Probiotic Skin (Review)

Howdy, folks! So... a lot of things have changed for me. Long story short, I'm back on the blogosphere... just recently. I'm now living in Denver, Colorado. I was born and raised in Texas and have only lived in TX and FL... so this is a good change.

(This was drafted before my recent makeup look... so I'm just going with it.) I have included ingredients for the products in the Probiotic Skincare line below:

Clarifying Skin Cleanser
Water (Aqua), Sodium C14-16 Olefin Sulfonate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Lauroyl Oat Amino Acids, Calendula Officinalis (Marigold) Flower Extract, Acrylates Copolymer, Willow Bark Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A Palmitate), Phospholipids, Hamamelis Virginiana (Witch Hazel), Glycyrrhiza Glabra (Licorice) Extract, Ginko Biloba Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Extract, Camellia Sinesis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C Palmitate),m Aloe Barbadensis (Organic Aloe Vera) Leaf Extract, Glycerin, Citric Acid, Melaleuca Alternifolia (Tea Tree) Leaf Oil, DMDM Hydantion Menthone Glycerin Acetal, Sodium Hydroxide, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Lactobacillus/Mild Ferment Lysate Filtrate (Yogurt Derived), Tetrasodium EDTA.

Lift and Smoothe Skin Toner
Water (Aqua), Aloe Barbadensis (Organic Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Lippiea Citriodora (Organic Lemon Verbena) Flower Extract, Lactobacillus/ Milk Ferment Lysate Filtrate (Yogurt Derived), Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Pentylene Glycol, Phanthenol (Pro-Vitamin B-5), Mentha Piperita (Pepperment) Leaf Extract, Glycerin, Ginko Biloba Extract, Dog (Rosa Canina) Rose Hips, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Extract, Calendula Officinalis (Marigold) Flower Extract, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Flour, Magnesium Aspartate, Zinc Gluconate, Copper Gluconate, Phenoxythanol, Benzyl Alcohol, Potassium Sorbate, Tetrasodium EDTA, Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Citric Acid.

Anti-Wrinkle Firm and Smoothe Serum
Water (Aqua), Aloe Barbadensis (Organic Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Glycerin, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter), Cetearyl Alchohol, Persea Gratissima (Avocado) Oil Unsaponifiables, Lactobacillus/Milk Ferment Lysate Filtrate (Yogurt Derived), Octyldodecanol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Sclerotium Gum, Limnanthes Alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Camellia Senesis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Phenoxyethanol, Beeswax, Malva Sylvestris (Mallow) Extract, Veris Extract, Alchemilla Vulgaris Extract, Melissa Officinalis (Lemon Balm) Leaf Extract, Hyaluronic Acid, Achillea Millefolium (Yarrow) Extract, Tocopherol (Antioxidant), Phanthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Allantoin, Phospholipids, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A Palmitate), Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C Palmitate), Xanthan Gum, Tetrasodium EDTA.

Hydrate and Protect Daytime Moisturizer
Water (Aqua), Cyclopentasiloxane, Butyrospermum Parkii (shea Butter) Aloe Barbadensis (Organic Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Isopropyl Palmitate, C12-15 Alkyl Benqoate, Sesamum Indicum (Sesame) Seed Oil, Hydroxypropyl Starch Phosphate, Lactobacillus/Milk Ferment Lysate Filtrate (Yogurt Derived), Simmondsia Chinensis (Jojoba) Seed Oil, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Extract, Linum Usitassimum (Linseed) Oil, Camilla Sinesis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract, Calendula Officinalis (Marigold) Flower extract, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter)Fruit, Borage (Starflower) Seed Oil, Pentylene Glycol, Cetearyl Alcohol, Cetearyl Glucoside, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E Acetate), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Extract, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (Vitamin C Ester), Sodium Ascorbate, Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A Palmitate), Propylene Glycol, Phospholipids, Phenoxyethanol, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-3, PEG-8, Mannitol, Lentinus Edodes (Shiitake) Extract, Lecithin, Halianthus Annus (Hybrid Sunflower) Oil, Glyceryl Polymethacrylate, Dog (Rosa Canina) Rose Hips, Dipalmitoyl Hydroxyproline, Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Extract, Beta-Sitosterol, Ascorbyl Palmitate (Vitamin C Palmitate_, Clyceryl Caprylate, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride. Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Allantoin, Tocopherol (Antioxidant)

