I took a poll on Facebook this week of the most overly used words and phrases of 2013. The response was overwhelming…and hilarious. Here is the top 10 list, along with some honorable mentions.
10. Bestie
9. Totes
8. Seriously?
7. Selfie
6. Literally
5. I know, right? (okay, I’m guilty of this one)
4. Really?
3. Just sayin (this was my vote for #1)
2. Let’s be honest… (or any derivative, such as “honestly,” “I’m going to be honest,” or “to be honest” 1. It is what it is
Some honorable mentions include:
-Cray cray
-That’s what’s up
-twerk
-Let’s keep it 100
-COB (crack only better)
-I’m all in
-At the end if the day…
And some that are still going strong from years past:
-Swag
-YOLO
-Hashtag (as in the use of it verbally in a sentence. Ex. “Let’s do it! Hashtag:yolo!”)
-OMG (oh my God/gosh
-STFD (shut the front door)
-LOL (laugh out loud)
-ROFL (rolling in floor laughing)
Do you agree with this list or did we miss one? Leave a comment below. Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful, safe, and blessed New Year.
MAC has been busy lately, launching multiple collections the day after Christmas. My favorite is the Magnetic Nudes collection. This collection is all about looking very natural and glowy. My favorite!
This extra dimension collection consists of 3 mineralize skinfinishes, 3 blushes, 5 eyeshadows, 3 fluidlines, 4 lipsticks, and 5 lip glasses. I love the extra dimension formula as it gives a beautiful sheen without being glittery, chunky, or emphasizing skin texture to the extreme. I didn’t grab any glosses (I need a new gloss like I need a hole in the head, you know?), although steel kiss looked very unique. Overall I love this versatile collection. I get so much use out of these everyday, wearable colors. Below are descriptions and pictures of what I picked up (for reference, I am currently an NW22). If you are more into a bold look then you may want to check out Punk Couture which released the same day. It has dramatic, vampy lippies and bright, 80’s style pigments.
MSF’s
Superb (a repromote) is described as a peachy nude with multidimensional shimmer. To me it looks like a gorgeous champagne color that would suit just about anyone. It is very pigmented and long lasting. One swipe on the cheekbone with a fan brush and you’ll be glowing all day as if you just stepped off Mount Olympus. It’s beautiful, and if you like highlighters you will enjoy this product.
Fairly Precious is described as a peach with green pearl. It’s a true, warm peach highlight. This would best suit lighter skin tones in my opinion. Like Superb, it has a smooth texture. There was also Magnetic Appeal, which is a warm coppery color that would look beautiful on deeper skin tones.
Autoerotique is described as a dirty coral rose. This is a warm, easy to blend blush. As with all extra dimension blushers, the color payoff is subtle but can be built up. This is a very pretty and unique color.
At Dusk (repromote) is a stunning blush described as a dirty cool pink but does not look grey on the cheek. This is very flattering on lighter skin tones. Again, it gives a light wash of color but can be built up.
Amorous Alloy is described as a deep terracotta copper color with a metallic finish. I had not intended on purchasing any extra dimension eyeshadow from this collection, but the girl at the counter sold me on this unique color. It’s warm but not so warm that cool people can’t pull it off. This is another product that will look great on an array of skin tones and eye colors. The other eyeshadow colors were very pretty but seemed quite dupable to me.
It’s Physical is described as a brown with purple pearl. This has a lot of purple shimmer in it, more than you can see in the pot. I prefer using this all over the lid rather than as a liner. It’s a really lovely color that would suit many eye colors. The other fluidline that caught my eye was Our Secret, a metallic brown with red pearl. This is another beautiful color that I had set out to purchase, but once swatched it reminded me of Constructivist paint pot. I swatched them side by side at the counter and they looked identical on my arm so I did not buy it.
Morning Rose is described as a soft, cool rose creamsheen. This is a very wearable, everyday dusty rose shade (again, suitable for multiple skin tones). The rest of the lipsticks were mostly nudes, and since I don’t need any more nude lipsticks I did not purchase any.
