Living Cruelty Free

Numerous people have recommended Juice Organics to me — it’s 100% cruelty-free, it’s vegetarian and it’s organic. (It would be the trifecta if it were vegan instead of vegetarian — I’m not sure why Juice Organics hasn’t gone vegan.) It’s made by the same people who make the Juice Beauty line — it’s just better priced, less concentrated, has fewer age-defying ingredients, and is made with only 5 organic juices instead of 26. Juice Organics is really much better priced than Juice Beauty — 6 ounces of the Juice Organics Nourishing Cleanser is $9.99, whereas 6 ounces of the Juice Beauty Cleansing Gel is more than double the price at $22.00.

I ordered a Juice Organics travel kit which was a really good deal — $10 from Amazon Prime — and tried out the nourishing cleanser, the vitamin antioxidant serum, and the SPF 30 Light Tint Moisturizer. I hate to buy full size bottles of products I’ll never use, so this was great for me.

My conclusions:

Juice Organics Nourishing Cleanser is a nice cleanser — it’s oil-based, so it is good to remove oil-based cosmetics from your skin, and it does gently clean without stripping your skin — in fact, it adds oil to your skin. It’s kind of like a very thin cold cream. I suspect if you’re a fan of the oil-cleansing-method this might work very well for you. It’s soap-free, and supposedly is made of white grape and apple juices, aloe vera, plant oils and vitamin antioxidants. Despite being oil-based, it does wash off my face pretty well — there’s only a mild oil residue, it doesn’t leave my face disgustingly greasy. (I suspect this might not work very well for people with really oily skin.)

Juice Organics Antioxidant Serum seemed just okay to me — supposedly it has age-defying antioxidants in a base of organic grape and orange juices to “revitalize, help smooth fine lines and help firm for radiant, ageless skin.” I didn’t see much effect, but I did find it a nice intermediate step before putting on the moisturizer — though I do think any sort of toner would have worked just as well.

Juice Organics SPF 30 Light Tint Moisturizer, however, is an excellent moisturizer with an organic white grape and pomegranate juice base with 10% titanium dioxide SPF. I really, really like this stuff — I think the idea of using tinted titanium dioxide as a sunscreen is a great idea — all the other mineral based sunscreens I’ve tried out have been awful because they use these brilliantly white minerals as the sunscreen without tinting them. I mean, I’m pretty pale but I still end up with bright white chalky streaks of titanium dioxide on my face from those things. Titanium dioxide is frequently used as a cosmetics base in nonsunscreen applications because it is brilliantly white — why anyone would think a mineral based sunscreen made of it is a good idea I do not know. So I think tinting titanium dioxide is a great idea — you get the skin cancer reducing benefits of titanium dioxide, without looking like you’ve smeared chalk all over your face. It’s the best of both worlds! (Plus titanium dioxide is a very long-lasting sunscreen, which is nice — unlike avobenzone which is only effective for 2 hours after you put it on, titanium dioxide is supposedly a good sunblock until you wash it off. If you hate to frequently reapply sunscreens, titanium dioxide is definitely a good way to go.)

I did have a little trouble putting on the SPF 30 Light Tint Moisturizer at first — I put it on way, way too thickly and ended up with an orange cast to my face. But now I spread it on very, very thinly and it blends right into my skintone and gives me a very slight evening out of my complexion (yay!). It doesn’t provide as flawless a finish as Earth’s Beauty powder foundation, but it’s a lot less trouble — with powder foundations I always manage to get powder all over the place, and I have to double check to make sure I’ve evenly powdered — this stuff is much less messy than powder, it blends in much more easily, and best of all, it does have a pretty matte effect once it goes on (though not as matte as a powder). (It’s very sheer — this would not be good for anyone who wants a lot of coverage.)

Overall, I really liked the way the cleanser, serum and moisturizer worked together. The pump packaging is very cute, easy to use, impossible to break a nail on, and pumps out exactly the amount of product you need. The scents were a little difficult for me to get used to at first — the cleanser and the serum smell kind of like fermented citrus fruit. But now I kind of like the way they smell — they smell kind of bright and citrusy to me now, and I’ve grown to like the lack of chemical fragrance. The moisturizer smells kind of like a mixture of kitchen spices to me — maybe allspice or cloves? That also took some getting used to but now I like it. I also appreciate the fact that all of these products are fairly concentrated — you really don’t need very much of any of them so I think they will last a long time.

