Policies


Disclosure and Disclaimer Policies

Witoxicity is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I do not accept any form of cash advertising, sponsorship or paid topic insertions. However, I will and do accept product samples from companies and organisations for review consideration. I am not compensated for mentions of these products on Witoxicity, to provide my opinions on them and for mentions of services and other websites.

This blog's content is based on my own opinions and views, and is not influenced by public relation firms, brands or other third-parties. Accepting product samples for reviews on Witoxicity does not guarantee a review or mention, and neither does it guarantee a positive and/or favourable review.

The information provided on this website is presented as accurately as possible and to the best of my ability and knowledge. The views and opinions expressed here on Witoxicity are entirely my own and are written based on my personal experience of using a particular product for a reasonable period of time. Everyone has different tastes and different types of skin, so please note that what works for me may not work for you. I will not be held responsible for any problems, loss and/or inconvenience caused to you as a result of using the information and opinions that are presented here on Witoxicity. Please always carry out a patch test first if you’re using a beauty product for the first time.

Some content on this website may be time-sensitive. This refers to mainly limited edition items, special offers and pricings which may no longer be available or are outdated by the time you read a certain post. To avoid disappointment, always check with the store/company for the most up-to-date information.

The views and opinions I express on Witoxicity are purely my own. If I claim or appear to be an expert on a certain topic or product or service area, I will only endorse products or services that I believe, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

Please use your best judgment by verifying any product claims, statistics, quotes, or other representations about products or services with their manufacturers or providers. Also, I cannot and will not be held responsible for the content left by visitors in the comments.

All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements. Witoxicity does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

Do not steal any content from my website - my photos and my articles (piecemeal or whole). I work hard and I spend a lot of time taking quality photos and preparing for my articles, so stealing them for your own profit would be extremely rude and ill-mannered. If you wish to use any of my contents, please write me an email and ask politely. I will consider your request and may grant permission in exchange for a link and/or credit to my website.


Privacy Policy

I respect your privacy and am committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at my site. The following discloses the information gathering and dissemination practices for this website:

Tracking
Like many other websites, this website makes use of log files. The information inside the log files includes internet protocol (IP) addresses, type of browser, date/time stamp and number of clicks. I look at the logs occasionally, but this is in an aggregate fashion for the purpose of analysing trends and to understand why people visit my website. There is no personally identifiable information. The general information collected is used to improve the content of my site and is never shared with other organisations for commercial purposes.

Cookies
I run a number of scripts from providers such as Google.com, Blogger.com and Skimresources.com, which set web browser cookies. The cookies are used for affiliate links and also by the outside ad company to display advertiesments on my site. These ads contain cookies and I have no access to or control over these cookies, once I have given them permission to set cookies for advertising. Neither do I have access to the information collected by the ad company. I work with the ad network Google Adsense. Please check its website for its privacy policies.

Links in Comments
If you leave a link in a comment, I will probably follow the link, even if the link is a Blogger.com profile. I am assuming you want me to find you if you make your contact information easily accessible.

Links
This website contains links to other websites. Please be aware that I am not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. I encourage users to be aware when they leave my site and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this website.


For questions about this website, please contact: witoxicity8 at gmail dot com.

GOSH: Intense Lashes Lengthening Mascara Review


I wrote a post about a month ago on a mascara promotion that GOSH Cosmetics was having here in the Netherlands. The old-mascara-for-new exchange promotion was such a huge hit with the mascara-mad ladies (yours truly not exempted!) that the GOSH mascara shelves in the participating stores were cleared out within a few days. Some stores ran out of GOSH mascaras even on Day 1!

Anyway, I mentioned getting the GOSH Intense Lashes Lengthening Mascara, which I believe is relatively new on the market. There seems to be very little written on the internet about this mascara and the little that I could find was in Polish. So, I've decided to share my thoughts on this mascara.....in English.

Product
Name: GOSH Intense Lashes Lengthening Mascara (Black)
Colour choice: Available only in black
Volume and Price: 12ml / 0.4 fl oz for €9.99

Physical description
Glossy black and red tube with red lettering. The mascara brush is made of red nylon.


