Makeup Discourse

I purchased this with a curiosity. What surfactant must be used in the formulation? Will this be my Holy Grail Shampoo which is not tested on animals and does not contain animal derived ingredients?
Here is my in-depth analysis on the ingredients. I was excited when I bought this to add to my List of Cruelty free and vegan shampoos.

Organic Harvest claims to use organic and chemical free ingredients. The products made without Parabens, Artifical colourants and animal derived ingredients. The packaging is minimal, almost ordinary.

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How I use Organic Harvest Daily Shampoo?

When I first opened the bottle, the liquid with its colour and fragrance reminded me of sugarcane juice. Every time I used it, I wanted to glug down a tall glass of sugarcane juice. The image of sugarcane juice would not leave me alone.
So the first thing I did was looked up the ingredients and researched on them.
I have wasted, a lot of it by using it in exceeding amount. For three weeks I could not decipher the amount that should be used, a lot of it was wasted and lost a lot of hair every time I shampooed. In the hope of that squeaky clean feeling!
But one fine day, I used just a pump and voila there was zero hair fall while shampooing. It is as mild as Baby shampoo. All you need is just one pump for normal-oily hair and two if you have oiled them. My essential oil hair rinses work well with the shampoo. I love the volume I achieve when I use this.
To put the whole review in one sentence, OH Daily Shampoo is the best vegan and cruelty free alternative to SLS based shampoos.
My mother who colours and touch ups her hair every 45 days and thinks that her colour lasts longer.
Mostly, her curly hair is more manageable and frizz free.
I miss the slip while massaging this onto my scalp. That is the only thing I dislike about this shampoo. And missing Ingredients list too!

Organic Harvest Ingredients Analysis

When I could not get the sugarcane juice out of my head, I looked up at the key ingredients mentioned on the bottle. Certified Organic Decyl Glucoside, Glucoside was all I needed.

•  Aqua
• Decyl Glucoside is plant derived and biodegradable, derived from corn and cane sugar.
• Sodium PCA is a humectant; Pyrrolidone Carboxylic Acid (hydrating agent) additionally functions as skin replenishing agent.

And the key ingredients list comes to an end. Incomplete ingredients, I don't like them!
Organic Harvest does not forget to mention that the Shampoo is Paraben free, Phthalates free, Mineral Oil free, PABAfree, Petrolatum free, Paraffin-free and free of animal ingredients.
And not to forget not tested on animals, not even the raw materials used. The ingredients used in the formulation are USDA-certified organic ingredients as well as Eco-certified ingredients.

Efficacy

• Chemical free shampoo? Sulfate free shampoo?
• I love the body my fine hair has achieved. 
• My scalp does not turn oily until 3rd or 4th day.
• I can get away with diluting the shampoo for the mildest scalp cleansing.
• I have used 450 ml in 7 months. I am left with few more washes.
• If you dislike the fragrance, you can add essential oils to improve its efficacy.

I don't think I have any reason except the missing Ingredient list. My mother thinks this is the best sulfate free shampoo for colour treated hair. I think this is probably the best chemical free shampoo for thin and fine hair.

Organic Harvest is not tested on animals and does not contain animal derived ingredients. 

In my mind, I have glorified the gold. I want to stockpile all the gold eye shadows that I fancy at sight. The hues of gold, champagne, golden bronze, soft gold, dusty gold, golden beige...
And corals, as much as I love the combination I always end up pairing. Coral eye shadows are tricky and I am picky and certain.
Yes, I want the Too Faced Sweet Peach in spite of its mediocrity and the Too Faced fall collection 2017 Just Peachy tops my wishlist. Enough said.



While browsing, I came across this Foursome super shock eye shadows and all I could do was daydream of the makeup looks I could create. Reality check, I wore these only twice this spring/summer: two different looks. I am planning to recreate both. Currently, Colourpop Cosmetics is offering free worldwide shipping.



Colourpop Peachy Keen Foursome includes 4 warm-toned neutrals. Colour wise, they are well contrasted and undertone wise quite well coordinated. These colours are best suited for light to medium skin tones. Kennedy is quite a pastel on Olive/Tan skin tones, I am assuming it would be a bit more whitish on deeper skin tones.