However, I have had distinctly different experiences with these three products in the summer and winter. I started using the kit last November when it was still pretty warm here in the Bay Area, and the oil-based cleanser made my skin oily and the mineral-based spf moisturizer did not sink into my skin but stayed in a thin insulating layer on top of it — especially because I was applying it WAY too thickly — and the combination made me break out a little bit and become really sweaty every morning. So I was not happy, and was thinking of giving Juice Organics 3/5 stars at best. But I kept using the products and the weather suddenly became a lot colder, and miraculously my skin stopped breaking out and becoming sweaty and started looking great. Then I remembered that my skin usually goes from having oily patches and breakouts in the summer to having too-dry-skin in the winter, and realized that this oil-based insulating routine was great in the winter but bad in the summer.

Since then, I’ve ordered full size bottles of all the products and have been using them ever since — I like them a lot, I think they’re nicely moisturizing and skin-cancer-preventing and am ranking them at 4/5 stars. I actually think they are 5/5 star products for winter, but definitely not good products for summer unless you have really dry skin and do not live in a humid climate, so I’m compromising with 4/5 stars. In the summer I plan to switch back to the alba botanic sea moss line.

The Juice Organics trial and travel kit is available for $9.99 on Amazon (free shipping if you have Amazon prime). The regular sized cleanser, serum and moisturizer are available from the Juice Organics online store.

Juice Organics Nourishing Cleanser. Ingredients: Organic juices of vitis vinifera (white grape) juice, pyrus malus (apple) juice & aloe barbadensis leaf juice, organic botanical extracts of calendula officinalis flower & matricaria chamomilla flower, glycerin, organic plant oils of carthamus tinctorius (safflower) seed & helianthus annuus (sunflower), caprylic/capric triglyceride, cetearyl alcohol, cetearyl glucoside, sorbitan stearate, tocopheryl acetate & tocopherol (vitamin E), ascorbyl palmitate (vitamin C), tetrasodium edta, panthenol (vitamin B5), allantoin, phenoxyethanol, xanthan gum, benzyl alcohol, potassium sorbate, citric acid, limonene, linalool, citrus aurantium (sweet orange) & citrus aurantium (orange blossom) pure essential oils.

Vitamin Antioxidant Serum. Ingredients: Organic juices of vitis vinifera (white grape) juice, citrus aurantium dulcis (orange) juice & aloe barbadensis leaf juice, glycerin, organic essential fatty acids of linum usitatissimum (linseed) seed & borago officinali (borage) seed, thioctic acid (alpha-lipoic acid), ubiquinone (coenzyme Q10), magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (vitamin C), dipeptide-2, palmitoyl tetrapeptide-3, tocopheryl acetate & tocopherol (vitamin E), sclerotium gum, phenoxyethanol, sodium hydroxide, benzyl alcohol, disodium edta, hyaluronic acid, potassium sorbate, amyris balsamifera & litsea cubeba (may chang) pure essential oils.

Juice Organics SPF 30 Light Tint Moisturize. Active Ingredient: Titanium dioxide 10% Inactive Ingredients: Pyrus malus (apple) juice,* vitis vinifera (white grape) juice,* punica granatum (pomegranate) juice* and aloe barbadensis leaf juice,* glycerin, cucumis sativus (cucumber) fruit extract,* camellia sinensis (green tea) leaf extract,* glyceryl stearate, helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil,* cetyl alcohol, stearyl alcohol, caprylic/capric triglyceride, tocopheryl acetate (vitamin E), sodium PCA, hyaluronic acid, panthenol (vitamin B5), allantoin, cera alba (beeswax),* magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (vitamin C), mica & iron oxides (mineral tints), benzyl alcohol, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin, limonene, linalool, farnesol, geraniol, citrus aurantium (petitgrain) and citrus reticulata (mandarin) pure essential oils.
* certified organic by a USDA approved agency.

I feel kind of silly writing this review, as I almost never wear makeup other than lip gloss, but I thought I’d try out a face powder with UVA sunblocking abilities (why UVA? Because UVA rays cause skin cancer, and most so-called sunscreens don’t protect you from them). My nose and forehead are a little oily, so it’s nice to have a non-lotion-based sunscreen for those areas. I imagine this sort of powder is really useful for people with really oily skin who can’t ever wear moisturizer — it’s sunscreen in powder form, basically. I’m not really sure how well it works spf-wise compared to lotion-based-sunscreen — Paula from Paula’s Choice only recommends using powder as a sunscreen only if it’s applied very thickly and evenly — but for people who suffer massive breakouts every time they put sunscreen on their face, this is a great alternative. It’s also good for people who wear a lot of makeup — you don’t have to destroy all your artfully applied blush and bronzer with liquid sunblock, you can just powder a little of this on top (or so I have read).

