January Ipsy Glam Bag

Hi chickadees!

My January Ipsy Glam Bag finally came in the mail a day or two ago. I was getting worried that it was never going to show up. I like the bag this month. It's nice and sturdy but not so nice that I would be reluctant to put makeup in it. I actually think this would be a great bag to put liquids and skincare items in while traveling and the bag's design would make it easy to remember what was in it.

I only have one real makeup product this month which is a Tinted Lip Balm in #5 Natural from MICA Beauty Cosmetics. It's a dusty rose/mauve pink kind of color which I haven't tried yet because my lips are a mess and I'm currently trying to get them to heal so I can continue testing the products in my current rotation. However, I can already tell that this probably won't be my kind of color.

direct sunlight

shade

I suppose you could call the yaby natural finish liquid foundation in buff a makeup product but I put it in the skincare category. Not that it matters as I don't use a lot of foundation anyway. My skin tends to be very dry and the last thing you want to put on dry, flaky skin is foundation. And I always go back to my old L'Oreal liquid foundations on the few times that I need a full coverage foundation. Still, the yaby foundation they sent me seems like a good match for my skin and I'm looking forward to trying it out. I'm actually curious about yaby after seeing it mentioned in a Refinery29 post. Apparently it's a Canadian brand and the shipping to the US is ridiculous or I would have gotten some of the single pan eyeshadows to try as they're super cheap compared to similar products from brands like MAC and Inglot.

OK, now onto the skincare. I received four Mark Fading Pads from Rodan & Fields proactiv + which are pre-moistened towelettes with a salicylic acid treatment. I'm a little scared of these. I don't have perfect skin. My skin is very dry and I occasionally get blemishes, though mine tend to be hormonal and I tend to get little bumps under the skin instead of big, inflamed cysts. I don't really have scars or discoloration from the pimples I have had but I'll do a little research into these and see if there's a way for me to try them out. If I was going to get some kind of acne treatment I would have preferred a spot treatment to dry up blemishes. I'm also not sure how I'll react to the salicylic acid as I haven't really used acne treating products so I don't know which ones will work for me and which ones I might have a negative reaction to.

This month's hair product is a Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair deep conditioning mask. I'm actually feeling positive about this one. I still haven't really used the spray clay (what is it for?) or the argan oil (what am I supposed to do with it?) but this deep conditioning mask makes sense to me and it's a good little sample.

Lastly I received a Purifying Exfoliant from epice. I'm reluctant to add new things into my skincare routine because I'm never sure if I'll have a negative reaction but I've been meaning to find a good exfoliator for a while now, especially with how dry and flaky my skin is in the winter. I've tried a lot of different things in the past that haven't worked for me but maybe this will the product I've been looking for. I also just picked up a konjac face sponge so I'll have to decide which one I'll integrate into my routine first.

Are you subscribed to ipsy? What did you think of this month's glam bag? Let me know in the comments and I'll see you again next month. :)

December Ipsy Glam Bag

Hello bumblebees,

As a lovely little pick me up while I'm still disconnected from my laptop, I received my December ipsy glam bag in the mail a few days ago. And though I haven't tried the products yet, I love love love this month's ipsy bag. I love the bag itself and the fake quilted patent leather look of it, even if it did have a bit of a smell. I love the placement of the zipper. I just think it's so adorable and it's almost cute enough to be a regular clutch.

Again, I haven't tried the products yet but I'm excited to start using them. Two lip products, a nail polish, a small eyeshadow palette, and some fragrance samples? I feel like ipsy is finally "getting" me and I definitely feel like I got my money's worth with this bag. Maybe it's just the absence of hair products.

My favorite product in the bag is probably still the nail polish. It's not as bright as it appears in this photo but it's winter and it keeps snowing so I can't be too choosy about the photos in my posts at the moment. Anyway, I can always find some use for a red nail polish and I haven't tried Nicka K before. I have seen it in beauty supply stores around the city and I know it's a cheaper brand but it's not one that I would likely purchase for myself so it'll be nice to try out the formula.

Next I suppose I can talk about the Be a Bombshell The One Stick. This is one of those all in one sticks that is meant to be used on eyelids, lips, or cheeks but as mine is red, I think I'll stick to using this on my lips. I may use it on my cheeks just as an experiment. You can't see it in the photo but there's a bit of glitter in this product. You know how I feel about glitter in lip products but I'll give this a fair shot. I do love the packaging though.

