I get so excited every month when that pretty pink package comes in the mail. Have you heard of Birchbox? It's a monthly beauty subscription service. It's $10 a month (less than that if you subscribe for a whole year) and, if you fill out the reviews for the products you receive, you can earn $5 of credit in the shop each month...so it's basically less than $5 a month for awesome beauty samples. I've had a crush on Birchbox for a long time, I've been a subscriber for over a year, almost 2 years come this June! Anyway, since I recently started cutting toxins out of my life, I've been wondering...what the heck am I going to do about my beloved Birchbox subscription!? Well...Birchbox has saved me, once again.
First of all, Birchbox is super awesome and customizable, and I can go in to my beauty profile and change my subscription preferences so that I recieve more organic and natural products. #win In addition, they've also reccently added an "Ingredient-Conscious Picks" section to their shop. It makes it a lot easier for me to find products to buy with my Birchbox Points! However, everyone's definition of "safe" products varies, so please, still check the ingredients on EWG's Skin Deep Database before purchasing!
Okay, so in the slideshow above, I have pictures and links to all the products I sampled in my April Birchbox. And I'll go by order. As you can see, the box is pretty full, so it really is worth the $10!
Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel
Not a fan. The ingredients on this one really made me cringe. The EWG product report gives it a score of 6, and it has multiple parabens and other harmful ingredients in it. However, even after this, I was still stupid and tried it (just once!). It made my eyebrows feel stiff and weird and the stuff smelled really strongly of chemicals. I should not of tried it. I gave it away to one of my roommates (does this make me a good friend or a bad friend? hmmm...)
Davines Oi/ Shampoo and Conditioner
Ugh, this one bugs me because they're trying to claim that they're natural and safe. (They're not.) The shampoo's EWG product report has a rating of 5 and the conditioner's EWG product report has a rating of 6. I'm not going to go into all the harmful ingredient in these products, so if you want to learn more, you can click on the links and educate yourself. Because I've gone no-poo, I didn't even try these ones. The shampoo would of stripped my hair and the conditioner has silicones in it, so no thanks for me! I also gave this one away (still not sure if that makes me generous or evil).
Shea Terra Organics Rose Hips Black Soap Deep Pore Facial Cleanser
This one is safe! Yay! Thank you Birchbox for listening to my preferences! It has an EWG rating of 0! (Yes, 0!) All the good safe ingredients! This product is kinda cool because it is a sort of face mask as well. You leave it on for 5-10 minutes, rinse it off, then put it on again and wash normally. It's supposed to get rid of dead skin cells. It also smells pretty awesome, kinda like tea. I liked this a lot, but more as a once-in-a-while treatment mask than as an everyday product. I use the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM--which I'll post about later) so this actually dried my face out a little bit after regular use, but it's a great option for a weekly gentle mask. My face felt really soft and smooth after using it. :)
BeeKind™ Body Lotion
Another good safe option! And, another EWG score of 0! This lotion also smelled lovely. Usually, I use coconut oil as my mosturizer, but this is an awesome option that won't melt in my car or purse. It wasn't a spectacularly rich lotion, but it's a great option for normal use. It also absorbed pretty quickly, so my skin wasn't left feeling tacky, greasy, or oily.
KIND Healthy Grain Bars
I received my sample in Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt and it was delicious. :) I actually took this with me and ate it when I went hiking on Buffalo Mountain last Sunday! It was super yummy and has lots of healthy happy ingredients in it. It was definitely the perfect snack. :)
So that's all the products! I know it might sound like I'm really bashing the "unsafe" products. However, I completely recognize that what you put into (and onto) your body is YOUR choice. I personally am trying to stay away from ingredients that are or are believed to be unsafe. This is my blog though and I am trying to help others also be able to live healthy and provide helpful information to those who are interested.
Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel
Not a fan. The ingredients on this one really made me cringe. The EWG product report gives it a score of 6, and it has multiple parabens and other harmful ingredients in it. However, even after this, I was still stupid and tried it (just once!). It made my eyebrows feel stiff and weird and the stuff smelled really strongly of chemicals. I should not of tried it. I gave it away to one of my roommates (does this make me a good friend or a bad friend? hmmm...)
Davines Oi/ Shampoo and Conditioner
Ugh, this one bugs me because they're trying to claim that they're natural and safe. (They're not.) The shampoo's EWG product report has a rating of 5 and the conditioner's EWG product report has a rating of 6. I'm not going to go into all the harmful ingredient in these products, so if you want to learn more, you can click on the links and educate yourself. Because I've gone no-poo, I didn't even try these ones. The shampoo would of stripped my hair and the conditioner has silicones in it, so no thanks for me! I also gave this one away (still not sure if that makes me generous or evil).
Shea Terra Organics Rose Hips Black Soap Deep Pore Facial Cleanser
This one is safe! Yay! Thank you Birchbox for listening to my preferences! It has an EWG rating of 0! (Yes, 0!) All the good safe ingredients! This product is kinda cool because it is a sort of face mask as well. You leave it on for 5-10 minutes, rinse it off, then put it on again and wash normally. It's supposed to get rid of dead skin cells. It also smells pretty awesome, kinda like tea. I liked this a lot, but more as a once-in-a-while treatment mask than as an everyday product. I use the Oil Cleansing Method (OCM--which I'll post about later) so this actually dried my face out a little bit after regular use, but it's a great option for a weekly gentle mask. My face felt really soft and smooth after using it. :)
BeeKind™ Body Lotion
Another good safe option! And, another EWG score of 0! This lotion also smelled lovely. Usually, I use coconut oil as my mosturizer, but this is an awesome option that won't melt in my car or purse. It wasn't a spectacularly rich lotion, but it's a great option for normal use. It also absorbed pretty quickly, so my skin wasn't left feeling tacky, greasy, or oily.
KIND Healthy Grain Bars
I received my sample in Maple Pumpkin Seeds with Sea Salt and it was delicious. :) I actually took this with me and ate it when I went hiking on Buffalo Mountain last Sunday! It was super yummy and has lots of healthy happy ingredients in it. It was definitely the perfect snack. :)
So that's all the products! I know it might sound like I'm really bashing the "unsafe" products. However, I completely recognize that what you put into (and onto) your body is YOUR choice. I personally am trying to stay away from ingredients that are or are believed to be unsafe. This is my blog though and I am trying to help others also be able to live healthy and provide helpful information to those who are interested.