The Dealio: This product line works pretty well to keep skin moist, but my results may relate to a number of changes I've made recently. As for the anti-aging... I don't know that this product line helped me in that regard so much. That being said, the ingredients are non-toxic AND organic, and they state that they are non-comedogenic, as well. While they are using topical "probiotics" as their selling point, I'm still unsure about the legitimacy of their claim. While the skin is the largest organ humans possess, and 70-80% of what you wear is absorbed through the skin, there is little empirical evidence indicating topical probiotic application can prohibit the aging process. Certainly, a well hydrated outer layer helps... but I just recommend scrutinizing this and any similar products (primarily anti-aging and acne treatment). First question should always be: "Who conducted this test?" followed by "Who paid for the test?"

This product is supposed to be reformulated to include some sort of spf in the future, which would be nice. Until then, take it for what it is... a gentle moisturizing and cleansing product grouping with relatively low price point (compared to same/similar products... mostly carried in department stores and boutiques).

Would I buy again? Probably not any time soon. But, in their defense, I almost NEVER get skin care or cosmetics products at department stores. And, as stated in the title, I prefer indie. ^_^ As a disclaimer: I got this free, as I was working as a sales rep for the company when they were doing a costco road show. You may like it... but I just don't have the money to spend 200ish dollars per month on day and nighttime treatments (the previous information is JUST the daytime kit... the night time includes another serum, moisturizer, and exfoliating cleanser.)

Present!!!

So... several weeks ago my friend and roommate, Polly, bought me some makeups on a whim. She left me an awesome note as well. When I thanked her, she qualified her gift; stating that she knows I prefer mineral makeup, but couldn't resist the vibrant colors and cheap price. Ladies, and all of you will agree, for makeup lovers (addicts?) a gift of free makeup is, well, a gift of free makeup! ^_- While I do tend to prefer more natural, I like to look at gifts such as this as an opportunity to share some cheapie goodness with the select few who follow my blog. So... follows are some swatches. As you can see, I swatched on my hand and forearm with the colors in the same position as the case. The pictures really don't show the vibrancy as well as real life, but I was quite impressed.





What do you think?

YAYness

I got some kick a$$ bday presents from my besties Sonia and Polly. They are below:









Reviews forthcoming!

Review

I just tried this product... and I actually like it. The scent reminds me of summer tanning oil and it's sulfate and paraben free!

Have any of you tried it? What do you think?

Renpure Organics

So... when I was at Walgreens the other day I came across Renpure shampoo. I have been super lazy and haven't bought my normal goth rosary hair care supply and had JUST run out, so this was a lucky find. I'm really weird about parabens and other yucky unnatural ingredients and there was a rebate offer so I figured I had nothing to lose! Plus, I prefer purchasing products made in the US whenever possible and this is a US based company! I purchased the "I love my hair! Body and Shine Shampoo" and "Amazing Miracle Deep Penetrating Reconstructor". I have only used it once, but the scent was light and fruity (and didn't make me sneeze... which generally happens). My hair also looks great this morning. It remains to be seen how well my hair will look after continued use of this product, but the chances of a favorite are high so far.



Has anyone else tried Renpure? What did you think? If not, what hair products do you prefer?

100% pure versus boots no7 mascara

boots no7 extreme length black mascara

100percent pure black tea mascara

So, as most of you know by now, I am weird about processed stuff and chemicals. Luckily, boots no7 and 100percent pure rank relatively low on the cosmetics safety database hazard scale. If you haven't been, you should... it's quite illuminating! Anywhooo... here are some pics to compare them. Keep in mind that 100percent pure is a hazard score of 2 on the 1-10 rating (low hazard) There is no rating for the boots no7 extreme length mascara. However, the boots no7 maximum volume mascara is listed as a rating of 3 (moderate hazard), so we can safely assume that it's within that moderate range (3-6).

My right eye (on your left) is boots no7, the left (on your right) is 100 percent pure

My right eye (on your left) is boots no7, the left (on your right) is 100 percent pure

Have any of you tried either of these mascaras? What do you think?

100 percent pure haul

Many apologies for having so many posts in succession... My new roomie is allowing me to use his camera and I have so much that I've been wanting to do but couldn't because I didn't have a camera. I actually just got this today... so I'll have to review it after I've had the opportunity to try the products. I will say that I've tried the mascara and it smells like BLUEBERRIES!!!! It also works famously. My next post will be a comparison between boots no7 and 100 percent pure. mascara. yees.