This is the Pop Beauty Bright Up Your Life Eyeshadow Trio in Smokin Hot. I've seen pop beauty being sold at Duane Reade but I've never felt particularly moved to buy anything from the brand as they just seem a bit too expensive for the drugstore. I actually tried out this eyeshadow trio out briefly. I just used my elf primer underneath and the sponge tip applicator that comes with the palette but it applied pretty nicely. It seemed pigmented and I didn't have too much of an issue with fallout aside from the glitter. I would say that my main concern is figuring out how to wear glittery gray eyeshadows, but I'm up for the challenge. Oh, and I'm not sure how pigmented the white shade is but I'll work it out. 

Yes, they're perfume samples but these perfume samples from English Laundry are actually on the larger side and I do think I like the way they smell. My only qualm is that I tend to collect a lot of perfume samples and then never try any of them so I don't know how much use I'll get out of these.

And finally we have a NYX lipstick in Sky Pink. I have nothing against NYX as I haven't really tried anything from the brand but I find it very tricky to wear light pink or nude lip products so I'm not that excited to begin testing this.

November Ipsy Bag

Hello bunnies,

I'm not really sure how I feel about my ipsy subscription right now. On the one hand, I think you definitely get your money's worth for $10 every month. On the other hand, I'm not sure if I like the actual products. The bag itself feels rather cheap this month. The fabric seems cheap and somewhat flimsy. I think it's probably synthetic but it kind of feels like paper or a cheap plastic tote bag. It's a snakeskin textured gold makeup bag and while I'm not too fussy about this kind of thing I still won't be taking this around with me. But as always, I won't complain about extra storage. I'll probably use it to store art supplies.

I suppose the item I was happiest to see was the Be a Bombshell Lip Crayon in Hot Damn. It's not like I need another lip crayon because I already have a few I need to test in addition to the ones I've already reviewed but they are one of my go-to lip products and I'm happy I received red as opposed to any other color. I'll start trying this out once I finish up with my current slate of lip products. They're sitting in a box on my bed like a constant guilt trip. This lip crayon seems to be a bright red with a subtle shimmer but I haven't swatched it on my lips yet (I've learned to make sure I'm not allergic to a lip product before testing a bunch of lip products at the same time).

I was very excited to see the em Lash Gallery Mascara I received until I saw that it was brown. Now, even if I didn't always want the blackest mascara formula in my vain attempt to find a mascara that will make my lashes stand out, I wouldn't want a brown. I have black hair. Oh well. At least I'll get a chance to try the product out. The mascara comes with a bristle brush that is a bit oddly shaped but maybe it'll end up working well for me.

October Ipsy Bag

Hello my dears,

My October Ipsy bag came in the mail two days ago. I was getting a little worried that it wasn't coming this month but it is here. I'm not thrilled with this month's ipsy bag but I can't say I'm all that disappointed either. It's still beating my two month subscription to Birchbox. I like that there's an eyeshadow brush and I'm really happy there's a Zoya nail polish and a Zoya promo code but other than that I could kind of take or leave the other products. There's nothing I would really want to switch them out for in this month's ipsy bag but I'll have to use them before I'll know if I'm happy to have received them. Also, I kind of hate eyeshadow pigments. Let me stop rambling and show you the products.

I don't mind the actual bag this month. The material is a little stiff but it feels sturdy. The quote is the kind of meaningless gibberish you find on posters at school book sales and plaques you hang up in your kitchen. I don't love the way it looks but it's always nice to have another makeup bag.

Let's start with my favorite product, the Zoya nail polish. Instantly, I felt like I had gotten my money's worth. I did also place two impulsive orders at Zoya because of the promo code but we'll get to that when my orders comes in the mail. The polish is called Mason. It seems to be a deep magenta shimmer with little flecks of glitter. It's not a polish I probably would have chosen for myself but I don't hate it. By the way, if you want to take advantage of the offer, as far as I know the promo code is non specific so it should work even if you aren't an ipsy subscriber. The promo code is "IPSYZ3." If you buy two polishes, you will be able to purchase a third polish free. Unfortunately if you want free shipping, you will have to spend $55 to qualify as you cannot stack promo codes. This offer will work on the Pixiedust polishes, so if you buy three Pixiedust polishes as I did, you will be able to get the third one free. I'm mentioning this because some of the other promo codes excluded the Pixiedust polishes.

The next product I'm happy to see is a Coastal Scents medium shadow brush. It looks a lot like the Sigma eyeshadow brush I already own. I haven't washed it yet, but it feels reasonably soft. I can always use more eyeshadow brushes (even though I already have a bunch of them from elf) because I'm lazy and I don't always like to wash out my brushes immediately after I've used them (especially if I've used a cream shadow).

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.