As Christmas draws near, I start to feel extra warm fuzzies in the air. People seem friendlier, children are more respectful, and the season of giving is in full swing. That is, until I hear on the radio the story about the Salvation Army bell ringer who was assaulted for saying, “Happy holidays.”
I’ll post a link to the story below, but the gist is that the female bell ringer (who, might I remind you, is a volunteer) reportedly said “Happy holidays.” to a woman entering Wal-Mart. The woman turned to her and said, “You’re supposed to say ‘Merry Christmas’!” and hit her in the arm. Now this floors me. I am not sure of the aggressor’s religious affiliation, but it stands to reason that she may consider herself a Christian. As a Christian myself, I consider this behavior to be up there on my list of non-Christian conduct. Jesus is all about love, forgiveness, and righteousness. As far as I can tell, hitting a volunteer who stands out in the cold for hours to raise money for needy families seems incongruous. Perhaps the bell ringer was referring to Christmas and New Year’s. Perhaps not. I have not read reports that the volunteer was grievously injured, but that isn’t really the point.
When exactly did this season’s salutations become “Christians vs. Non-Christians?” I do not find it offensive when people say “Happy Holidays.” Simultaneously, I also do not agree with those who think “Merry Christmas” shouldn’t be uttered. If a person celebrates Hanukkah or any other religious celebration, they should feel free to use that term. This should include Christmas as well.
Whatever you may or may not be celebrating, I suggest a humble attitude. Remember that Jesus is known as the Prince of Peace. That is so much more attractive than hostility.
“But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for ALL the people.'” Luke 2:10 (emphasis mine).
What do you think? Are people overly sensitive about the use of the terms “Happy Holidays” and “Merry Christmas?” Or do you also take that stance? Leave a comment below. Thanks for reading.
English: Start of a long road (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
It’s official: the Smiths don’t live here anymore. They drove off into the nightwith Fat Lucy in the backseat, signaling the end of this chapter. Today is a sad day.
I’m talking about our neighbors; Fat Lucy is their cat. We bought our houses the same year and became fast friends. While this move is exciting for them, we, of course, are mourning the loss. No more will their house be a second home to our kids. They fed us, gave to us of their time and talents. They watched out for our kids while they played. They babysat, fed, and loved our kids. They let them pick flowers from their garden. They caught Titus (our beastly Great Dane) countless times he got outside without a leash. If we ever needed anything and they were able to help, the answer was always yes (even when I’m sure they didn’t want to). House sitting, pet sitting, helping with projects, and truly sharing life. In our eyes they were everything a neighbor could be. Every member of our familes are close. So many things in common, so many differences; yet somehow we all clicked. This seems like a rarity in this day and age of hiding behind privacy fences. We’ll miss their kids telling us, “You guys are the best family!” And our countless long talks of hilarity or depth about joys and sorrows, our kids, extended families, friends (and sometimes spouses :p). They are very gracious, genuine people. People who let you see their house (and their very lives) messy. There is a trust there…an understanding. They are people we can be completely real with who do not judge us. I value that so much, and it is a quality that seems scarce. How do you tell someone that? That they mean all these things and more which words cannot express? I hope you who may be reading this have someone like that in your lives. The street seems so different now. And time marches on.
Hopefully we’ll keep in touch. There’s e-mail, phone, Skype, planes, and cars to aid in that. Yet life happens, and sometimes things we hold dear get forgotten…foggy. As trivial as it might sound, we are grieving this loss. My prayer is not only for their safe adjustment, but also that we would stay connected. That perhaps we could sail together once again; let the kids have a sleepover again. May we travel together someday like we always talked about. May life be good to us all; not because we deserve it, but because God is so very good and abundant. And that they would be blessed. They are so giving, Lord please give to them; and please fill this hole with yourself and your love. I hope the roads of our lives continue to lead us in parallel, though separate, directions. Who knows, maybe they won’t be separate forever.
Have you had a close friend move away? Or perhaps you were the one who had to move? I’d love to read about it in the comments below. Thanks for reading.
