stila

July 22, 2015

Swatch & Review – Stila look at me liquid lipstick in Bella

Stila look at me liquid lipstick in Bella (swatched below) is a matte neon lipstick that’s part of the stila’s stay all day liquid lipstick line. And although I didn’t wear this one all day … yet, this neon matte lipstick seems like it will have some staying power. I ended up using coconut oil to get it back off both my lips and my hand.

Swatch - Stila look at me liquid lipstick in Bella

Stila look at me liquid lipstick in Bella – Neon Matte madness!

Stila look at me liquid lipstick in Bella neon pink not so sure

I’m on the fence about this. I am kinda in love with the color … but I also feel like I look a bit freaky with it on. And I don’t wear a vibrant or deep lipstick … ever. I recently posted 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 score on my Birchbox July post and it’s a little less healthy than I would normally go with but I don’t know of any natural equivalent to this. And this is not the type of color most people would wear daily!

I do think this would be pool proof and waterproof…. it does . not . budge . once it’s dry. Which is nice because one of the reasons I don’t wear a lot of dark or vibrant lipsticks is because they do smudge or come off on my teeth. This does not.

But that means you also have to be careful putting it on. You should use the wand to get the shape you want on both top and bottom lips, don’t press your lips together because that can make it look weird. Just apply and let it dry. I have no idea what lip liner you could even begin to use with this so apply carefully because Unevenness WILL show … you can kinda see that in the image below:

Swatch on lips - Stila look at me liquid lipstick in Bella

Final review of the Stila look at me liquid lipstick in Bella

I’m eyeing the other colors even though I’m not even sure that I will wear this one! The matte neon is very appealing to me. I don’t know why but it is. The fact that it stays put and also comes in a lipgloss tube is also appealing. I’m so torn!!!

July 21, 2015

Birchbox July 2015 and EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics Database Scores

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Makeup / Cosmetics, Subscription boxes

stila look at me liquid lipstick in bella – I thought this was one with dimethicone in it but in looking at the Birchbox listing, it isn’t (cones rule things out for me – allergy-like issue.) It does have parabens though. This MAY fall into a category of “unhealthy but use once in a blue moon” because the color just pops and is fun. Actually it’s not as bad as I thought it would be. It’s not healthy but it’s a 5. Right in the middle. Mostly because of Propylparaben. I think I may give this one a shot here. Just for those times when I want a super vibrant neon pink lip. 🙂

Juice Beauty® GREEN APPLE™ Peel Sensitive – I’m half and half on Juice Beauty products. Although most are SUPER healthy, I have found that only about half of them seem effective on me in doing what they claim. Juice Beauty’s oil-free moisturizer was one I used until I came across the Derma that trumped it. With that in mind, the ingredients here look good. It’s going to get docked some points with EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. for Vit A and maybe a few things that would make this a good peel … but it’s a PEEL. Yup right about where I expected it to be – it’s a 5 with Vit A causing a lot of that. Look over the ingredients and decide for yourself. I’m going to give this a try.

Keep in mind that with peels you don’t want to use them and then say go to the pool for a couple of hours. I like to use peels and exfoliators at night so I can apply some heavier moisturizers and give my face some time to heal.

Macadamia Professional™ Weightless Moisture Leave-In Conditioning Mist – Cones rule this one out for me personally but there are a lot of long ingredients in here that are throwing up warning flags as well. There is fragrance but no parabens. Let’s see what other ingredients get called out and why…. right off the bat “POLYQUATERIUM-37” doesn’t match anything. No obvious alternative name so going from there. Ah yes … an ingredient I’m starting to see more because people have become aware of parabens. Companies are choosing other preservatives that can be just as bad. In this case: METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE So this ranks a 6 with the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database.

Dr. Jart+ Ceramidin Liquid – so not a “cone” by name but dimethiconol is a silicone polymer which rules this one out for me personally (personal issue with cones.) Two other ingredients were clearly misread by OCR “crosspolyrner” should be “crosspolymer” for example. Yet again with that tricky paraben preservative replacement – Methylisothiazolinone … what a mouthful. This ends up ranking a surprising 6 with the EWG Skin Deep Cosmetics database.

English Laundry Eau de Parfum No. 7 for Her – synthetic fragrance. Headache and itchy nose without even opening it. Seriously I need them to realize that this HURTS me and makes me think each month I get a fragrance about quitting. And I would readily accept having one less product in my box if it meant not having to be exposed to synthetic fragrance samples that affect my allergies. And if you think “how do you live with people around you who use these products” to which I say “there’s a reason I don’t live in NYC or some of the other major cities.” And yes I have left places when someone’s perfume was overwhelming. Fragrance is an unhealthy 8. PRETTY PRETTY PLEASE BIRCHBOX GIVE ME A WAY TO OPT OUT OF FRAGRANCE SAMPLES! I know I may still get a scented shower gel I can’t handle but I would at least like to stop getting little vials of insta-headaches. PLEASE!!!

