Green or Unclean: Bare Escentuals Active Cell Renewal Night Serum

Bare Escentuals has a new serum. They've been giving free samples of this with purchases and for stopping by their boutiques. I got a sample myself recently.

This has a Skin Deep Rating of 4

This serum promises to work while you sleep to help create firm, healthy, and younger-looking skin.

This is formulated without:
- parabens
- sulfates
- synthetic fragrances
- synthetic dyes
- petrochemicals
- phthalates

Ingredients: Water/Aqua/Eau, Butylene Glycol, Propanediol, Glycerin, Xylitol, Saccharomyces/Xylinum/Black Tea Ferment, Glycyl Glycine, Methyl Gluceth-10, 3-O-Ethyl Ascorbic Acid, Soil Minerals, Soil Minerals/Syringa Vulgaris (Lilac) Leaf Cell Culture Extract, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Zizyphus Jujuba Seed , Phytoecdysteroids Extract, Maltodextrin, Ppg-13-Decyltetradeceth-24, Ethylhexylglycerin, Ammonium Acryloyldimethyltaurate/Vp Copolymer, Peg/Ppg-14/7 Dimethyl Ether, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate, Trisodium Edta, Lavandula Hybrida Oil, Limonene, Citric Acid, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Tocopherol, Citronellol, Geraniol, Phenoxyethanol, Xanthan Gum

In general, I'm okay with using products with a Skin Deep Rating under five (I am transitioning to using all natural products). However, I saw that the ingredient was Butylene Glycol, which reminded me of Propylene Glycol, an ingredient I avoid. It turns out that Butylene Glycol is a humectant. However, sources vary on whether or not it's a good  ingredient. The FDA has approved it for use in cosmetics and as a food additive. Yet others list this as a skin, lung, and eye irritant. The books on green beauty I have also differ about whether or not this is an ingredient to avoid. O.o I suppose it's better safe than sorry, so I'll put this aside in favor of a more natural serum.

Can anyone shed some light on Butylene Glycol?

~ Susan

Green or Unclean: tarte gifted Amazonian clay smart mascara

I got this mascara in a set and I've been using it a couple of weeks. I find that it gives my lashes a feathery look without any clumping or smearing. Like many of tarte's products, this contains Amazonian Clay. The clay is a very effective oil-absorber. By absorbing excess oil near the lash line, this mascara bonds to the lashes more completely. This helps to prevent smearing and smudging, something I have trouble with.

This has a Skin Deep Rating of 4

Ingredients: Aqua/Water/Eau, Cyclopentasiloxane, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Hydrogenated Olive Oil Stearyl Esters, Stearic Acid, Cera Carnauba/Copernicia Cerifera (Carnauba) Wax/Cire De Carnauba, Alcohol, Propylene Glycol, Triethanolamine, Candelilla Cera/Euphorbia Cerifera (Candelilla) Wax/Cire De Candelilla, Acacia Senegal Gum, Vp/Va Copolymer, Phenoxyethanol, Polyvinyl Alcohol, Panthenol, Aminomethyl Propanediol, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Ethylhexylglycerin, Kaolin, Iron Oxides (Ci 77499)

There are some surprisingly unclean ingredients for a natural company. Why does propylene glycol seem to be in everything Tarte makes?

Verdict: Clean-ish. Since this received a Skin Deep Rating of 5 or below, I am going to continue to use it. However, in the future, I'll stick to purchasing Physicians Formula Organic wear mascara which seems to have much better ingredients.

~ Susan

Green or Unclean: Mario Badescu Drying Lotion

Whenever I get a zit, I want it to go away quickly. I used to use spot treatments by Neutrogena and Clearasil, but when I was looking at the ingredient list I was surprised how many ingredients there were in such a small product. When I found Mario Badescu's Drying Lotion, I was happy to see a shorter list.

Ingredients: Isopropyl Alcohol, Deionized Water (Aqua), Calamine, Camphor, Colloidal Sulfur, Salicylic Acid,Glycerine, Zinc Oxide, Titanium Dioxide, Talc

This has a Skin Deep Rating of 3

These seemed like much better ingredients than other acne spot treatments. I was surprised to see that the ingredient with the highest Skin Deep Rating was salicylic acid. I've been using products with salicylic acid since I was fifteen, so I'm not so concerned that I'll throw this stuff out, but I will look into this ingredient more and figure out how I feel about it.

The Drying Lotion promises to shrink whiteheads "virtually overnight." It has interesting instructions. The "lotion" looks like a solution with a precipitate at the bottom. At night, after cleansing, toning and moisturizing, you apply some of the lotion to the whitehead. You have to take care to not mix up the solution and only apply the pink sediment to your skin. I think this does help dry out whiteheads, but over a couple of days, not overnight. It performs about the same, or perhaps a little less well than other spot treatments that I use. I have some tea tree oil that I like to use on a more regular basis, and only break out the Drying Lotion when I have a particularly stubborn spot.

Mario Badescu Drying Lotion is greener than other spot treatments, but not effective enough to warrant a re-purchase.

Green or Unclean: Benefit Powderflage

Benefit Powderflage is a concealer, but I use it as a setting powder for my concealer. It
 really helped with the problem I was having with mascara transfer. It can also be used to camouflage fine lines, dark circles, and spots. It comes with a brush, but I find that it just gets the powder everywhere, so I use my finger to apply.