“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers.” 1Thessalonians 1:2
*”Smith” is not their real name but a generic one used for their privacy
LUSH Collection and Storage. Photo by somethingtoconsiderblog.com
Hello Friends! I had a request to do a Lush storage video and decided to do also a collection video to make it a more interesting two-fer. I know some people like to use their Lush items as decor in bathrooms in vase-like containers. This can look very pretty. A caveat to that is being careful of using more than one kind of bath item in that way. The scents can get melded together as they absorb each others’ aroma. They can also get a bit messy if the items begin to crumble (unless you don’t care, then go ahead and throw caution to the wind! After all, these are just bath products we’re talking about). So if you are interested in seeing my current (ish, I recorded this in October) Lush collection, click on the video below. Many of the items were purchsed during the December 26 buy 1 get 1 free sale. As always, thanks for reading/watching!
Giveaway rules and details:
1. must subscribe to my channel
2. thumbs up this video
3. if you are under 18 years old, please ask your parents’ permission to give out your address/receive a package
4. leave 1 comment (ex. favorite lush items, future videos you would like to see, etc.)
5. make sure your activity is public so I can see you’ve done the above
For Additional Entries:
-follow me on instagram, leave a comment on a post with “enter me”
-follow my blog, leave a comment on a post with “enter me”
-favorite this video & let me know you’ve done so
-giveaway will be open until the end of Christmas day, December 25 11:59pm EST
-giveaway is international
-i will message the winner and list here the week after Christmas (if winner does not reply after 1 week a new winner will be chosen)
-winner will be chosen using a random number generator
Good luck and thanks for participating!
“Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.” 1 Chronicles 4:10
*This post is not sponsored or affiliated in any way (I wish! :p). Items can be purchased at www.lush.com
Since my last toxic makeup review was on a high-end brand (Urban Decay-to read it, click here), I thought I would review a popular drugstore brand next. Below is a quick rundown of some of Revlon’s best and worst rated makeup products. The ratings were obtained from the Skin Deep database by the Environmental Working Group (which can be found at www.ewg.org/skindeep). The rating scale is simple, ranging from 0-10 with 10 being the most toxic product score. As always, please keep in mind that formulations in cosmetics are constantly changing. Consequently, I encourage looking up product ratings before you buy them either on Skin Deep or www.goodguide.com (which also includes the company’s eco and social responsibility ratings). While Revlon has quite a few low-toxin products (168 out of the 1022 current products rated), overall most of their products were in the moderate or high toxin range. For the sake of brevity I did not list all 1022 products, but here are various examples of Revlon’s products and their ratings, starting from the worst scores.
10: Hair color. Do you really want this absorbed into your head?
9: Colorstay Mineral Blush in Roseberry, Colorstay Blemish Concealer, Silky Powder Bronzer in Sunkissed Bronze, Age Defying Makeup Foundation with Botafirm for Dry Skin
8: Certain Moondrops crème lipsticks
7: Some Super Lustrous Lip Glosses (ex. shade Nude Lustre 040), Photoready Powder, ColorStay Foundation for Combination/Oily Skin
6: New Complexion One-Step Compact Makeup, Nail Care Liquid Quick Dry, Cream Blush in certain shades (ex. shade Rosy Glow)
5: Nearly Naked Makeup (ex. shade Warm Beige), PhotoReady BB Cream Skin Perfector, Illuminance Creme Eye Shadow (ex. shade 725 Va Va Va Bloom), Just Bitten Lip Stain & Balm (ex. shade Dawn), ColorStay Ultimate Suede Lipstick (ex. shade Flashing Lights), Colorstay for Normal/Dry Skin Makeup with SoftFlex (ex. shade Sand Beige), ColorStay Liner For Lips
4: Matte Eye Shadow (ex. shade Vintage Lace), Colorstay 12-Hour Eye Shadow quads in certain shades, Luxurious Color Eye Line (ex. shade Black Velvet), Lip Butters (many hearts may be breaking over this, these are so popular!)