Has anyone tried 100 percent pure? What did you try? and how did you like it?

Herbal Mineral

clockwise, beginning with the bottles in back: licorice brightening oil, green skin oil, breast enhancement oil, rosie cheeks glowing night cream, hemp shine control sunscreen spf 25, coffee bean caffeine eye cream, anti-aging coq10 firming eye cream, and herbal hydrating face cream in the middle.

The above picture is by no means exhaustive of my experience with herbal mineral products. In addition to the products above, I have also tried their bright eye illuminator, natural gloss stick, rosy lip butter, cocoa sun balm spf45, and a bar of face soap (I'm not sure what the exact product name is, but it was a purple-ish color)
I will do my best to review them below:

licorice brightening oil: I do feel that this product has lightened my freckles a bit (they're pretty light to begin with) and, more importantly, really moisturizes the skin. I generally use this at night before applying the rosie cheeks night cream.
green skin oil: This stuff is great. There are only three ingredients, hempseed oil, vitamin e oil, and tea tree oil. I used this in the morning before applying the hydrating face cream. Since I've run out, I just made up my own batch.
breast enhancement oil: I don't really need to increase the size of my breasts, but I just thought it would be fun to do this so that I don't forget to do my self exams. hahaha. Since I've been using it, though I have noticed more firmness (which is what I would have wanted, if anything). I'm quite pleased. Also, it has a nice, clean, tangy citrus scent. yum!
coffee bean caffeine eye cream: Unfortunately, it doesn't really smell like coffee... but it does work great! It's really comfortable, the consistency is not too heavy, but not too watery either.
anti-aging coq10 firming eye cream: I generally wear this at night, it is a great consistency and applies easily. I haven't really seen much of a difference. However, I don't really have lines yet, so this was mainly a preventative.
herbal hydrating face cream: AWESOME! Smells wonderful and is just the right consistency for easy blendability.
bright eye illuminator:
natural gloss stick: Tastes minty and feels great. I got the color berry as a free gift with purchase and was really happy with the bright, vibrant pink.
rosy lip butter: I really like this for when I want a muted, natural lip. It feels and looks great on and really improves the moisture of the skin. I will caution, it tastes like roses, too.. which can be both good and bad.
cocoa sun balm spf45: I really liked how this product smelled, like candy. It worked well, too, but it didn't last very long. Of course, I am almost 6 feet tall, not a small woman by any stretch, but it seemed like it was gone pretty quickly.

would I shop here again? Absolutely! Would I recommend these guys to a friend? Already have!

Mehandi

Ok, so to explain a few things to some of yousguys out there... I am a couple of things for sure: hippie, goth, metal, musician, singer, artist, frugal, prefer organic, prefer indie, hate douchebags.

me...hating douchebags. ^_-

Now that I've prefaced this post with an about me disclaimer I will share one of my favorite sites. hennaforhair.com Once you get to this site you can click on mehandi, where they sell henna, spellstone stuff, indigo, and all other sorts of awesomeness. I have had really bad dandruff until I found that henna and cassia obovata can really soothe the scalp for people like me. My hair is already pretty red, but the henna just really brings out the natural highlights in addition to helping with my scalp and the cassia just makes it more shiny. In fact, when my hair gets long enough I might dye the ends with the indigo (makes it black... black and red... BRUTAL) Anywho... they have a couple of other products of note. One of my faves is bar soap especially for hair (WONDERFUL for air travel) and bar moisturizer.


Anybody here used henna or indigo or been to hennaforhair.com? What did you think?

The All Natural Face

The all natural face "seal it"

I stumbled upon this indie mineral makeup company on Etsy looking for an all natural eyeshadow primer for my oily lids. I had read some good reviews of them while digging through makeup chat rooms for the hippie-goth type (like me). I wish I could remember what one... but I recall a belly dancer recommended it, and if a performer could wear it... then I thought I'd give it a try, too. Another reason why I bought it was that it's relatively inexpensive. I'm happy to say...they did not disappoint.

I also got their seal it for foiling, wetlining, etc. I have a post reviewing all the indie primers I've tried (which includes the ANF primer referenced above) However, I haven't really reviewed the seal it because it doesn't fit in that category. So here goes... it gets my seal of approval (pardon the pun) It comes in an easy to dispense bottle, doesn't aggravate my eyes, and makes all the difference when foiling. It also works pretty well when I dab it on before applying pigments. Of course, it's not as awesome as pixie epoxy... but it's also far more... natural (again with the puns, sorry!)