This has a Skin Deep Rating of 3

 Ingredients: talc, mica, silica, dimethicone, titanium dioxide, hdi/trimethylol/hexyllactone crosspolymer, vinyl dimethicone/methicone/silsesquioxane crosspolymer, dimethicone, vinyl dimethicone crospolymer, trimethylsiloxysilicate,ethylene/methacrylate copolymer, ultramarines, manganese violet, polymethyl, methacrylate, sodium dehydroacetate, methylparaben, propylparaben, isopropyl titanium triisolstearate, iron oxides, tin oxide, tocopherol,glycinre soja(soybean)oil, ascorbyl palmitate

This has a decent rating (on the low side of "moderate hazard"), so I'll use it up; however, it has parabens, which I really want to avoid, so I won't be re-purchasing.

Green or Unclean: Smashbox O-GLOW

Image from Sephora,com

 I purchased this "Intuitive Cheek Color with Goji Berry-C Complex" around six months ago after seeing TiffanyD use it on YouTube. This gel blush starts out clear and then changes to pink when warmed up by your body heat. Smashbox claims that this blush is intuitive because each person will have a slightly different shade - they say the shade that you get is what you color you would blush naturally. When I use this, it immediately turns a bright pink when I squeeze a bit out on my fingertips; the pink deepens as I apply the blush to my cheeks. It's a bit scary at first, but tones down to a more moderate (but still bright) pink after a few minutes. I suppose the color is similar to the flush I get when I'm working out vigorously, but it's much more pink than what I consider to be my natural cheek color.

I hadn't heard anything about Smashbox being a natural cosmetic company, so I hadn't put this blush in with my "clean" ones. I finally ended up looking it up on Skin Deep and was very pleasantly surprised. It has a Skin Deep Rating of 0!


Ingredients: Cyclomethicone, Dimethicone Crosspolymer, Isononyl Isononanoate, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Seed Oil, Punica Granatum, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate, Polysilicone-11, Ginkgo Biloba Leaf Extract, Lycium Barbarum Fruit Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Plankton Extract, Red 27 (CI 45410)

I'll definitely keep Smashbox in mind when I make future makeup purchases.

Green or Unclean: MAC Lustre Lipstick

I love MAC lipsticks, especially the lustres. My go-to lip products are Viva Glam Gaga and Viva Glam V. I decided to see how these measured up on the Skin Deep Database.

Ingredients: Ricinus communic (castor) seed oil, dipentaerythrityl, hexahydroxystearate/hexastearate/hexarosinate, euphorbia cerifera (candellilla) wax/candelilla cera/cire de candelilla, caprylic/capric triglyceride, pvp/hexadecene copolymer, polyethylene, ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate, cetyl acetate, lanolin oil, cetyl lactate, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), polydecene, beeswax/cera alba/cire d'abeille, gylcine soja (soybean) seed extract, tocopheryl acetate, ascorbyl palmitate, ceramide 3, synthetic wax, synthetic beeswax, silica calcium sodium, borosilicate, alumina, tin oxide, acetylated lanolin alcohol, cetyl alcohol, vanillin, [+/- mica, titanium dioxide (CI 77891), iron oxides (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499), bismuth oxychloride (CI 77163), blue 1 lake (CI 42090), carmine (CI 75470), red 6 (CI 15850), red 6 lake (CI 15850), red 7 lake (CI 15850), red 21 (CI 45380), red 28 lake (CI 45410), red 30 lake (CI 73360), red 33 lake (CI 17200), yellow 5 lake (CI 19140), yellow 6 lake (CI 15985), yellow 10 lake (CI 47005)]

This lipstick (the Viva Glam Gaga) received a rating of 5. I knew that there was no way this lipstick could be clean when I saw how many ingredients were in it.

Verdict: Unclean
Le sigh.

Green or Unclean?

Since I have decided to go as green, or clean, as possible with my skin and makeup regimen, all makeup that I purchase in the future will be non-toxic (at least, I'll try my best to make sure that it is). Unfortunately, I've accrued a bunch of makeup in the past that is probably not clean. So, I'll be checking how my makeup and skin care items measure up on Skin Deep, the Environmental Working Group's Cosmetic Database, and deciding whether or not to keep them. I'll be sharing the ratings of my products with you in installments called "Green or Unclean?" so that, unlike me, you can use this information before you buy products.

My first product is:

 
MAC Select SPF 15 Foundation
Active Ingredient: Octyl Methoxycinnamate
Inactive ingredients: Water (Aqua Purificata) Purified, Dimethicone, Phenyl Trimethicone, Octyl Methoxycinnamate, Talc, Butylene Glycol, Polymethyl Methacrylate, Polydecene, Glyceryl Dilaurate, Tea-Isostearate, Tea-Stearate, Caprylyl Glycol, Kaolin, Tocopheryl Acetate, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Retinyl Palmitate, Hydrogenated Lecithin, Pantethine, Xanthan Gum, Cellulose Gum, Steareth-21, Magnesium Aluminum Silicate, Steareth-2, Perfluoropolymethylisopropyl Ether, Stearyl Alcohol, BHT, Disodium EDTA, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben
May contain: Titanium Dioxide, Iron Oxides, Chromium Oxide Greens

First off, I immediately noticed that it contains three types of parabens. 

The Skin Deep Database gives this foundation a score of 6, indicating that it presents a moderate hazard to people's health. The Database divides scores into three categories: low (0-2), moderate (3-6), and high (7-10). Hopefully one day all of my products will be non-hazardous.

Verdict: Unclean

MAC Select has been my daily foundation for several months... I will be switching to a new foundation. /: