Ipsy Review December 2013 ("Celebration")

This month's Ipsy theme is "Celebration" which totally fits the month of December. I just got my bag yesterday, which is pretty late by Ipsy standards, but I've been pretty busy lately so I hardly noticed.

The Bag ($1?)  This is easily the nicest Ipsy bag we've ever been sent. I love the diamond pattern and the black is neutral which is great. The inside has a red liner (finally not pink!), which is fitting for this month. I love it.

POPBeauty Bright Up Your Life Sample Palette in Naturally Bare ($7.20) Ipsy sent out two variations of this item, and I got the one I wanted! The other one had black, grey, and white, which would have been okay but I'm not sure if I would have used the black. The browns will be way easier to wear. I'm so excited to try this!

Nicka K New York Nail Color in Ripe Apple ($4.99) This is a nice red color, but I have lots of red polishes and only occasionally wear them. I was really hoping for the taupe shade that was also sent out, but I bet I'll be able to trade.

J Cat Big Lip Pencil in Caramel Mocha ($3.99) This color kind of confuses me. It's not really what I would call "caramel mocha." It is a brownish pink I guess? I will have to give it a try. The color makes me a little nervous, but maybe it will be a new favorite!

Be a Bombshell The One Stick in Sunset ($16) This is a gorgeous medium pink shade. The premise behind "the one stick" is that it can be used on eyes, lips, and cheeks. I would never put this color on my eyes (and don't like cream shadows much anyway). I also am unlikely to put it on my lips since it has a cream-to-powder finish, but I might try it out. For me, this is mostly going to be a blush, which is perfectly fine, but I wish they marketed it that way.

Mirabella Eye Blender Brush ($27) The brush kept rolling around so I had to hold it in place with my fingers. It's amazing, though! Nice, soft bristles and a high-quality, heavy handle. I love it! This definitely made the bag worthwhile for me and I'm so glad I got it!

My bag this month has about $60 worth of products! That's amazing value! Unfortunately, my stockpile of products is growing rapidly and I can only use so many lip products, shadows, etc. Ipsy keeps sending me too many of the same types of products, faster than I can go through them, so it is time to take a little break. Once I get through some of my supply, I'm sure I will be back! I don't think I will be able to stay away for too long. 

Now that I've canceled, I don't get points for referrals, but I still recommend the service if you're looking to expand your makeup collection at a low cost. It would make for a great gift, too!

Ipsy Review November 2013 ("Glam It Up")

A few weeks ago, Ipsy announced that everyone would be receiving six products this month instead of the usual five, and that the bonus item would be from Michelle Phan's new Em line. I was so excited to hear about this that I couldn't help but stay subscribed for another month, and I'm so glad I did!

The Bag ($1?) I actually kind of like this bag! The picture turned out a little weird (sorry), but I think it's one of their nicer ones. The liner is pink and the bag is gold. Maybe it's a little trashy, but I think it's cute!

Pixi Bronzer in Subtly Suntouched ($5.50 minus the kabuki applicator included in the full size) I have never actually tried bronzer because I'm so pale, but I think it is time to finally try some contouring. This shade is not too dark so it will be perfect for some experimenting!

BH Cosmetics Galaxy Chic Baked Eyeshadow in Asteroid (.83) Isn't this the coolest eyeshadow ever?? I love the texture! On the lid it's a nice brown with a slightly coppery sheen. Love it!

Nailtini Nail Polish in Champagne ($13) I ended up gifting this to a friend, but I think this is a gorgeous color!

Em Mascara in Brown Dramatic Volume Mascara ($20) Well, it's not like I don't have enough mascara, but that's not Ipsy's fault and I do use it every day. I'm excited to try the Em formula once I get through the current stockpile (it could be awhile).

Starlooks Gem Eye Pencil in Topaz ($14) The color name of this is Topaz, but it definitely is silver. No blue whatsoever. I'm okay with it though. I've been using it on my waterline and it really brightens my eyes up. I never would have tried it without Ipsy.

Be a Bombshell Cosmetics Lip Crayon in Shameless ($14) This berry color is gorgeous. It's a little sparkley but not necessarily in a bad way. I find myself wearing this an awful lot lately. It's such a great color for fall and it has some serious staying power.

I have to say, this might be my favorite Ipsy bag ever! I will be able to use every single one of the products, and that's a first. Plus, this month has had way less variations, which I like. I don't mind it with Birchbox, but for some reason variations in Ipsy end up being really unfair for the most part.

I was going to cancel because I'm starting to get way too many beauty supplies...but I don't think I can bear to do it until December is over. This month's bag was worth about $68. For a $10 cost, that's a steal! To sign up using my referral code, click here! Hopefully Ipsy is on a permanent upswing!

