Thursday, March 26, 2015

Empties II

According to my phone I took this photo February 22, and I hadn't had time to post it until today. Obvious these things are not very up to date, and I've finish a bunch of shit in the meantime, which will have to wait until who knows when for a post. It's like some very boring version of time travel.


I didn't arrange them in the photo in a way that is conducive to neat categorization, I'm afraid, so I hope my grouping isn't too annoying. (As usual I'm not necessarily going to say much about shampoo/conditioner or foils unless there was something memorable about them.)

I have such a ridiculous hoard of mini shampoos and lotions and foils that I'm trying to use them up before I buy any more full size products, so expect lots of little things for the next while.

Makeup

Boots No. 7 Lift and Luminate foundation: Reviewed here. As you can see, I sadly did not finish it before it started to separate, and since it's in an airtight pump, I can't even shake it to mix it together a bit. I like the formula, but it's too dark, so I don't know if I'd buy it again, even though I have some white base to mix with it. And now no use for the white.

Be a Bombshell Eyeliner in Onyx: Got it from Ipsy once upon a time. It's a really fat felt tip pen. It only used it a few times before it dried up.

Mascara: I got this in a consumer testing program, so I'm not allowed to say what brand it is. But if you know your mascara tube shapes, you might recognize it. It's a pretty famous one. If you could see the brush, you would definitely recognize it. That's all I'm going to say! Sshhhh!

Lancome Cils Booster XL Mascara Primer (mini): Honestly, I'm not sure these primers do anything that another coat of mascara wouldn't do.

e.l.f. Long-Lasting Lustrous Eyeshadow in Party: Reviewed here. It still hadn't dried up, but the smell went funky, so it had to go. But it lasted 2 years, not bad for a cream shadow.

Avon Glazewear Lip Gloss in Apple Cinnamon: Reviewed here. The longer I had this, the grittier it got, so when it started to look chunky in the tube too, I tossed it. It probably had it for two years before it got bad.

Hair

Teadora Rainforest at Dawn Shampoo and Conditioner (minis): Really mediocre, packaged in stiff bottles that you can't squeeze, and certainly not worth the price.

Jhirmack SilverPlus shampoo: This is dark purple shampoo that I bought this when I tried to dye my hair dark blond and it turned strawberry blond. It made no difference - I guess it only works on very light hair. It is an extremely strong shampoo that was good for weekly clarifying, though.

Nexxus Humectress conditioner: One of my favorite conditioners ever. Make my hair soft and shiny and easy to comb.

Dove Oxygen Moisture shampoo (mini)

Davines OI Conditioner (foil)

Lotions and Moisturizers

Ahava Age-Perfecting SPF 15 hand cream (foil): Smells like sunscreen and wasn't particularly moisturizing. I wouldn't buy it anyway, because I make an effort not to buy products from companies that operate in the occupied territories.

Chanel Le Lift Anti-Wrinkle Cream (foil): No noticeable effects other than a fucking obnoxious fragrance.

Philosophy Renewed Hope (foil)

Moody Sisters Lightweight Moisturizer (foil): Now this is interesting. Initially I thought the package must be mislabeled, because it's a thin, watery substance like a toner. But no, that's what this moisturizer is. It's a bit mess to apply as a result, but it works very well. It has a light lavender scent.

DermOrganic Hand/Body Moisture Lotion (mini): This worked okay, but sometimes it left a scent on my hands that was almost like fake tanner. Wouldn't buy it.

Gold Bond Ultimate Moisturizing Skin Therapy Lotion (mini): Got this in my Xmas stocking. It's a very effective hand cream.

Other Skin Care

Simple Cleaning Facial Wipes: My favorite. Effective without drying me out.

Pacifica Sea Foam cleanser (mini): Reviewed here.

Real Chemistry Luminous 3-Minute Peel (mini): Got it from Birchbox. Never noticed any results whatsoever when using it (and it was large enough for several uses).

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish (mini): Got it from Birchbox, and it was something I'd wanted to try. Overall I think the cloth and the multi-step process do more to really cleanse your skin than the actual cleanser. It was a little too creamy for me, so I ended up using it as a first step when I was wearing a lot of makeup, and then washing again with a lighter face wash after. I wouldn't buy it.

Coppertone Clearly Sheer SPF 30 sunscreen (mini): Reviewed here. This tube was separating (maybe from freezing during air travel?), and I have so many other sunscreens, it's not worth dealing with.

Lip Balm

I have been making a serious effort to finish some of my open lip balms before starting any new ones.

Labello Soft Rosé: This was an impulse purchase in an Italian grocery store, even though I know that I don't usually find these Labello/Nivea lip balms very impressive. It smells lovely but isn't very effective. I used it up by layering it at night over Paula's Choice Lip and Body Treatment Balm, which works better but smells awful. Together they're a good team.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Lip Balm: Here's what I have to say about this.

So that's it! And I have another bag half full under my desk that I will have to get to soon.

Friday, March 13, 2015

Birchbox update

In my post about my frustration with the samples Birchbox is sending me, Rebecca from Hello Pretty Bird commented that I might consider contacting customer service and seeing if they could make any suggestions. I put off doing that until I saw that they are sending me two moisturizers in this month's box. Two fucking lotions in in the same box. COME ON. So I sent off an email (politely) expressing my disappointment with the last few months and my impression that the things I'm getting don't seem to match the settings in my profile. I got an interesting response. The customer service agent enrolled me in their beta program, which I've heard about before, that allows you to select categories from which they will only send you 4 products each year. They're divided into body, hair, makeup, nails, and skincare. She suggested adjusting just 3-5 categories so that there would still be enough options for them to choose from. So I went ahead and selected lotion, sun protection, moisturizer, and self tanner as things I'm not interested in. The makeup categories are just "eyes," "lips," "cheeks", etc., so I can't really do anything about the fact that they only send me black eyeliner and sheer lip products. I do want eye and lip products, just not boring ones.

I'll see if this makes any difference in what I receive, though I only have 3 months left in my prepaid subscription, so if the year starts now rather than at the beginning of 2015, it might not have much effect. I will report back!

Has anyone else used this beta thing? Any results?

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Can alcohol ever be ok in skin care products?

I seem to become more middle of the road in my approach to ingredients the more I learn about them. I still don't want anyone trying to trick me by putting a bunch of shit in a product that isn't going to do me any good, but I'm not so paranoid that I think a little bit of fragrance is going to turn me into an old hag, necessarily, anymore.

Alcohol is one of those ingredients, like fragrance or preservatives, that gets demonized in skin care (though the people worried about fragrance and the people worried about preservatives tend to belong to separate camps). A lot of skin care products contain alcohol. But does it actually serve a useful purpose, or is it just in there to improve the product's texture while ultimately producing damaging results?

Here are some different perspectives from sources that I think are generally smart and reliable (i.e. not the EWG):

Alcohol is always bad (except fatty alcohols).

Alcohol is fine.

Alcohol can serve a purpose in small quantities.

At this point, I am not bothered by a little alcohol somewhere near the second half of the ingredients list. However, if you're trying to sell me a fucking $95 serum that has SD alcohol as the second ingredient (after water and followed by boring ingredients like glycerin and silicone), I'm going to have to pass, thanks anyway.

What's your take on alcohol on your face, not just in your glass?
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