3: Certain shades of PhotoReady Concealer Makeup, PhotoReady Cream Blush (ex. shade Coral Reef), PhotoReady Mousse Makeup in certain shades, ColorStay Whipped Creme Makeup in certain shades, Colorstay Aqua Mineral Finishing Powder-Translucent, ColorStay 16-Hour Eye Shadow Quad (ex. shade Bombshell), Age Defying with DNA Advantage Cream Makeup, and nail polishes scored at least 3, at most 9
2: Super Lustrous Lipstick in many but not all shades, here’s a few: Sky Pink, Wine with Everything, Violet Frenzy, Peach Me, Smoky Rose, Coffee Bean, Apricot Fantasy, Sassy Mauve, Just Enough Buff, Cherries in the Snow; Photoready Kajal Intense Eye Liner & Brightener (ex. shade Purple Reign), Grow Luscious Waterproof Mascara, Custom Eyes Duo Shadow & Liner Palette (ex. shade Naturally Glamorous 020), Custom Eyes Mascara (ex. shade Blackened Brown 003), ColorStay Ultimate Liquid Lipstick in many but not all shades, here’s a few: Nude, Perfect Peony, Premier Pink, Prized Plum, Stellar Sunrise, and more; PhotoReady Eye Primer & Brightener, PhotoReady Makeup foundation (all shades)
1: ColorBurst Lipstick in the following shades: True Red 090, Rosy Nude 065, Fuschia 030
0: Remover for Lash Adhesive, Color Allure Nails, Medium nail glue
Please note I did not include products considered by Skin Deep to have an old formula (more than 3 years old), and also that not all shades of the same product will have the same score. Approx. 16.4% of the products I viewed were low toxin, which is honestly more than I thought there would be. But Revlon can certainly do better! Poor scores resulted from toxic ingredients such as multiple parabens (linked to reproductive toxicity, hormone disruption), BHA (linked to cancer, organ toxicity, hormone disruption), methyl methacrylate (linked to developmental toxicity, for example, fetal exposure in utero, breastfeeding infants, direct application exposure while still developing), and many more. Good Guide (www.goodguide.com), which rates product health, social, and environmental responsibility 0-10 (but with 10 being the best, no-toxin score) gives Revlon the following overall ratings: Health 1.9 (extremely poor), Environmental 3.9 (poor), and Social 3.9 (poor). Visit their website for more information.
Do what you wish with this material. Perhaps it will spur you on to changing your Revlon purchasing habits. If you feel inclined to take further action, there is a form letter on the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website that you cane-mail to Revlon asking them to remove harmful chemicals from their products. They also have more information on the kinds of toxic ingredients in Revlon products as well as their linked health concerns (and much more). Here is the page: http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5500/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=15670
What did you think of Revlon’s ratings? Were you surprised? Please leave a comment below with your thoughts, questions, and requests for other brand reviews. Be good to one another and thanks for reading.
As Halloween rolls around again, LUSH has released some new limited edition goodies to celebrate the season. While they did not bring back Pumpkin soap or the Jacko bath bomb (such a bummer!), they have cooked up a new bubble bar and 2 new bath bombs that you are sure to enjoy if you are a fellow lushie.
Pumkin Bubble Bar is an adorable sudsy treat designed to fill your tub with the scent of ylang ylang oil and orange flower absolute. Pumkin is no spelling error as it was designed as a counterpart to the Mother’s Day Mumkin bubble bar. This 3.5 oz product is good for multiple baths, depending on the amount of suds you want, the size of your bathtub, and whether or not your tub has jets. Plus it’s just plain cute! And it shares its scent with Figs and Leaves soap-one of my favorites.
Pumkin bubble bar, photo by LUSH
Lord of Misrule Bath Bomb is a much spicier product chock-full of black pepper and patchouli. I did not pick this one up because I ordered online and this seemed like a gamble (I am not a bug patchouli fan). But this sounds like a good one for those who enjoy a small, warm scented ballistic.
Misrule bath bomb, photo by LUSH
Soot Ball Bath Bomb is derived from the soot gremlins of the Japanese animated film Spirited Away. I love this scent because it is simultaneously sweet and savory. Frankincense, tonka absolute, and burnt caramel make an excellent combination for relaxation on a chilly October evening! Don’t let the color fool you; instead of turning your bath water black as it may seem, this little guy turns your water a beautiful gold. Unfortunately this item is not available on the Lush North America website, but you can order it from across the pond at https://www.lush.co.uk/product/6354/Soot-Ball
Soot ball bath bomb, photo by LUSH
Lush is also promoting some of their Halloween-themed permanent items such as the Dragon’s Egg bath bomb and Buffy body butter, among many others. Limited edition Halloween items usually launch in North America in mid-October. They launch much earlier in the UK (September). I find this strange as they could potentially sell more items by releasing them earlier. And why wouldn’t they sell Soot Ball here? Nevertheless, I will put these items to good use as I always take more baths in autumn and winter.
