Radio Body Wash

February 14, 2015

Birchbox February 2015 “Rent the Runway” box including EWG Skin Deep scores for each of the products

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

This month I chose the “Rent the Runway” box because none of the other sample options were appealing and I really wanted to try the derma e glycolic scrub. I was also kinda crossing my fingers that there might be a beauty blender in the box that they hadn’t mentioned … but that wasn’t the case.

Sumita Color Contrast Eyeliner in Raina (a navy blue) – no cones, no frangrance, no parabens. It does have paraffin which I have mentioned feels weird on my skin … when it’s in blushes or eyeshadows or foundations but since eyeliner is such a small amount I’m fine with it as of of the ingredients here. So the other ingredient that’s a problem is one that I think may have been mistyped. “Isodecodane” seems to be a typo. The closest I get for that is “Isododecane” which is the ingredient that shows up for Sumita eyeliner on the Glossybox website. So this scores a very healthy 2 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. I’m looking forward to trying this one!

derma e® Anti-Wrinkle Vitamin A Glycolic Scrub – so you know how I’ve mentioned that some of the scores should be taken with a grain of salt? This would be one of them. The “fragrance” in this case is from a natural source (oils) and the vitamin A … it’s supposed to be in this product. Your skin will be more sensitive after using this because it IS a scrub. So even though this ranks a 6 with the Cosmetics Database, I’m looking forward to trying it. In my opinion the fact that it was docked points for two ingredients isn’t a problem in this case. Yes, you should be aware you may more easily burn in the sun after using any scrub, exfoliant or peel.

Fekkai Blowout Hair Refresher Dry Shampoo – no cones, no parabens but it does have added fragrance. The last dry shampoo I tried almost killed me with the fragrance. The ingredients are fairly simple though so let’s just check the ranking with EWG to see if anything else throws up red flags here. Isobutane which is what makes this an aerosol spray is also fairly toxic at a 7 on it’s own. So between the 8 it gets for fragrance and the aerosol delivery it brings the score down to a 5. Not the worst I’ve seen but also not the best I’ve seen. I may sniff and try this … but I’m not sure. It does make me think that surely someone could make a nice healthy dry shampoo though. One that also doesn’t turn brown hair white (which is another problem I’ve encountered with dry shampoos … throwing some corn starch into blond hair might work but not so much on brown hair.)

Not Soap, Radio Body Wash in “the stuff that Cupid dips his arrows in” – so no cones, no parabens BUT it does have fragrance added. And coloring (for a body wash is this really neccessary?) And DMDM Hydantoin (Formaldehyde releaser). So although the total score is only a 4 I’m not jumping up and down to try this product. Meh. Could be worse, could be better. Not going to be adding this to my daily staples anytime soon though.

theBalm® cosmetics Read My Lips™ Lip Gloss in “Bam! – Rose Pink” – no cones, no fragrance, no parabens. But it does have added flavor (usually these are going to be synthetic flavors) and it does have Vitamin A in it. In this case the product is left on the skin so having something that increases skin sensitivity and is worn doesn’t seem like a good idea to me. BUT it also contains a sunscreen (titanium dioxide) so maybe it kinda crosses itself out. This is the kind of thing that the EWG score doesn’t take into consideration. So I’m on the fence on this one. I’m not a fan of added synthetics anything in any product and I suspect that’s the case here with the “flavor/aroma.” So while I debate, feel free to make up your own mind. The EWG score for this is a 5.

So there’s also a coupon code for $30 off a $75+ rental from Rent the Runway in here too. And you know what? They have accessories and purses which I don’t remember seeing the last time I checked out this company.

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November 29, 2014

Birchbox November 2014 unboxing & ewg scores

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

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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