Ipsy Review October 2013 ("The Art of Beauty")

This month's Ipsy theme was "The Art of Beauty." I totally think doing makeup is an art form, so I think the theme this month is a good one.

This is the bag. The theme is good...the execution in the form of the bag is not. I am never in it for the bags, but seriously, this is one ugly bag. Not to mention this is a butchered Emerson quote, which they don't credit him with...nice, Ipsy.

Zoya Nail Polish in Mason ($8) This polish is gorgeous! It is way more attractive in person. It has these nice little flecks of glitter in it. Still classy but so fun! I am trading this for Giovanna. I love Mason, but Giovanna is green which is more unique in my world of many polishes.

Ole Henriksen Truth Serum ($12) What an awesome sample value! Unfortunately, collagen boosting isn't on my priority list, so this will go to someone who might appreciate it more.

Ofra Sultry Lip Gloss and Plumper ($12.95) Another great value, another item I won't use. Boo! I have way too much lip gloss and I just never use it. I don't have lip gloss checked on my profile...but I do have tools checked, and a brush was sent out this month as well. What gives, Ipsy? From what I've seen, they don't use IpsyMatch at all. Which is fine by me, but don't promise a customized bag and then not customize it.

Nourish Organic Coconut & Argan Body Lotion ($1.25) I was kind of excited about this because it has argan oil in it. I don't have much opinion about coconut. I like creamier coconut scents and dislike tanning-oil coconut scents. But I tried this, and the smell is just...awful. I have never been more disgusted by a lotion. It's truly atrocious. It has kind of a medicinal smell mixed with a rotten smell mixed with a tropical smell. I am DEFINITELY not purchasing this. It's truly the worst.

Style Sexy Hair Spray Clay ($6.03) I wanted to love this, I really did. I like hair products. This ended up almost as bad as the Nourish lotion though. It smells alright, but it is "volumizing," which in this case means "makes your hair a dry, tangley mess." It made my hair such a coarse, dry, awful texture. I couldn't wait to rinse it out by the end of the day. Maybe it offers some hold, but for me it wasn't worth the "texturizing" trait.

My bag value this month is $40.23. Which is amazing considering that I paid only $10. But...Ipsy and I are just not getting along lately. This makes for the third bag in a row I have been unhappy with. It's not that I hate the products in general, it just seems like Ipsy always matches me up with the items I would least want to receive. I liked the Zoya this month, but that's about it, and that's a pretty sad showing considering how many Zoya products I already have. I am tempted to continue for just one more month, but I guess we'll see.

If you want to try your luck with Ipsy (it truly is luck), click here to use my referral link.

Ipsy Review September 2013 ("Classic Beauty")

Before we get into individual items, I took a "group picture" for once! Everything looks so pretty together, but I usually don't have the patience.

This month's theme is "Classic Beauty." Over at Ipsy HQ, that apparently means "snoozefest."

This bag also came with an ad for Ipsy founder Michelle Phan's new makeup line, Em. The ad includes a "life size" representation of one of the palettes, plus small samples you can swatch.

Okay, onto the individual items!

"Classic Beauty" Bag (~$1) The colors this month are so pretty! The pattern is a little busy, but it's one of their better bags in my opinion.

Freeman Beauty Facial Paper Masks ($1.99 each, $5.97 total) These are such a cool idea! I tried the starfruit one, and I liked it, but man, the eye holes are close together! I don't have wide-spaced eyes either, and others had the same complaints, but it was still usable. I do love that they included three to try.

Elizabeth Mott It's So Big Mascara ($8) I have a LOT of mascara all of the sudden, so I'm not going to be trying this one for awhile. I've heard great things, though!

Starlooks Obsidian Kohl Eye Pencil ($12) Ditto for liners. I'm not opening a black liner for a long time, thanks to my Draw the Line set from Sephora!

Nyx Single Eye Shadow in Hot Crystal ($4.50) I was hoping for a neutral shade, and I got one! You can't tell, but there is some really chunky glitter in this stuff. Others that tried it said it got in their eyes and was really irritating, even with a primer. I'll try it out, but I'm a little worried.

Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple ($19) I love Cailyn's gel liner, but I just am not big on lip products. The ones I have will take me ages to get through, and this got so-so reviews. I think the color would wash me out, and I've heard it's drying (so much for a balm), so I don't think this is for me.

$50.47 in product, and I only paid $10 for the bag. Great value! Sadly, nothing in the bag this month really "wow-ed" me or excited me. I think it was the classic theme. I don't need another boring mascara/liner/shadow/lip product, give me something new and fun! Still, for all the fun the spoilers provide, $10 is nothing. Here's to hoping for awesome products next month. If you want to sign up with my referral link, click here!

