sexy hair

December 23, 2014

Ipsy Glambag unboxing December 2014

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.

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}

February 4, 2014

Ipsy Glambag unboxing January 2014

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Skin Care, Subscription boxes

Elizabeth Mott Smooth Shadow Pencil – no cones and it’s an excellent healthy ingredient list. The cosmetics database brings this back as a 1 so the only additional question is whether or not it will last the day or crease a lot.

(MALIN+GOETZ) Mojito Lip Balm – the initial search on the cosmetics database had me wowed with a zero (best score ever!) but turned out that their listing for this product only had two ingredients whereas the product is now much more complex OR simply entered wrong for that listing. I created a custom report based on the longer list of ingredients and came back with a rating of a 5. Bah humbug. Other than the synthetic fragrance though it doesn’t have ingredients that have me running for the hills. If this doesn’t bother my nose I MAY try this one anyway.

Proactiv+ Mark Fading Pads – Well it’s not the usual ingredient I call out but if you see “urea” you probably have a less than healthy product. I had high hopes for this after I checked for Benzoyl Peroxide (I’m allergic to the key ingredient in the main Proactive product.) I like the idea of something with glycolic acid that would promote skin cell turnover for healthier looking skin and fading acne scarring faster however the IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA (FORMALDEHYDE RELEASER) is not something I want on my skin. The cosmetics database report brings this product as a whole back as a 5 rating.

Sexy Hair Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Tri-Wheat Leave In Conditioner – cones so I can’t use this one personally. It’s also a 6 with the cosmetics database. This brand is fairly hit and miss. Some products that are excellent and healthy and others that might do great things for your hair but aren’t so healthy.

skiin Soothing and Smoothing Eye Cream – cones so I can’t use this one personally. It’s a 5 with the cosmetics database and it brought to my attention one other thing. I like essential oils but since Tim is allergic to certain natural oils I don’t like the vague “blend of essential oils” on the ingredient list.

Not in my bag but wish I had received (and I may try):

April 12, 2013

Ipsy bag April 2013 – product overview & review

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

April’s Ipsy bag is “Pretty in Pink”

So let’s just start off by saying there are some excellent things in this bag but I don’t buy a lot of pink eyeshadows and I have a natural pink to my cheeks so I opt for bronzer over blush. That said, I’m going to judge based on ingredients moreso than color this go round.

In my bag:

MicaBeauty Mineral Eye Shadow – mica and no bad stuff. Excited to try this though pink isn’t something I jump up and down over most of the time. First I’ve heard of this brand though so I’ll be checking out their other products. I actually like the color as well. It’s got some sparkle to it but it’s not overkill either.
Sexy Hair Soy Renewal – nope … soy and I don’t get along and if that weren’t bad enough it has dimethicone as an ingredient. Moving on.
Miss Professional Nail Sation Nail Lacquer – this is a 3-free brand. Three free means no: dibutyl phthalate, toluene, or formaldehyde. I got the “Love At First Byte” color and it was the color I wanted of the two they shipped but the shade doesn’t wow me. I thought it was a dup to Zoya’s Lulu at first but it’s just very similar only a little darker. It’s very similar to my skin tone. Two coats shown in the Love at First Byte swatch below. I’ll update later with how long this lasted before chipping.
Be A Bombshell Blush – I checked out the ingredients …. talc and mineral oil…. I didn’t even read any further, it’s also bright bright pink so this is not for me.

In the glamroom but NOT my bag:

Sexy Hair Powder Play – this scored a 1 when doing a custom report with the cosmetics database. No dimethicone and I WAS really excited to try this!! BUT it’s NOT in my bag!! This was the item I wanted the MOST. More about this in a minute.
Two Cosmetics Duo Eye Shadow – first ingredient is talc and the last is “synthetic” something … usually means the eyeshadow isn’t going to be that great and will crease as the day wears on. So this product is not for me.

Overall I’m good with the bag. It was love it or hate it but I found out about some new to me brands and this bag also showed me that SOME of the Big Sexy Hair products could be good and acceptable ingredients-wise (though some of their products are also not going to touch my head.)

Now here’s where I’m REALLY annoyed – Sexy Hair’s Powder Play: It’s that whole “other people got it but I didn’t” thing. The product I wanted to TRY the most, I didn’t get. I tried using the sexy hair store locator on their website but I couldn’t get it to select the state from my iphone!!!!! I wanted it enough that I decided to hit all of the drugstores on the way home from the mail (business mailbox) because I knew I had seen the product lines those places.

WORSE:
I tried Rite Aide, I tried CVS, I tried Walgreens, I tried Target, I tried Meijer. I’m not kidding.

I could not find the Sexy Hair “Powder Play” any of these places. So … back home I check online and the one place I forgot was Ulta. So I’ll try there soon. If I don’t find it there, I’ll buy it on amazon.com (Ipsy’s $5 off of $25 purchase of the product from the ulta site isn’t a “deal” when you have to pay shipping… plus spend more money.)

Almost forgot. A discount code to GenBeauty in LA. The fact that it’s in LA I won’t be attending but the coupon code can be used by multiple people so I thought I would post it:

And the unboxing video (this time I remembered the tripod! But my angles are a little off):

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