good. I’m not really looking for another eyeliner pencil because I’m really preferring gel eyeliners these days. Maybe because I’ve gotten good at putting them on and they’re sharper looking. Again, I’m holding off on trying this on in case someone wants to swap for it but if there’s no interest I’ll give this a try myself.

Freeman Beauty Facial Paper Masks in Starfruit, Blue Agave & Rose – They all have synthetic fragrance, DIAZOLIDINYL UREA, and coloring that doesn’t seem necessary. The Blue agave is a 5 with the cosmetics database. The Rose is a 5 as well. And wow – the one I thought would be the healthiest, the Starfruit is a 6. So no interest in even trying these personally. I want a healthier face. REALLY meh about this one.

J.Cat Beauty Fantabulous Lipstick in Honeycrisp (FL107) – this is a very nude shade of lipstick. It ended up making me look REALLY washed out (see video.) I wasn’t wowed by the parabens, fragrance or mineral oil but there was no dimethicone so I gave it a shot. Someone else said that this might be a good color to use if you want a lighter version of a dark lipstick that you own. I don’t really have a lot of dark lipsticks and tend to lean towards lip glosses. Though I’m open to trying different lipsticks, I’ve just never fallen in love with many. This one is also a 5 with the cosmetics database which is still a little high for my taste. Since I wasn’t wowed I think this will be thrown in with Halloween makeup options (once a year isn’t going to kill me and sometimes you need something odd for halloween.)

Bonus : EM Michelle Phan Makeup sample blush and eyeshadow. No fragrances, no parabens, BUT dimethicone is going to keep me from using this. http://www.emcosmetics.com/

So overall this month with Ipsy I’m really underwhelmed with the products I received. I would have loved to get the Butter London Nail polish or even another Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter (already have it and use it almost daily now.) But you win some and you lose some. The bag is cute this month and I’m using more of the bags than I expected I would. 🙂