Did you pick any of these up? What do you think about Lush’s decision not to bring back previous Halloween limited edition items? Leave a comment below, and as always thanks for reading.
My video featuring these items:
“But those who put their hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40: 31
MAC Center of Attention MSF. Divine Night Holiday Collection 2013. Photo by somethingtoconsiderblog.com
MAC Cosmetics has now launched their Divine Night Holiday color collection in the US. In this collection are three highlighting mineralize skinfinish powders. I picked up Centre of Attention (I’m so proud of my restraint!) and thought I would share my thoughts on whether or not this $33 beauty item is worth the dough.
This MSF is priced at $33 rather than the usual $30 due to the limited edition packaging. This includes lettering on the box as well as the pot in gold instead of the usual white. Is that really worth an extra $3? I’m not so sure. The design of the mineralize skinfinish itself is also unique as the usual veining was foregone. The base color is a soft peachy pink that is finely milled. Inside is a square filled with a 14-karat gold glitter.
The color payoff of this MSF is rather disappointing. I found both colors to be quite sheer, with the gold being a bit more prominent. Since the pink is so light and sheer I would think it is better suited for paler, cool-toned skin. At first it reminded me of MAC’s Play It Proper, but when swatched side by side PIP is much more pigmented and more of a true pink without the peachy pull. CoA is very powdery. The yellow gold applies much like a pressed pigment. It is very chunky glitter, and while I applied it to the tops of my cheeks it most certainly did not stay there. After a couple of hours the gold glitter was literally all over my face (perhaps my oily skin has something to do with that). I found it applied a bit better when using a wet brush and placed on my lids over a creamy eyeshadow base. Because the gold is so coarse and gritty, when swatching the two colors together it is much more pronounced. Maybe that is why I did not find the color of mixing the two to be very appealing (and they really didn’t blend). As you can see in the pictures and video below, swatching one or two layers of the product was hardly noticeable on my light skin. I considered adding more layers to the swatches but that seemed misleading. What you see in these pics is truly what you get.
Now before I sound completely doom and gloom, I would say that the peachy pink base color is beautiful and provides a very subtle, flattering sheen. If you do not have a pinky highlight then this might be worth the money for that alone. As for the gold, I can’t say that it is all bad just because it didn’t suit my skin tone and larger pores. If you can pull off very large, yellow gold then you may love this product.
I definitely recommend trying this product in person before buying if at all possible. Overall I did not find Centre of Attention to be impressive, which is shocking as I have an unnatural love for MAC’s skinfinishes and beauty powders. I wanted to love it! But there are much better permanent MSF’s, and the next great limited edition collection is always just around the corner.
For live swatches watch the short video below. What did you think of this product and the collection as a whole? Do you disagree and absolutely love it? Leave me a comment below. Thanks for reading.
Products are available at MAC stores, counters, and on-line at www.maccosmetics.com
This product was purchased with my own money. All opinions are my own.
“Search me, O god, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24
MAC Centre of Attention MSF in Packaging. Photo by somethingtoconsiderblog.com
MAC Centre of Attention MSF Divine Night. Photo by somethingtoconsiderblog.com
MAC Centre of Attention MSF Divine Night. Photo by somethingtoconsiderblog.com
Pink 1 layer swatch
Pink 2 layers
Top: MAC Play it Proper, Bottom: COA (pink)
Top: CoA Gold, Bottom: Pink
Top to Bottom: CoA gold and pink swirled together, gold, pink
Up for your consideration are the Tinted Mineral Moisturizer and Refining Finishing Powder by Juice Beauty. I spotted these in Ulta awhile back, and since I’m always on the hunt for effective low-toxin products, I thought I would give theses a shot. Here’s a bit of background on Juice Beauty in case you are unfamiliar.