According to GOSH (excerpts)
The revolutionary new, red nylon brush provides fabulous and easy application. This nurturing mascara is also rich in B5 pro-vitamin and features a softening, natural wax that gives your lashes added vitality, strength and suppleness.

· Extreme length
· Added intensity and definition of your lashes
· The nylon brush separates the lashes and provides a beautiful, even application
· Nurturing effect (pro-vitamin B5 and natural wax)
· Gives extraordinarily long lashes
· No perfume and parabens

My thoughts
Packaging:
The tube looks very sleek with the play of glossy black and eye-catching red. The screw-on top a.k.a. the brush handle is pinched in at the waist which allows for a secure grip during application.

Applicator:
The wand is neither too stiff nor too flexible, which suits me fine. The brush looks pretty standard with a tapered end. I had no problems getting to the inner and outer corners of my eyes. The brush did a good job of separating my lashes with no mess and I could easily get to the roots of my lashes.

Mascara:
The formula has a thick-ish consistency.

I always catch a whiff of a chemical scent while applying the mascara. I had never noticed the smell of other mascaras before during application, not unless I deliberately hold the mascara to my nose! The smell is very faint, so it’s not such a big issue.

This mascara does well in giving lovely long fluttery lashes and it's not too bad with volumising. I’ve been using this mascara for the last three weeks. There was no clumping in the first two and a half weeks when the mascara was new but it’s now starting to show signs of slight clumping. I haven’t experienced any smudging.

I gave it a durability test last Saturday. I had it on for the whole day when I was mostly outdoors and after 14 hours, it still hadn’t smudged or flaked! I was impressed as this isn’t even a waterproof mascara. However, I felt that my lashes, while still having the length, had lost most of the curl in the course of the day.

Conclusion
GOSH has delivered on its promise. True to its name, it is indeed a lengthening mascara. For the price, it’s a pretty decent mascara and I like it that it’s long-lasting with no smudging. However, someone like me with stick-straight lashes would need more than just a lengthening mascara to save the day. So, I would say that the GOSH Intense Lashes Lengthening Mascara would work very well for those lucky ones already blessed with naturally curly lashes.

Letter To Jane Iredale


Dear Ms Iredale,

I had meant to write to you a couple of months ago, soon after my foray into the heady world of beauty blogging. Unfortunately, I got waylaid by the glitzy lights of other makeup brands, resulting in my constantly putting off writing this letter. Please accept my apologies. You deserve to be treated better.

The reason I say this is because I credit you with getting me back into makeup, makeup as it was meant to be. The post Changing Trains talks about my past relationship with makeup, or the lack of it rather, and how I evolved into what I’ve now become. You are instrumental in this evolution. While my wedding was the catalyst, you were the enabler.

I've battled with acne for many years. They were unpleasant years and I’m sure you would be familiar with this as I believe many of your loyal users have a history of skin problems too. Your products certainly save the day for many of us!

I read that you started the Jane Iredale Mineral Makeup brand in 1994. Imagine, it took fourteen years after you had formed your cosmetics company before I discovered you! All those years of missing out on makeup! All those years of going out with an au naturel face albeit with an almost negligible sweep of eyeshadow and lipstick. I was simply resigned to the fact that I would never be able to wear any foundation or blush. Although I never lost any sleep over this, I did often have the thought at the back of my mind that I was forever doomed to a life of looking plain.

However, when I first read about your cosmetics last year, I allowed myself to have a tiny glimmer of hope. It was stated on the Jane Iredale website: “Our cosmetics are safe and good for your skin. Good for acne and rosacea.” That sounded promising. I was impressed by the fact that you worked closely with dermatologists and plastic surgeons in developing your products. My line of thought was that if your products agreed with patients of such doctors, then they might agree with me too. And they did!

