Lipstick and Luxury

Review: eco-armour Shave with Benefits

August 10, 2012

It’s not easy being a woman; there’s just so much maintenance involved. It’s not that I mind being a woman but some of the beauty rituals that we go though are just so time consuming or monotonous. And shaving is one of those things that I just don’t like to do. I shave my legs one day and the next day there’s a hint of stubble. And since it’s summertime I really have no option unless I opt for pants during these sweltering and humid months in New York City and that’s really NOT an option.

Well I recently tried an botanical shave foam from eco-armour called Shave with Benefits. Eco-Armour Shave with Benefits claims to helps eliminate:

Nicks and Cuts
Future Ingrown Hairs
Razor Burn
Red Bumps
Dull Blades

This shave foam is noticeable lighter than the super thick drugstore variety so I had to use a bit more than usual. However the eco-armour plant-based formula left my legs with no irritation and silky smooth to the touch. The witch hazel based formula contains aloe vera, rosemary oil, vegetable glycerin and tea tree oil to sooth skin. The line is also cruelty-free, which is a big plus to me!

The foams are available in lovely scents such as Bergamot+Pink Grapefruit, Mint+Eucalyptus and Pomegranate+Mango (I loved the Pomegranate+Mango scent), so it’s like an aromatherapy treatment and a botanical shaving experience all in once.

Have you tried eco-armour Shave with Benefits?

Disclosure: The product featured in this post was provided for editorial consideration. Receipt of this product did not guarantee review and all opinions are my own.

The Beauty Industry is Not Always Pretty: Fatal Attraction to Cosmetics and Chemicals

March 25, 2012

You may have noticed there have been several changes here at Lipstick and Luxury over the past few months. I’ve posted a lot less and many of my posts feature a more natural approach to beauty. After a lot of thought and deliberation I decided to focus on natural, organic and cruelty-free brands. You see I’ve done a lot of research and read about the ingredients in some of my favorite beauty brands I was really shocked. Many personal care products that we all use daily, like lipstick, deodorant and sunscreen contain some very scary and harmful ingredients and the FDA is doing nothing about it. I touched upon this subject lightly in my post about lead in lipstick and why you should be concerned. But lead is not the only harmful item in our personal care products that we need to be worried about.

I came across this infographic that explains why exactly we should be concerned about what goes into our personal care products and for me this is the main reason I decided to focus on natural and organic products. The infographic notes, “We pay $50 billion every year to look and smell fantastic, but for those of you who thought beauty was only skin deep — well, you’re in for an ugly surprise.”

Created by: CosmetologySchool.org

Now I’ve also decided to focus on cruelty-free beauty products because I’m a vegetarian. And I think it’s a bit hypocritical of myself to not want to eat animals because I love them so much and at the same time support brands that cruelly test on the animals that I love. But I’ll save that for another post. 😉

The Environment Working Group (EWG) has a fabulous resource on their website called EWG’s Skin Deep^® database where you can look up the ingredients listed on your favorite beauty products to find out exactly what’s in them and if any of the ingredients are hazardous. The cosmetics database contains over 69,000 beauty products and gives them a “Hazard Score” of 0-10. According to the website the rating tells us “the scope of ingredient safety data and the number of studies available in the open scientific literature.” Furthermore the site will tell us if the company tests on animals, if the brand has signed the Compaign for Safe Cosmetics and a full list of ingredients, which is very helpful so that you don’t have to strain your eyes trying to read the ingredient list on those tiny packages. I spent some time on this site and I was pretty shocked to find that many drugstore as well as luxury brands contained.Were you aware of the potential dangers in some of the cosmetics that you have been using?

Lipstick and Luxury speaks on Gay Pride Month

June 17, 2011

That's so gay - not

I hesitated to post this and I’ve been going back and forth about this post so here goes…

When I began Lipstick and Luxury I started it as a move from a personal blog to a beauty blog. The reason? Well let’s just say that the internet can be a scary place and you just never know who is on the other side of the screen. So I turned to one of my passions which is beauty and started blogging about things that I loved. And while I’ve enjoyed my beautiful new adventure there just seemed to be something missing. It was me, I was missing from my posts. My point of view, my personality, my obsessive need to share my personal opinion well it was just not there any longer.

Now fast forward to June, Gay Pride month. Well you may be asking what does gay pride have to do with Lipstick and Luxury? Well you see “Lipstick” is a double entendre for the love of my favorite beauty product (lipstick) and the fact that I’m also a Lipstick Lesbian.

So what is an out and proud lesbian to do? Should I simply just ignore pride month and maybe not make mention of my sexuality because it may make people uncomfortable? NO. June is not just about celebrating and being proud of our diversity but it also serves as a reminder for those who suffered simply for loving someone and those who lost their lives from hate crimes. Now that is too important not to mention.

My big fat gay wedding

With all of that being said, I no longer feel that need to sit quietly behind my computer and not make a comment or write a post because it may make someone uncomfortable. I’ve been with my wife for almost eight years and I’m a bit over having to correct people when they reference “my husband” in conversations, I’m a bit over people using the word “gay” as a derogatory term and I’ve just about had enough of people making assumptions about me based on my sexuality. Gay Pride is about NOT being ashamed of who you are even when other people don’t agree with you. So I ask you all to educate yourselves and become an ally to the LGBT community, more information can be found here, here and here.

On a lighter note, I decided to show a little love to some beauty brands that have openly supported the LGBT community for Gay Pride Month. Unfortunately I was only able to find two beauty brands that are offering discounts, so check out these specials:

LUSH FREEDOM FOAMER BUBBLE BAR ($5.95). 100% of the proceeds of this emerald green bubble bar will go to Freedom to Marry to support their “Why Marriage Matters” campaign. Scented with the uplifting and refreshing scents of lemon, lime and grapefruit oils, the Freedom Foamer will be available exclusively online and at LUSH stores across North America for the duration of the campaign. It’s the perfect antidote to weary soles and a respite for freedom fighters.

Violent Lips Rainbow Pride Special

VIOLENT LIPS THE RAINBOW ($9.99). In honor of Pride Month (June 2011), Violent Lips the Rainbow is on sale for a limited time. Each Violent Lip package includes 3 Temporary Lip Tattoo Appliques.

Happy Pride!