Founded in California, their goal was to create healthy and effectual personal care products. They have created antioxidant and vitamin-rich, organic, juice-based formulas that strive to be more effective than their high toxin-counterparts. Using juice as a base eliminates the need for petroleum derivatives that many other companies use, which suffocate the skin and frequently contain harmful chemicals. Juice Beauty is a certified organic brand, so you can purchase their genuinely natural ingredients with confidence. But enough chat about the company. How well do the products actually work?
The Gist
The tinted moisturizer has an SPF of 30, which is a bonus so no added sunscreen is necessary. Obviously the ingredients are a major plus. Not that all of my makeup is completely natural/organic, but I prefer anything that goes all over my entire face to be as natural and low-toxin as possible. It is very moisturizing, and since I am an oily girl, I do not use any supplementary moisturizer with it. This leaves the skin with a very dewy finish. For dry skin this is great; however, if like me you are more slippery, I would recommend using the refining powder to set it. The loose powder is very light and leaves the skin with a very natural finish (as in the middle ground between dry and oily). It does not look cakey, and for me it seems to last all day, even in the summer. Not everyone cares for loose powders, but they do not bother me if they perform well. I noticed it settled a bit into my smile lines throughout the day but not terribly. I saw no noticeable difference with how it looked when I used a primer underneath or not. The refining powder scores a 2 (low toxin) on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database. The tinted moisturizer scores a 2 in the shade ivory, 3 in sand and tan (which puts them just into the moderate range). For more information on what these ratings mean, visit http://www.ewg.org/skindeep
Application
For the tinted moisturizer, I dot it all over my face with clean fingers and then massage into the skin. I usually then go over it with my Bare Minerals precision face brush just to even it out. I apply the refining powder with the Bare Minerals flawless face brush, tapping off any excess product into the cap.
Overall
If you’ve been burned by tinted moisturizers that lack any semblance of coverage, this will not disappoint you. However, if you are in search of a full coverage product, this (or any tinted moisturizer for that matter) is not the item for you. While the price point is a bit steep (the tinted moisturizer retails for $29 for 2 oz of product; the refining powder goes for $22 for .28 oz), you get plenty of product. Could the health score of the tinted moisturizer be better? Of course (in the darker shades that is). So if you are really uncomfortable using anything other than low-toxin products, you will want to pass on this. Overall I think you get what you pay for: high quality, natural products that do pretty much what they say they do. And if you purchase them from Ulta and are dissatisfied, you can return them for a full refund or store credit (at least here in The States).
Have you tried them? Leave a comment below with your thoughts and skin type. Of course I purchased these with my own money and these thoughts are my own. Thanks for reading.
Info on the company found at http://www.juicebeauty.com
Skin Deep database: http://www.ewg.org/skindeep
Interested in seeing how these products look on the skin? Watch my YouTube video:
Hello, Lovelies! I’m back with another makeup brand review. I previously reviewed E.L.F. Cosmetics (to read this review, click here). This time we are looking at Urban Decay and spotlighting some of their best and worst health rated products. As usual I use www.goodguide.com and www.ewg.org/skindeep to get these ratings. Below I have listed current ratings as of this writing. Don’t forget: product formulations are constantly changing so you may want to double check scores before purchasing. For Good Guide (gg), 10=no toxin, 5-9=low toxin, 3-4=moderate toxin, 0-2=high toxin so the higher the number the better. As for Skin Deep (sd), the ratings are opposite of Good Guide; 0=no toxin, 1-2=low toxin, 3-6=moderate toxin, 7-10=high toxin so the lower the number the better. I included prices if available, but don’t fret, ebay and amazon are always loaded with discontinued makeup. I included ratings on d/c’d products in case you have them in your stash. Let’s highlight some of their low-toxin products first. Urban Decay has quite a few low-toxin products.