On a side note, I got a couple of free eye pigments and a trial sized whipped bronzer for free with my purchase... The pigments were a little too light and shimmery for my taste and the bronzer a little too thick (I might just be too used to mineral ones by now) but the quality still seemed good. They were well blended, not chalky, and didn't appear to be straight up repackaged anything. So... that's good.

Anyone else tried the all natural face? What did you think?

Shiru swatches

I ordered from shiro a bit ago and received my package in a timely fashion. It came with all my little samples in a pretty red mesh bag, which i've since recycled to hold my magnetic poetry on my fridge. YAY! I also received a couple of business cards. I have swatched everything... but I tend to feel like swatching isn't sufficient for me to make any real comments about the product. Once I've worked them into a look I'll feel more confident about offering my thoughts.
Sorry about the quality of these pics...

From top to bottom:
column one: s.s. anne, squirtle, lance the dragon trainer, vulpix, zubat
column two: charmander, rattata, articuno, pikachu, mew
column three: jigglypuff, acid, brock the rock, mewtwo, hyperbeam
column four: team rocket, bulbasaur, butterfree

Follows are some swatches of shiru cosmetics:
each picture has no primer on top, then the oily lid shadow primer in Dark Buff from the All Natural Face, then detrivore primer, and, lastly, Pixie Epoxy.



from left to right: mew, pikachu, articuno, rattata, & charmander



from left to right: hyperbeam, mewtwo, brock the rock, acid, & jigglypuff



from left to right: (primer), zubat, vulpix, lance the dragon trainer, squirtle, s.s. anne



from left to right: butterfree, bulbasaur, & team rocket

Some of the sparkles are tricky to see, so I'll try to describe my faves below (that I've used... because, as you know, even with swatching some of the vibrancy is tricky to see until you attempt to actually USE them!):
hyper beam: black with silver glitters (although, I have seen some multicolor glitters peeking out... sort of a random aurora borealis)
acid: an intense chartreuse to neon lime green with green, silver and yellow glitters.
bulbasaur: crayola green with sparklies
pikachu: (my absolute FAVORITE!!!) This color is so unique... it's an intense yellow with ruby sparkles. I'm sure I will be doing quite a few looks using this color... I'm a big fan of green but I also ADORE yellow and black (which has more than a little to do with the fact that my band is called bee sting sessions ^_-)

Have you used shiro? What's your favorite color(s)?

(mostly) natural eye primer review

Here goes my primer review. Fresco Phyrra has some more in depth reviews on her blog for UDPP, etc. I am hoping to focus on only indie and mostly organic primers.
Unfortunately, I don't have too many primers to review... but here are a couple to start
(I will move clockwise from left to right in the above picture, for the more visual folks out there):

Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy: I tend to be a hippie chick at heart, but this stuff is INCREDIBLE! You put a teency dab on your eye and blend, wait a few seconds till it gets tacky and apply loose shadow. The powder sets it. That's it. Easy peazy. This product really brings out sparkle or shine. I wouldn't use it for matte, though. It's SUPER inexpensive. Lasts FOREVER. and, most importantly, I adore fyrinnae.

Fyrinnae Eyeshadow Primer: I think they've discontinued this product, but I rarely had issues with it creasing (which is unusual, because my eyelids are super oily).
Herbal Mineral Bright Eye Illuminator: I would not recommend this product to anyone with oily lids. It creased pretty badly on me and seemed to dull color. It's a bit shimmery and taupe-ish in and of itself, so maybe it would work ABOVE a primer as a neutral color... hmmm... I should try that (I hate waste. hahah).

The All Natural Face Oily Lid Eyeshadow Primer: This stuff is AWESOME. I am SUPER fair skinned, but I still got the dark and have been quite pleased with it. I think they offer a lighter one for oily eyelids, too, now.

Detrivore eyeshadow primer: This primer is REALLY great for bringing out color, but tends to crease on me. It's a bit better when I first apply the oily lid primer, though.

My Determination:
Of the aforementioned primers I would recommend the Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy and All Natural Face Oily lid Primer.

