Did I mention I got married? Been unblogging since wedding planning overtook everything. I ordered and tried so many products over the past months in preparation of the wedding, but didn’t have time to review any of it. I hope to do that over the next months.

However, it has been a treat every single month to get that little cute box of samples from Birchbox. I feel confident in using 3 out of 5 of the products per my comments below on toxicity. Not bad!

Here’s what I got this month:

From Left To Right:

1 – 100% Pure Gingerade Shower Gel. This is the second product I’ve gotten from this brand, the first being their Grapefruit scented lotion. Nothing bothered me on their ingredient list.

2 – Whish Shave Crave Shaving Cream in Acai Grapefruit. I’m ambivalent on this one. Because I have so many skin issues with itchiness, I’m inclined to avoid anything that is in question. This includes PHENOXYETHANOL which is a product that is considered safe, but can cause allergic reactions. I’m still going to try it and see how my skin reacts as I’m looking for a good shaving cream.

3 – Balance Me Wonder Eye Cream. This product’s ingredient list impressed me. Didn’t find anything that bothered me, and I appreciated seeing some of the chemicals (Linalool and Limonene) sourced as naturally occurring in essential oils. The cream has a wonderful texture that is absorbed and doesn’t feel sticky or strange to me. I also found the inclusion of Benzoin interesting. I looked it up and it is a resin from the Styrax Tree used for antibacterial and anti inflammatory purposes.

4 – (Below) Coastal Scents Revealed 2 Eye Shadow Palette. The product is made in China. My first instinct is NO THANKS. Also I had to look up the ingredients as they were not listed on the box. Also a bad sign. This product includes TALC and PARABENS. To the trash it goes. Or maybe my emergency makeup kit in the car. Nice colors, but I’ve already got similar in my Tarte set.

5 – Real Chemistry Luminous 3-minute Peel. Not sure. I’ll probably use it as its one of those things you only use once a week at most. It seems like some of the ingredients are newer or uncommonly used combinations of chemicals. Which means there isn’t much history on the population or in testing to know how they affect people. The ingredient I bolded below might be carcinogenic. Lovely!

Water, Glycerin, Polyoxyethylene glycery ether?, Alkyl trimethyl ammonium chloride Carbomer?, Diazolidinyl ureaIodopropynyl Butylcarbamate?, PEG-40, Disodium EDTA, Hyaluronic acid.

Sources:

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supplements/ingredientmono-351-BENZOIN.aspx?activeIngredientId=351&activeIngredientName=BENZOIN

http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/704811/PHENOXYETHANOL/

http://www.paiskincare.com/blog/2011/04/11/the-facts-about-phenoxyethanol-%E2%80%93-revisited/

http://www.truthinaging.com/ingredients/diazolidinyl-ureaiodopropynyl-butylcarbamate