Stila in Bella below:

January 1, 2013

Birchbox November 2012 unboxing

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

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

Masqueology Revitalizing Eye Mask – parabens
MCMC Fragrance Phoenix Eau de Parfum – “In the MCMC Fragrances laboratory, we use both natural and synthetic ingredients. The Dude No. 1 beard oil is the only 100% all natural product we currently have on offer, however, in all of our products, we do use an especially high concentration of natural ingredients in comparison to mass-market perfumes, which usually contain little (and sometimes none at all) natural ingredients.”
stila all over shimmer liquid luminizer – dimethicone

The next three only list “key ingredients” on their website so they probably aren’t completely natural:

Kiehl’s Creme de Corps
Masqueology 7D Moisture Cream
Masqueology Masque Cleanse

So second month I’m not going to use any of the samples. I’m repeatedly disappointed that somehow when they have an organic brand I typically don’t get it in my box. I would be less disappointed if they didn’t have natural and organic things that I would like to try. I feel like they avoid sending the items that would be a good match for me to me. I want to sample these things, not buy full size to try, which is part of the whole reason I joined Birchbox. Yes, what I got was high end, but that’s not my main concern. Yes, I still want it to be a fun process too.

Items listed as November items I wish I had received:

One Love Organics® Aromatic Body Serum

Shea Terra Organics Whipped Shea Butter Ultimate Moisturizing Body Crème

Mox Botanicals Lip Butter

Lulu Organics® Lavender + Clary Sage Hair Powder

Anyone get any of these 4 items and want to trade? I have some products from previous months that have gone unopened. (I ended up doing a giveaway with many but still have some.)

I’m starting to not feel the love here Birchbox – why are you taunting me so Birchbox!! It might be time to try an natural / organic box. Not sure yet if I’ll ditch Birchbox entirely but definitely time to try something new and more fitting.

Birchbox 2012 Holiday Gift Guide:

Open publication – Free publishing – More birchbox

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September 6, 2012

Birchbox August 2012 unboxing

Posted by By Hilary Baumann

Posted in Beauty & Skin, Subscription boxes

Unboxing video below descriptions:

Schick Hydro Silk Razor – I kinda wish I knew what was in the moisturizing strip BUT this is a problem I just have to ignore because it’s pretty much the same question I have with any good razor. This razor IS better than the Venus3 I was using before so I think I will be switching to it because it really is that much better. As long as I can find blades for it (first drugstore I was in didn’t have them but that could have just been the one.) First few uses it felt like it almost suctioned to my leg. The only problem with this is if you have a bug bite (be careful!) A much cleaner shave all around though.
WEI™ Pomegranate Buffing Beads – ingredients: Polyethylene, punica granatum (pomegranate) peel, coco-glucoside, benzoic acid. EWGEWG Environmental Working Group - an organization focused on research to make informed choices and live a healthy life in a healthy environment. rates it on these ingredients as a 1 (custom report.) LOVE this. I always love a good exfoliator and this is gentle and very different from a lot of the other options out there. You use it with your own soap so you’re not stuck with a soap that doesn’t agree with your skin. 20 packets for $20 is … not too bad actually for what you’re getting. Yes, there are better deals to be had but I think I might actually buy these.
Yu-Be Moisturizing Skin Cream – I’ve received this before (on second look, I actually received this in my KlutchClub box as well.) Camphor is a really wonderful thing for sore muscles. Since I recently royally messed up my back, I did in fact go through almost all of the two samples I had stashed before trying a cheaper drugstore muscle cream (almost all of them have menthol so there was only one.)
They say that the camphor smell in this product dissipates but it doesn’t really seem too in my opinion. It’s less harsh than menthol but it still makes me smell a bit like a little old lady. Maybe it would dissipate more if just used as a lip balm. This isn’t specifically a sore muscle cream but HOWEVER this is WONDERFUL on sore muscles.
Would I buy this? I’m really on the fence. I would love to use it as an occasional post workout muscle rub but it comes in such tiny quantity that I don’t think that’s practical. It’s also fairly expensive at $18/2oz.
WEI™ Golden Root Purifying Mud Mask – I can’t seem to find the ingredients list for this but I think it’s just clay and golden root: http://www.weibeauty.com/by-type/purify-chi/golden-root-purifying-mud-mask.html
I liked what this did but the scent was a bit overwhelming for me. It’s not a bad scent, just one I felt irritated my sensitive allergy prone nose. Top that off with the cost … $5 per pod isn’t bad as a treat but since you have to come up with $40 and commit to more at once my brain kicks in and says “$40 for mud?” 🙂
Caldrea Hand Soap – this is a 4 according to EWG’s cosmetics database and part of that is for the essential oils being labeled “fragrance.” However the fragrance in this soap is derived from natural ingredients so it should have a better score. As a soap it’s still a little harsh, a little generic to some degree… I just wasn’t wowed. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/product/206539/Caldrea_Liquid_Hand_Soap/
stila stay all day™ foundation, concealer, & brush kit – apparently the ingredient list isn’t posted online, I’ll write the company. http://answers.sephora.com/answers/8723/product/P374937/questions.htm?page=2
I did go ahead and try it on the inner part of my arm and the color somehow came across as chalky to me. It seemed to match my skin tone but something was just off about it.
Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy La Fleur – again with the synthetic fragrances. Seriously, when are they going to stop sending me these? Moving on.

via YouTube

** SPOILER ALERT **

I watched the September Birchbox preview for a change and here’s what I’m really hoping I get in my September box:

Color Club Put a Pin It – Rose gold nail polish
Brush guards – brush rolls are too space consuming unless you have a large sink counter to work with which makes them annoying for travel but my last trip I threw everything in a cosmetic bag and it wasn’t kind to my brushes so really hoping I get to try these
Vasanti Brighten Up! – Enzymatic Face Rejuvenator – this has good ingredients and is an exfoliator which is something I always like trying
LiQWd Professional Volumizing Catalyst – I’m on the fence about wanting this. I can’t find the ingredient list.