Texture & Longevity

The tactile texture, to me, feels like moss. (Imagine the cleaner, greener, please.) If you've ever studied moss as a course or curiosity, you'll understand. How plush and cushiony it is to touch and at the same time not much, if you exert a little pressure to the touch, it'll lay bare its soothing dampness.

The staying power is unrealistic, stays on until I am ready to wash off my makeup- say 8-9 hours. That's how long I've let it stay on my lids, but you need a heavy duty oil balm or cleanser to take it off. The metallic and the ultra metallic shades crease on my eyelids. But if I am indoors and wearing Urban Decay original eyeshadow primer underneath, it doesn't budge at all, forget creasing. 9 of 10 times I skip primer since I am always short of time while doing the whole glam face.
Did I even mention NO FALLOUT?!

Colours, Undertones and Blendability

Crimper: A soft warm gold with multi-dimensional reflect, a bit gritty due to the glitter in it. Metallic Love!




Kennedy: A matte mid-tone Peach, slightly more cushiony and plush than the others.




Cornelius: A matte soft brown leans caramel, mid-tone to be precise.




Bandit: A warm reddish brown with sparse soft flecks of pink, silver and violet.



Cornelius works as a transition shade and blends effortlessly with any synthetic blending brush. But you would need to blend & build the depth of colour at once because once it sets it turns patchy upon layering. Crimper can be worn as a lid colour as well as a topper and works well both the ways.
Kennedy leans pastel on dark/olive/tan skin tones if worn with an eyeshadow primer performs much better. Bandit can be used to smoke out the edges and add more depth, the combination of Peach from Kennedy and the Reddish brown tint of Bandit creates quite a magical colour combination. All these colours are unique and co-ordinated at once, so many eye makeup looks can be created with just these foursomes.

With Kennedy being more plush and cushiony or mousse-like than the others; it gets difficult to either blend or layer the pigment. At once, Kennedy is both my favourite and least favourite.

Final Thoughts

Anybody who'd like to add some warm-toned neutral shades from Colourpop to their collection, can go ahead and pick this right away. I like these colours, even if I fail to wear them all at once; I use Cornelius as my transition shade whenever I use all Colourpop for eyemakeup. I have to come up with using different ways to use them before they dry and die!


Price in US & India for Colourpop Peachy Keen: $18 and INR 1206

Availability: Colourpop Cosmetics Peachy Keen*

Is Colourpop Cruelty-free? Yes

Vegan? Yes

 * No affiliate link

This is not an outrage, I love the brand for being Vegan and Cruelty-free and for their steps towards animal welfare and to add their customer care has been a cordial experience so far.
This is an eye-opener post for all the makeup lovers who are planning to purchase from Colourpop Cosmetics and ship/import it in India.

In January 2017, in the hope greed of acquiring more and more Colourpop super shock eyeshadows, I placed an order for 12 super shock eyeshadows. Coincidentally, the brand was giving away free 'newly launched' eyeshadow brushes. Vegan and Cruelty-Free Brushes, and I refrained from restricting myself.


So I placed an order and I could not wait for it to arrive. I was wondering looking at the brushes and the pricing, really really wondering if I made the right decision by greedily adding 12 eyeshadows for the brushes. It did almost after, 15-20 days(don't remember exactly) and also arrived a shocking fact: Import Customs Duty. INR 2778/ $40 for an order worth $53.
I checked again to see if it is 270 or 2778, to be really sure. My calculations were wrong!
And I sat down to really check if there was no error by calculating online. Here are few websites that let you calculate the import customs duty in India online and for free. Dutycalculator.com needs a subscription.


And when I checked the customs bill which was stuck on the outer package, I could see $21 for three brushes and the total was calculated as $79.03 (on the surface.) But if you really calculate everything: 6 brushes and $53 worth eyeshadows, exactly 50% customs duty was charged.
And even if you calculate the whole price including the free brushes, It turned around $95/6507 INR $53 eyeshadows + $42 free brushes, it does turn out less ie 1900 INR. So in fact, 50% is the new duty rate of the 'New' government.


So was it worth all the hassle? Not so much!
The brushes are custom made for the eyeshadows and work like a dream together. But I don't think they're worth the price tag!

I'd take that as a lesson and hence I decided to shop wisely (hopefully). Spending INR 8000 for an Indie brand, No thank you!