September Ipsy Bag

Hi chickadees!

I got my first ipsy bag in the mail yesterday and I am very pleased with it. I was so unhappy (and lazy) that I never got around to showing you the two Birchboxes I received before cancelling my subscription but without even trying the products, I can already say that ipsy has won the contest.

Before I get into this, I should let you know that I wrote this late at night so instead of dashes of insanity, you're getting buckets. You're welcome.

The makeup bag that the products come in this month is super cute. It's a medium blue bag (looks darker than the picture in person) with a black lace print and ipsy written on the little circular zipper tab. It's not the highest quality makeup bag I own but it doesn't feel super cheap and I can definitely find a use for it.

I think my favorite item in the bag is a NYX single eyeshadow in Navy Blue. I'm not sure if I love the color. I'll have to think about how to incorporate this into my routine given the way I usually keep my eye makeup simple with colors like MAC Naked Lunch or wet n' wild Nutty. I know. I've gotten boring. Maybe this new eyeshadow will help me change things up a bit. And before you tell me that I should use it wet as an eyeliner, I'm committed to my dark black gel liners. OK, that's kind of a lie but don't contradict me. I would not call this a navy blue. It's a bit dustier and duller. I think of navy blue as a more intense color. It is slightly shimmery but I haven't tried it yet to see if it applies shimmery.

Slightly darker in person

The next product I was happy to see is the It's So Big volumizing mascara by Elizabeth Matt. Now, I hate mascaras. They never work for me even when they sort of work. They don't hold a curl. They don't lengthen. They don't volumize. They blind me. They smudge under my eyes. And I get so aggravated I never end up using them within 3 months and then I throw them out. Which reminds me that I need to get two new tubes of the mascaras I was supposed to be reviewing so I can actually try them out this time. But not before I start trying out this new Elizabeth Matt mascara. Hopefully, this will be the exception to the rule. The rule of me hating all the mascaras I try.

Next we have a Kohl Eye Pencil from Starlooks in Obsidian. I'm pretty attached to my gel liners because I like the formula and I work better with a brush than a pencil. Which is weird because as an artist I'm better with a pencil than a brush. But sometimes life is just crazy like that. Still, I'll give this eyeliner a shot. I happened to look at the ingredients as I was writing this post and then google them because some of them sounded carcinogenic. According to the internets, they probably are but whatever. You're just putting them near your eyes, right? It's fine. Everything is carcinogenic now. Just... live your life.

And finally, I got a tube of John Frieda Full Repair Full Body Shampoo and a tube of Full Body Conditioner. Why am I the least excited about these products? Well, I neither style my hair (except on rare occasions) or color it but generally I don't change up my hair care routine a lot. I probably used some kind of baby shampoo before moving on to Herbal Essences and Garnier has been my jam since high school. I tried some Lush products (reviews coming... eventually) but they didn't seem to make that much of a difference. I will give this duo a try though. I use too much shampoo and conditioner so I'll probably get 4 or 5 uses out of them. I do appreciate that they're real samples and not plastic packages of uselessness.

The bag also comes with a reminder of all the participating companies this month who are offering discounts to ipsy subscribers. Offer codes are available on ipsy.com

I also received a glimpse of Michelle Phan's The Life Palette.