Physicians Formula Organic Wear review

When I saw these products in my local drugstore I was extremely excited. I can't say that I've ever used Physicians Formula products before, but their Organic Wear line looked very promising. [Disclaimer: I have in no way been contacted, in contact or compensated by this company.]

What drew me in was the fact that it is the first ECOCERT Certified Organic line of makeup in the U.S., which means it contains 100% certified organic ingredients, and the packaging is fantastic - most of it is recyclable or made from recycled materials. Since I'm doing some makeup recon for the green makeover show, I took the liberty of buying a few products to test out. And, I needed a few things anyway.

Let me back up and also confess that I've developed an allergy to commercial lipsticks and lipbalms. I don't know what the ingredient in them is, but every time I've used a conventional product in the last two and a half years, my lips would burn and lightly peel for about a month afterwards. Not pretty. Then I'd forget and apply something or other and it would begin again.

So, part of my mission was to find a lipstick that didn't make my lips irritated. As such, I tested out the lipstick first. Since it's 100% free of chemicals, synthetic preservatives and parabens, I was hopeful. And, since it has no fragrance, the smell isn't exactly welcoming, particularly since ones lips are so close to your nose. It smells strongly like crayons.

They advertise it as being ultra-moisturizing, but I found the lipstick to be almost impossible to apply without already having a lipbalm on first. But, aside from the smell and texture of a crayon, I had no reaction to it. Woohoo!

Next up was a concealer stick. Again I was excited because the packaging on the tube was so cool and it comes it color corrective shades as well. Unfortunately, the "ultra-smooth" was not as advertised.

The concealer was essentially rock hard and, try as I might, I couldn't get any to actually go on my skin. And I wasn't about to rub the crap out of my under eye to get it on there. The stick is so hard, it snapped in half when I tried to get some concealer off onto a tissue just to see if I could. So, for the concealer, I'd say that this one is a huge failure and totally unusable.

Last up was the mascara which, even though it was ranked highly by Allure magazine, I've been kind of afraid to try given my experience with their other two products. With its cool packaging (see image at top left) and 100% recyclable eco-brush, it certainly is a super stylish looking product. So, I don't really have a review on this product - if I get the gumption to give it a try, I'll let you know what I think.