A lot of companies have spf in their face powders, but only some of those are UVA blocking spfs, and only a very few of those are also cruelty free. Earth’s Beauty makes one such — it’s the Earth’s Beauty Mineral Colors Face Powder with SPF. The main sunscreen ingredient in it is zinc oxide, which is a very good UVA-blocker (the five are: zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, octocrylene, avobenzone, and mexoryl). Earth’s Beauty Mineral Colors Face Powder with SPF comes in a little shaker jar with .75oz of powder in it, and is meant to be applied with a kabuki brush. It’s available in six colors. According to Natural Solutions, Earth’s beauty face powder is a blend of arrowroot powder and natural iron oxides from pure sources, and it is not nano-micronized, but ultra-fine. (Some people worry about the effects of nano-micronization — nano-micronized particles have not been around very long — they may cause health problems, it’s just too soon to tell. So if you worry about nano-micronization, this face powder will still work for you.)

So, that’s all great in theory, but how well does Earth’s Beauty SPF face powder actually work in practice? I was initially concerned because my forays into face powder have never gone very well. I last tried Burt’s Bees translucent face powder and it highlighted every bit of flaky skin I have, and I had difficulty applying it sheerly. It looked appalling, so I swore off face powder for a while. I’ve also tried some other pressed powders from the drugstore, and they all seemed too heavy for me, and I could never find a matching shade to my skin tone — they were all either too beigey or too pale — I have pale yellow and pink skin tones. So I was a little nervous, but I ordered two Earth’s Beauty samples to test, and they were fantastic. First off, the powder is silky fine, it just melts into my skin and is incredibly sheer. It is so much better than the other powders I’ve tried. There was no flakiness highlighting whatsoever. Unless I layer it on really thickly, I can’t see the powder at all, other than a slight mattifying effect (yay!). Secondly, the colors I picked were actually yellowish/pinkish and really match my skin tone — not too beige, not too white. So I am very happy, and ordered a full jar, and plan to powder my nose with it daily (though I’ll probably still use Alba Botanica SPF Moisturizer for the rest of my face). Of course, if I’m out in the sun for any long period of time, I’ll still reapply Alba Botanica Facial Sunscreen every few hours

Earth’s Beauty Mineral Colors Face Powder with SPF is available at Natural Solutions for $24.95 (it’s also available in 1/8tsp samples for $1.00 apiece).

Ingredients: Organic wildcrafted blend of arrowroot, kaolin, magnesium stearate, zinc stearate, zinc oxide, and iron oxide.

I really like Alba Botanica Facial Sunscreen — first of all, it’s cruelty free like all Alba Botanica products. It also has avobenzone in it so it protects against skin-cancer-causing UVA rays, unlike most sunscreens (I’ve written up some information here on on why UVA blocking sunscreens are important and why most sunscreens, even those with high SPFs, don’t contain UVA-blocking ingredients, and why they are therefore worse than going out with no sunscreen whatsoever). I’ve used it for about a month now, and not only is it streak-free (yay!), but it also has a thick consistency, so it doesn’t tend to spray everywhere when I open the bottle, which I also really like. It’s also lightly moisturizing, it sinks in fairly quickly, and it’s fairly inexpensive for a facial sunscreen — $7.95 for 4 oz. It is not waterproof — but since every waterproof sunscreen I’ve ever tried has been disgustingly gooey, I do not mind. I tend to put on waterproof sunscreen only when I’m about to dive into a body of water. I’ll probably pick up a bottle of Alba Botanica waterproof sunscreen next time I’m on my way to a pool.

My only minor problem with Alba Botanica facial sunscreen so far is that it’s a little too oily for my face for daily usage (I have an oily T-zone) — if I plan to be out in the sun all day I will slather it on my face every two hours, and it does give me a slight oily sheen on my nose and forehead (but nothing like any other sunscreen I’ve tried — those make me look like an oil slick). However, on a day to day basis I don’t use it — I use Alba Botanica Sea Moss Moisturizer with Avobenzone instead, because it’s less oily. But the facial sunscreen has a great consistency for my arms and legs — it’s nicely moisturizing — I put some on every day.

Alba Botanica Facial Sunscreen is available for $7.95 (actually it’s on sale right now for $6.95) at White Rabbit Beauty.