Ipsy Review August 2013

My Ipsy bag for this month arrived today, and I have to say...this is easily the worst bag I've gotten from them. Not entirely unusable, but...definitely not up to their usual standards.

This is the bag this month. I love the colors, but all the text makes it a little too gaudy for me. As you can probably tell, the theme this month is "Glamour Academy."

Noya Lip Balm in Vanilla ($3.99) I can always use lip balms. I have quite the stash, but I seem to lose them pretty frequently, and I like having one in each purse, in the car, by my bed, in my bathroom, etc. So, while this will be used, it's nothing special. Especially because others got Urban Decay lipstick instead. Really? You give me $4 chapstick instead of a brand new Urban Decay product? I usually don't get box envy, but, Ipsy, this is bad! If they had offered another variation product in which the people that got the chapstick got something else higher end I'd be totally happy with it, but...nope. Boo.

Pacifica Alight BB Cream ($5.44) This is another variation item--I could have gotten a Smashbox primer or an eyeshadow, but instead I get this. First of all, I don't use BB creams because they don't provide enough coverage for me. Secondly, this is dark! It's not a matter of color preference (like with lip products), I literally cannot wear this. I indicate being "fair" on my profile, so I'm not sure why I got this since it only comes in a deep medium shade. Useless.

Pixi Lash Booster Mascara in Blackest Black ($7.29) I always love to try new mascaras, though this one has pretty bad reviews. I'll give it a shot, though.

City Color Cheek Stain in Pink ($2.99) I'm not a fan of cream blushes, and this is from a no-name company. I will try it now that I have it, but I'm not exactly excited.

Michael Todd Charcoal Facial Scrub ($5.29) I am definitely excited to try this and the sample size is pretty great.

Even though this month with Ipsy was probably my least favorite ever, I still got $25 worth of product, so Ipsy and I are not going to be breaking up anytime soon. If you are interested in starting a subscription, I still strongly encourage it, and you can click here (warning: referral link) to do so.

Ipsy Review July 2013

This month's Ipsy theme was "Beach Beauty," which makes a lot of sense for July. I think they did a really great job matching the products with the theme.

July Glam Bag ($1?) This month's bag was translucent and hot pink. A lot different than they've had before. I don't mind it, but I don't know how I feel about being able to see inside. The point of bags like that are to stash clutter away, not showcase it, you know? Either way, I don't buy Ipsy for the bag! The logo doesn't bother me but others have said you can remove it easily with nail polish remover, just FYI.

Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon in Coral Crush ($4.17) I haven't tried this out yet, but even if the color is a little too much for me, I suspect I can dab off any excess to make it wearable. Much better than a gloss! I have never tried a coral before, but this is a pretty reddish coral, so it will be a good way to dip my toe into the coral trend.

Coola Unscented Mineral Sunscreen ($4.87) I hate moisturizers, and I hate sunscreen. My skin is way too oily to really need a moisturizer, and I don't go out in the sun long enough to really justify sunscreen. Not to mention that it seems like every subscription ever wants to send sunscreen (understandably, since it's summer). Also, it only has SPF 20. Not very good for something that calls itself sunscreen, considering that my foundation has SPF 17. Needless to say, I'm more than okay with this being a fairly small sample, but I can see why other subscribers would like it.

BH Cosmetics California Collection Eyeshadow Sample ($2.94, based on sale price @ $.98 per color for a custom palette) These aren't very pigmented which is sort of a bummer, but they're great colors and I'm excited to try them out. I think using a brush instead of my fingers (like I usually do) will help.

Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof Spray ($7.80) This spray is designed to fight humidity, which makes it a great summer pick in my opinion. But it rains a lot around here, so I'm thinking that maybe I'll save this for once it starts to get really rainy. Rain counts as humidity, right? This was a variation item, the other choice being the surf spray from Healthy Sexy Hair, but I think I'm happier with this. I just got a salt spray from my FabFitFun box, and you only need so many!

Microdermabraision Scrub from derma e ($16.25) This was another "or" item from Ipsy. I could have gotten a bright nail polish from Nailtini, but I didn't want that since I have so much nail polish. I could have gotten a perfume roll on from Demeter, but I didn't want that because it was supposed to smell kind of sunscreen-ey and I hate the smell of sunscreen. I could have gotten a sample of benetint, which would have been great, but I already tried posietint and was not a huge fan. So I was actually thrilled to get the scrub. Hands down it would have been my pick this month. I love it when things work out like that! I haven't used it yet, but it smells really good, and very lemon-ey. I anticipate it won't be too different from the Suki scrub in my Birchbox last month.

