Five Not To Buy

After I posted my top five great makeup and tool buys, I received a request for my top (bottom) five terrible makeup and tool products to never buy. So, in no particular order, here they are:

1. Swiss Ives Apricot Scrub - 100% natural exfoliants sounds like a good idea in theory, but natural walnut pieces have jagged edges, and you're sloughing off too many layers of skin when you exfoliate with them. Instead, choose a scrub with rounded beads, like Clinique's Seven Day Scrub. If you need an all natural scrub, sugar scrubs or egg-white masks from fresh eggs are a better alternative.

2. Benefit Cosmetics They're Real Mascara - Oh, they’re real, all right. Real flakey. For $23, mascara should never flake onto your cheeks after an hour. You'd be better off with Smashbox's Full Exposure mascara for $19.50.

3. Shampoos with Sodium Lauryl Sulfate/Sodium Laureth Sulfate (which is most of them) - There’s some conflicting information on this out there, so let me be clear: sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate do NOT cause cancer. They can, however, cause dryness and irritation of the scalp, and also strip your color if it is treated. Shampoos without them are less foamy, but much better for your skin and hair.

4. Organic makeups past their expiration date - Here’s the thing about products that are preservative-free: there’s nothing in them to keep out micro-organisms and bacteria. Ew! Those dates are super important on all-natural products. And for the love of skin, make sure the organic makeup actually HAS printed expiration dates on the package. Otherwise, it just isn’t safe.

5. Natural hair brushes - First off, brushes made from camel, horse, goat, squirrel, mink, and sable hair contain dander, and can cause a reaction in anyone allergic to cats, dogs, ferrets or wool. Besides that, synthetic brushes are easier to clean and harder to damage. They’re also usually much less expensive, so why waste your money?

Do your homework, or better yet, ask a professional! It's not always the best thing to rely upon the FDA to tell you what is safe, but sometimes, the experience of a professional will be your bestest friend forever.