The Goth Rosary

This review has been a long time coming... here goes! The Goth Rosary is an independent retailer of organic, vegan, kosher, hypoallergenic, unisex, gothic bath and body products. It was the brainchild of Antisally, beginning with luxury beaded gothic rosaries and blooming from there to encompass deodorant, powder, scrubs, delicious scents, soaps and candles. I was first introduced to this artisan through a good friend of mine in Houston and have since become an addict. I love these products so much that I provided her with demos of my band to give away as free gifts. (Although, I must confess, the arrangement was quite two sided and I am so thankful that she was willing to offer them as much as I). I will provide some brief reviews of the products I've tried.
deodorant I absolutely love this product! I actually only use this deodorant now (unless I'm going on a trip where I have to fly, then I use mystique, tom's, or some solid deodorant that I've made). It's a crystal spray deodorant. I think (besides the awesome scents) it's main appeal is the fact that it's natural and the cost is comparable to many store brands. It's not "antiperspirant". However, antiperspirants generally do more harm than good IMHO.
shampoo Her shampoo is gentle, paraben free (like all of her products) and smells AWESOME!!! It works super nice as a body wash, too.
conditioner This is another product I ADORE!!!! I tend to try and use body soap that I can wash my hair with because I'm a weird, hippie, goth, metal chick who values the utilitarian and is rather frugal. That being said, this product is something that I definitely have no problem purchasing. It also works really well as a shaving cream.
body and room spray I have several scents of this stuff. My favorite scents are Can't Wait Demeter, Heathen, Nocturnal and (of course) Samhain.
powder OMG... BEST PRODUCT EVER works as a carped deodorizer, dry shampoo, body powder, and the list goes on. I am in a band... so having such products as this for trips is like winning the lottery.
hand sanitizer Another winner. Easy, smells good, and comes in a small foam pump container.
face scrub This works well... it's just a regular sugar face scrub. I generally use "nothingness" (antisally's name for unscented) because the others make me sneeze for some reason... but only with the face scrubs. weird.
body scrub Feels super nice. This is a salt body scrub. I think she might have a sale on for the scrubs right now, actually.
incense If I could only purchase one product from the Goth Rosary (besides deodorant ^_-) it would be the Samhain incense sticks. It smells like haloween! For real!!! I LOVE IT!!!!
candles She has several different sizes to choose from now, but my favorite is still the little candles that come in coffin tins. You heard me right, ladies and gents, COFFIN TINS!!! SO CUTE!!!
Yes, not too many negative comments on here. I absolutely LOVE the Goth Rosary.

Erzuli Cosmetics

(As you can see from the picture... I've used this product a while before offering my thoughts)

Erzulie cosmetics are an indie, organic, mineral makeup company. The owner is a nationally recognized nutritional holistic consultant and, from just going to her site, you get a warm fuzzy from the first "namaste!!!" to the last word. Her products range from skin care to makeup and I was quite excited to try a couple things. She is one of the few indie companies to offer hand made chubby eyeliners, and her naturagel eyeliner also intrigued me. So, I ordered the intense black naturagel eyeliner, the chubby eyeliner pencil in black, and the mineral mascara in (you guessed it) intense black. The products arrived quite quickly (I bought them 03.20.10 and received them 03.24.10!) and I received a full sized, free gift eye depuffer stick.
The chubby eyeliner glides on smoothly with great color payoff. It smudges easily to create a smoky eye look, as well. I will caution that application is a glossy deep black, but with wear it becomes a more muted black. So, it isn't the best in staying power. In addition, the product can be tricky if you want a fine line. Also, because it's natural, and I have slightly hooded lids, it tends to migrate a bit. The way I got around that is blend a bit around the crease on the outer corners. I also used it as a black lipstick pencil and it worked VERY well.
The naturagel eyeliner has a creamy, almost whipped consistency and applied quite easily with an angled liner brush and bent eyeliner brush. It creates a great fine line and wears pretty well. I have also used it thus far in conjunction with the chubby eyeliner to create an intense, smoky cat eye.
Finally, the mineral mascara has a natural, lengthening affect. Depending on how you use the brush you can get a separated look or the spider eyes look. And I like both, so bravo! I will caution that it is not even a little bit water proof, so carrying around a q-tip to remove any stray "mineral" is a good idea. All in all, this order wasn't bad. While the eyeliners don't have extreme staying power, and the chubby liner can tend to smudge, the cosmetics are imminently affordable, natural, comfortable and the service was wonderful.
I will purchase here again.