I paid $10 (including shipping)for everything, and it ended up having a retail value of about $37. Not a bad deal at all! Lots of new, fun goodies to try, but nothing too far outside my comfort zone. I love this month's selections! If you want to subscribe to Ipsy (and give me some referral points in the process), click here. I highly recommend this subscription; you can't go too wrong when you're only gambling with $10/month!

Ipsy June 2013 Review

Last month was my first experience with Ipsy, and I loved my May bag. Let's see how the June bag stacks up.

This month's theme was "On the Wild Side." I don't think the theme really matches the contents in this case, but the bag certainly does.

Ipsy On the Wild Side Bag ($1?) I'm not a big fan of leopard print or neons...so I'm not a huge fan of this bag. I'm never really in it for the bags though, so I don't really mind if the pattern isn't my style.

Starlooks Lip Pencil in Tickle Me Pink ($12) I've never tried a lip pencil, but there's always a first time for everything. I hear rave reviews about Starlooks Star Box but I've never subscribed, so this will be a great way to try out one of their products.

J.Cat Sparkling Cream Palette in Volta ($4.49) Unfortunately, this product isn't approved for use around the eyes. It's supposed to be a "body glitter." But aren't body glitters loose? Ipsy suggests using this as a nail glitter, but it's in some sort of vaseline type material, so I don't think this would stay put very well.

NYX Cream Blush in Tea Rose ($6) NYX describes this as a "medium beige pink." I'm not a fan of cream blushes, but I'll try this one out. It looks like it may be a little dark but if it's applied correctly I think it will be pretty.

J.Cat Eyelashes + Eyelash Glue in EL99 ($3.99) I have tried applying fake lashes a couple of times, and I can never get it to work. I'm going to try my damnedest with these, but I don't have much hope. I wish I had gotten a different variation.

Cailyn Gel Eyeliner in Iron ($21) I've tried a couple of gel liners in the past and always had problems with the color transferring to my eyelids. This eyeliner, on the other hand, has awesome staying power. I love the Iron color, since it's not as harsh as black liner. I'm excited to try winged liner with this, I think it will look amazing.

The total value of this bag is $48.49, and I only paid $10! I'm not very excited for the J.Cat products (which are the least expensive anyway), but everything else is awesome. If you want to sign up using my referral code, click here.

Ipsy Review May 2013

Even though I've tried pretty much every well-recognized subscription box (assuming it's not coffee or dog themed) under the sun...I have resisted Ipsy like the plague. For some reason, I just haven't been that into subscribing. I guess I just told myself that I have way too many beauty products as it is. Which is true, but this month I finally broke down and subscribed. I'm not sure that I'll keep the subscription, but I'm pretty impressed so far!

The bag comes in this bright pink bubble mailer. Pretty cute and simple packaging. My favorite part though is that it fits right into my mailbox. No trips to the apartment office for me!

This is the bag everything came in. I think it's really cute but it's a little more summery (maybe July or August). I would have really loved if they made May a floral bag, but I still really like it.

Yaby Concealer in Buff ($4.85) I really hope this is pale enough for my skin tone, but I have a feeling it isn't. Foundations and concealers seem like such a terrible idea in these subscriptions. I'll give it a shot though.

Anastasia Clear Brow Gel (.085 oz, $6.68) I have never tried a brow gel before. I don't think my brows are particularly unruly, and they're light enough to not be too noticeable regardless, but I am still totally excited to try something so foreign to me.

Zoya Nail Polish in GeiGei ($8) I love Zoya nail polish, and I don't have anything like this. I have plenty of pinks but nothing so shimmery or opaque. I kind of wish I had gotten it in Blu (a shade Ipsy also sent out), but I'm happy with this one too.

Mirabella Colour Sheers Lipstick in Bellarina ($22) The photo really doesn't do this lipstick justice. It's a *gorgeous* peachy pink color. I've never tried Mirabella products before, but I think I'm already in love.

Pacifica Tahitian Gardenia Roll-On Perfume ($12) Ipsy also sent this out in Island Vanilla, and I'm SO bummed I got it in gardenia. I would have absolutely loved the vanilla, but I hate strong floral fragrances, and this is certainly a strong floral.

I paid $10 for this bag, and I got over $50 worth of product--that doesn't count what it must cost for shipping or the actual Ipsy bag. I wasn't entirely thrilled with the variations I received, but you can't go wrong with value like that! I'm not sure if I'll keep my subscription or not, but I'm definitely sticking around for at least another month.