The Best:
24/7 glide on lip pencils in all colors except Wicked (gg 7, sd 1 or 2); $19
Lip junkie lip glosses (gg5+); $19
Naked 2 eyeshadow palette of 12 shadows (all shades score well except for Blackout-gg 4; could not find score for Bootycall); $50
Most of their false lashes (gg 8); $15
Urbanglow cream highlight in the shades sin, wicked, and brown sugar (gg 8); $24
Cannonball ultra waterproof mascara (gg 8); $20
24/7 glide on eye pencils in the shades: zero, lust, perversion, ransom, rockstar, stash, demolition, underground, yayo, flipside, gunmetal, graffiti (gg 6+, sd 2); $19 (some shades are on sale on www.sephora.com for only $6!)
Eyelash primer potion (gg 8) $20
Meltdown Make-Up Remover (gg 8); $24
Lipsticks in the following shades: gravity, trainwreck, jilted, vinyl, voodoo, wanted, buzzkill, requiem, revolution, midnight cowboy, lovechild, hot pants, rush, sellout, naked, apocalypse, peroxide, confession, and gash (gg 6+); *note: these are the old lipsticks, not to be confused with the brand new Revolution lipsticks that, to my knowledge, have not yet been rated.
Ammo eyeshadow box/palette – 10 Shades (gg 7); $34
Eyeshadow singles in the following shades: buck, darkhorse, roach, woodstock, foxy, baked, virgin, zephyr, s and m, smog, loaded, lost, tease, naked, verve, evidence, asphyxia, toasted, freelove, rockstar, blunt, bust, mildew, x, ydk, peace, flash, pistol, fishnet, bender, scratch, snakebite, busted, vanilla, mushroom, gravity, shattered, bordello, height, secret service, half baked, swf, radium, sellout, kush, snatch, suspect, last call, abc gum, psychedelic sister, acdc, twice baked, gunmetal, sin, grifter, midnight cowgirl, chopper, oil slick, stray dog, polyester bride, midnight cowboy, rodeo, midnight cowboy rides again, and the stardust eyeshadows (gg 5+); $18. *Note the older formulations of these shadows have much worse scores
Eyeshadow Primer Potion in sheer nude, eden, and greed (gg 6+); $20 (greed is on sale right now at www.sephora.com for only $10)
De-slick, All Nighter, and Dew Me setting sprays (gg 6); $14-29 depending on size
Revolver fragrance Oil (gg 6)
Guardian angel spray moisturizer SPF 8 (gg 6)
Stardust sparkling lip glosses in andromeda and space cowboy (gg 6)
Midnight cowboy body shimmer lotion (gg 5)
Rollergirl eyeshadow palette of four shadows (gg 5)
Worst:
It would take too long to list all 500 or so poorly rated products, so I’ll highlight a few.
Naked 1 palette of 12 shadows (gg 0); $50
Urban brow styling brush and setting gel (gg 4); $20
Urbanglow Cream Highlight in the shade Moonshine (gg 4); $24
Many eyeshadow colors (too many to list), here’s an example of a few: cobra, blackout, chase, maui wowi (gg 0-4), $18
Big fatty waterproof mascaras (gg 2-4); $20
24/7 glide-on shadow pencils (gg 4); $20
The black palette (gg 4)
Loose pigments (gg 0)
Surreal skin mineral makeup and Surreal cream to powder foundations (gg 0, sd 3+); $31 and $35 respectively
De-slick mattifying face powder (sd 3); $32
Naked skin beauty balm (sd 5); $14-34 depending on size
Afterglow glide on cheek tint (gg 3-4); $24
24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner (gg 0); $19
Ultraglide lip glosses and xxx shine glosses (gg 0)
These bad scores are due to ingredients such as silica, butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), propylene glycol, triethanolamine, and multiple parabens. These are linked to health concerns such as cancer, organ toxicity, hormone disruption, and cellular level changes. Overall, Urban Decay health product ratings are 2.8, their social responsibility rating is 3.2, and their environmental responsibility rating is also 3.2 (none too impressive).
So judge for yourself if Urban Decay is the right brand for you. Most of their low-toxin products, while costly, are highly pigmented, beautiful, and have great staying power. And remember that not all high-end makeup makes for good health quality products.
What are your thoughts on Urban Decay? Leave a comment below. As always, thanks for reading.
“Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the most high, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling for He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your ways.” Psalm 91:9-11
Something to Consider 