I love your foundations, Ms Iredale. I find it quite incredible that I have accumulated five of your base products over the last twelve months. I guess it’s my way of making up for all those impoverished foundation-less years. Too eager, you could say. I’ll never forget the first Jane Iredale product that I acquired. It was the Pure Pressed Base Mineral Foundation. I was impressed with how natural it looked on my skin and even more impressed that it didn’t break me out! That, I have to say, was the watershed product for me. And with SPF 20, it was a big bonus!

I shan’t bore you with a list of Jane Iredale products that I now have. Suffice to say, my collection is enough for a basic full-face makeup. I will, however, list down the reasons why I love your products so much:

· All your products do not have potential skin-irritants – no parabens, no chemical dyes, no perfume and no alcohol.

· In 2007, you made the decision to remove another skin-irritant, bismuth oxychloride, from your powder foundations, eyeshadows and blushes. Some say that bismuth oxychloride causes cystic acne too. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise that I discovered your cosmetics post-2007.

· Your products contain no fillers like the all-too-famous talc, the pore-clogging culprit for many.

· Because you don’t use fillers, your products are pigment-rich. A little goes a long way.

· Your powder foundations and powder blushes also do not contain oils.

· Your SPF 20 powder foundations offer broad spectrum UVA/UVB sun protection.

· Your foundation looks natural and feels light, like I’m not wearing any foundation at all.

· Your foundation stays on the face all day. I hardly ever need to touch up.

· You have a wide range of colours for your eyeshadows. Nobody can accuse the Jane Iredale brand of being dull.

· Your eyeshadows are pigmented and apply easily.

· I never have to worry about eyeshadow fallout – there is little fallout. Even if there was, I don’t worry about the particles left on my face that might cause breakouts because your eyeshadows are non-comedogenic.

· The Jane Iredale Eye Pencils are the only eye pencils that I consider safe to use for waterlining.

· Your Eye Pencils are creamy and apply like a dream.

· I like it that many of your products are safe for multi-purpose use, like your Lip Definers which can also be used on the eyes or anywhere on the face, ditto for your Eye Pencils, and your In Touch Cream Blush that can also be used on the lips.

I could go on, Ms Iredale, but this is all nothing new to you, of course. In an ideal world, I would have every single product in your cosmetics line. Sadly, that’s realistically not possible. You do know that your products are in the higher price range but I suppose one gets what one pays. In this case, one gets quality and safe cosmetics.

As much as I adore your products, I do have two matters that I’d like to bring to your attention. The first has to do with the Cream to Powder Eyeliner in Plum Plus. The one I have is so dried up that the edges of the contents have shrunk away from the sides of the pan. I had taken good care to close the container tightly but it still dried up after only a few uses. I bought this product also in Black/Brown Plus at the same time, but it’s strange that the latter is still fine.

My other issue is with the Sugar&Butter Lip Exfoliator/Plumper. Please take a look at the photos shown.

I had probably only used the product less than ten times in total when the brown sugar portion broke. I’m sure I handled the product with care, using no extraordinary pressure when applying. Then to make matters worse, the lip plumper portion broke a few weeks later! I’ve since transferred the broken lip plumper with the scraped up remains into a little container.




The brown sugar portion









The lip plumper portion





I have no issues with the contents of this product, the problem is probably a flaw in the product design. I don’t know if you’ve received similar complaints from other users, but I hope your team will be able to rectify the problem with the holder.

There! I’ve said it. I hope you don’t mind, but I think it’s important that you get feedback from your users.

Anyway, when I started my blog, I was quite clueless about how to move forward with it. The only thing that I was certain about was that I wanted to feature Jane Iredale products. Unfortunately and unexpectedly, I got distracted along the way and found other interesting topics to write about. I will not guarantee that I won’t get distracted again as there are just so many other exciting products and brands out there to be discovered. I’m having such a ball exploring every nook and corner of beauty land and makeup planet.

I will, however, say this. I absolutely love your products and it’s only right that I help spread the word about the Jane Iredale brand. So, in future, I will shine the spotlight on your products on a regular basis on my blog. Take it as my way of thanking you for helping me look radiant on my wedding day and for opening my eyes to a whole new world of makeup possibilities.

Happy 15th Anniversary!

Yours sincerely,
Witoxicity