Minimergency Kit for Her

My best friends know me well.  My friend Abby is the one who first pointed out to me that it’s not “normal” to own as many beauty & hair products as I do, so it’s only natural that she would go to Sephora when looking for a birthday gift for me.

Abby picked out the Minimergency kit for me which contains 16 mini items – Hairspray, Clear Nail Polish, Nail Polish Remover, Emery Board, Lip Balm, Earring Backs, Clear Elastics, Sewing Kit, Double-Sided Tape, Stain Remover, Deodorant Towelette, Pain Reliever, Tampon, Breath Freshener, Dental Floss, and Adhesive Bandages.  I only took pictures of the cutest items as I’m sure you can imagine what a small nail file and sewing kit look like.

Philosophy’s Beach Girl Set

Periodically I’ll feature a product I’m using that does not contain at least one of the ingredients I am trying to avoid.  I received this Beach Girl set for my birthday in June.  I wasn’t even aware then, but Sephora told me it is formulated without parabens, phthalates, GMO’s, triclosan, mineral oil, or propylene glycol.  Parabens are one of the main ingredients I am trying to stay away from and when I learned that these were paraben-free, I was so happy 🙂

Ingredients:

– 0.5 oz Beach Girl High-Gloss, High-Flavor Lip Shine: Polybutene, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Beeswax/Cera Alba/Cire D’abeille, Fragrance/Parfum, Ethylhexyl Hydroxystearate, Polyglyceryl-2 Dipolyhydroxystearate, Triethylhexyl Trimellitate, C30-45 Olefin, Water/Aqua/Eau, Phytosterols, Tocopherol, Tocotrienols, Squalene, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Benzophenone-3, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Sodium Saccharin, Ricinus Communis (Castor) Seed Oil, Phenoxyethanol, Benzyl Benzoate, Cinnamal, Citral, Eugenol, Geraniol, Limonene, Linalool, Synthetic Fluorphlogopite, Tin Oxide, Titanium Dioxide (Ci 77891), Red 27 Lake (Ci 45410).

– 4.0 oz Beach Girl Body Lotion: water⁄aqua⁄eau, olea europaea (olive) fruit oil, glycerin, isopropyl palmitate, cetearyl olivate, isopropyl myristate, squalane, fragrance⁄parfum, sorbitan olivate, cetyl alcohol, limonene, butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) fruit extract, dimethicone, phytosterols, tocopherol, tocotrienols, squalene, butylene glycol, oryza sativa (rice) bran wax, aloe barbadensis leaf juice, hydroxyethyl acrylate⁄sodium acryloyldimethyl taurate copolymer, macadamia integrifolia seed oil, hydrogenated palm glycerides, potassium cetyl phosphate, cetyl palmitate,sesamum indicum (sesame) seed oil, zea mays (corn) oil, sorbitan palmitate, hexylene glycol, disodium edta, potassium sorbate, pentaerythrityl tetra-di-t-butyl hydroxyhydrocinnamate, tris (tetramethylhydroxypiperidinol) citrate, xanthan gum, caprylyl glycol, benzyl benzoate, citral, citronellol, geraniol, hexyl cinnamal, linalool, phenoxyethanol, yellow 5 (ci 19140), red 4 (ci 14700), yellow 6 (ci 15985).

– 4.0 oz Beach Girl Shampoo, Shower Gel & Bubble Bath: Water (Aqua), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Ppg-2 Hydroxyethyl Cocamide, Lauryl Betaine, Disodium Laureth Sulfosuccinate, Glycerin, Glycol Stearate, Fragrance (Parfum), Allantoin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Panthenol, Butylene Glycol, Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract, Phytosterols, Tocopherol, Tocotrienols, Squalene, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Wax, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Fruit Extract, Polyquaternium-7, Polyquaternium-10, Isostearamidopropyl Morpholine Lactate, Methyl Gluceth-20, Sodium Benzotriazolyl Butylphenol Sulfonate, Buteth-3, Tributyl Citrate, Sodium Chloride, Citric Acid, Disodium Edta, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Yellow 5 (Ci 19140), Red 4 (Ci 14700), Yellow 6 (Ci 15985).

Doesn’t just looking at that list of ingredients make your head spin?  I’m a firm believer that the fewer ingredients in a product, the better it is for us (and it also helps if we can read, pronounce, and understand all of them too!).

Even though it’s been a few months, I have hardly touched the lip gloss at all.  I’ve used it a few times but it seemed to be too thick for me.  I’ll have to pull it out again and just use a teeny bit of it over top of another color; I think that would be the best way to go.

I was turned off by the lotion at first because it is pretty thin and runny, but I’ve been keeping it at my desk at work recently and I’m loving it!  I just have to be careful to turn it upside down and shake it down into the end of the tube before I open it.  It keeps my hands soft and moisturized for hours and it really smells like orange crush!  The scent definitely helps brighten my work day 🙂

The 3-in-1 shower gel on the other hand, is almost gone.  Be careful because it is runny and comes out too fast if you don’t turn it upside down before opening.  It lathers up awesomely on my loofah and even just between my hands, too.  In a pinch I’ve used it as a shampoo before and loved it.  It seemed just like any other shampoo, it just smelled really good and didn’t leave a trace of the scent in my hair after rinsing.

What paraben-free products have you found that you like?