Active Ingredients: Octinoxate 7.5%, Octyl Salicylate 4%, Benzophenone-3 4.0%, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane 2.0%

Inactive Ingredients: Certified Organic Infusion of Green Tea, Chamomile and Gingko Biloba, Glyceryl Stearate, Caprylic/CapricTriglyceride, Octylpalmitate, Certified Organic Calendula and Lavendar, Cetyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Xanthan Gum, Lecithin, Allantoin, Glycerin, Sorbitol, Calcium Ascorbate, Methyl/Propylparaben, Phenoxyethanol

Aubrey Organics Natural Sun SPF 25 (2/5 stars)

I really wanted to like this sunscreen. Aubrey Organics is a great company that has gone to the trouble to license the leaping bunny logo, and its products are vegan and extremely organic. Plus, this sunscreen has titanium dioxide as its active sunscreen ingredient, and titanium dioxide is a really good UVA blocker which is very effective for preventing skin cancer. However, I’m not happy with this sunscreen. The titanium dioxide makes it really streaky, and it seems to dry out my skin as well. It’s also not cheap at $8.50 for 4oz.

Aubrey Organics Natural Sun is available at Aubrey Organics Online for $8.50.

ACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Padimate O (PABA Ester), Titanium Dioxide.
INACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Coconut Fatty Acid Cream Base, Jojoba Butter, Organic Jojoba Oil, Organic Sunflower Oil, Organic Shea Butter, Organic Aloe Vera, White Camellia Oil, Lecithin, Canadian Willowherb Extract, Aubrey’s Preservative (Citrus Seed Extract, Vitamins A, C and E), Silica, Jasmine Oil.

Alba Botanica Sea Moss Moisturizer SPF 15
4/5 stars

I started using this moisturizer two months ago, and it’s great. Alba Botanica does not test on animals, so no rats were tortured to produce it, and as a moisturizer it’s very nice — it’s lightly moisturizing and not too greasy. It’s hypoallergenic and 70% organic. Best of all, it has avobenzone, which is one of the best available UVA ray blockers. While many sunscreen products claim to have UVA protection, only avobenzone, mexoryl, octocrylene, titanium dioxide, and zinc oxide actually have UVA protection (http://www.skincancer.org/content/view/39/8/). Since mexoryl isn’t legal in the U.S., octocrylene may cause endocrine problems, and titanium dioxide and zinc oxide leave white streaks, avobenzone is by far the best available UVA protection in this country. UVA protection is really important — it protects against skin cancer. (UVB protection only protects against sunburn. It used to be thought that UVA rays were harmless, and UVB rays cause sunburn and skin cancer. However, a recent Australian study determined that in the past 20 years more and more people have been using sunscreen on a daily basis, but skin cancer rates were also increasing, which seemed crazy. So they then figured out that UVA rays were the real culprit, and that’s why you should have UVA blockers in your sunscreen.) Also, because it does not have titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, it’s clear and doesn’t leave white streaks the way many other UVA protecting SPFs do.

The only drawbacks to Alba Botanica Sea Moss Moisturizer SPF 15 are that it has weird sea moss ingredients in it (I’m not really a fan of sea moss, I would prefer a plain, unscented moisturizer), and that the avobenzone in it only works for 2 hours, so if I go outside I have to reapply sunscreen every two hours. However, this is worth it to me because I hate the longer-lasting sunscreens like titanium dioxide/zinc oxide products that leave white streaks.

It’s available for $14.99 at drugstore.com.

Active Ingredients: Octylmethoxycinnamate (7.5%), Benzophenone 3 (5.0%), Avobenzone (2%)

Inactive Ingredients: Certified Organic Aloe Vera Barbadensis and Lavender Hydrosol (lavandula officinalis), Glyceryl Stearate, Stearic Acid, Organic Marine Complex: Chondrus Crispus (Irish Moss), Dermochlorella (Algae), Enteromorpha Compressa (Algae), Laminaria Digitata (Kelp), Macrocystic Pyrifera (Kelp), Spirulina Maxima (Algae), Ulva Lactuca (Sea Lettuce), Organic Oat (Beta Glucan), Vegetable Glycerin, Cetearyl Alcohol, L-Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Certified Organic Green Tea Extract (Camellia Sinensis), Silica, Certified Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia Chinensis), Sorbitol, Vegetable Emulsifying Wax, Phenoxyethanol, Methyl/Propylparaben, Grape Fruit Extract (Citrus Grandis), Botanical Fragrance