Ipsy - November 2014

It's Ipsy time again!  My bag actually arrived a couple of days earlier than usual this month which was a nice surprise.  The theme for November is Girl Meets Glitter and several of the products had glittery or shimmery aspects to them.

Be a Bombshell Cosmetics Eye Base -  I received this in the color Submissive, which is a bronzy shimmer.  The eye base is a creamy solid base, which reminds me very much of Maybelline's Color Tattoos.  The color is nicely pigmented but also can be sheered out, so it looks like it will work well as either a base or an all over lid shade with a darker crease color.  It should also really bring out similar colored shadows when used as a base so I'm excited to play around with it.  Plus unlike the stinky Be a Bombshell. mascara I got in my July bag the eye base doesn't have a detectable smell to it, which is great.  I received a full size product which retails for $14.

J. Cat Beauty Wonder Lip Paint - My lip paint is in the color Red Potion, which comes out of the tube as a very deep almost blackish red, but blends out a bit to be more of a deep berry red.  The formula reminds me of a mix between a melted lipstick and a lip stain.  A little bit goes a long way with this and when I first swatched it I accidentally used enough to cover my whole hand.  The color is a bit intense for everyday wear for me, but I will get some wear out of this and am interested to test out the staying power.  The lip paint is full sized and worth $4.99.

Temptu S/B Highlighter - Temptu makes liquid highlighters in several colors and Ipsy sent out Pink Pearl, which is a nice light opalescent pink shade.  The pink seems to sheer out a bit just leaving a liquid highlighter shimmery effect, so this should hopefully be good for highlighting the tops of cheekbones & bridge of the nose.  Ipsy's website also suggests mixing  few drops into body lotion for an all over shimmer.  The highlighter is a 0.1 oz sample size but it is a very thin liquid so I'm sure a tiny bit will go a long way.  The sample is worth $2.75.

Starlooks Gem Eye Pencil - Starlooks is introducing new colors of their Gem pencils and Ipsy sent out two of them, Ultra Olive and Ultra Orchid.  I received Ultra Orchid, which is a purple shade with tiny flecks of glitter.  I'm not a huge fan of pencil liners because I find they cause some pulling on the eyelid, but this does seem like a very soft and creamy liner.  Plus it isn't another black eyeliner which I'm pretty happy about.  The glittery aspect will make it fun for upcoming holiday looks.  I received a full size pencil with a value of $17.00.

Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Volume Shine Hairspray - This has a pleasant light fruity scent, which is good because I find some hairsprays have so much scent to them it's like spraying perfume on your hair.  I sprayed a little in my hair after my unbagging and it seems to be a medium hold that would be good for when I curl my hair because it will hold the curl but not be super stiff.  It didn't flake when I combed through my hair afterwards too, which is great.  I don't use a ton of hairspray but this is a nice 1.5 oz travel sized bottle, which is worth $1.38.

The bag itself this month is a cute and fun silver glitter bag with a bright pink zipper.  It has a plastic coating over the top of the glitter so it doesn't drop glitter everywhere, which I really appreciate.  I will definitely use this as my purse makeup bag for a while.

Overall this was a pretty good month.  I calculated a total value for the products I received of $40.12.  I will get use out of all of the products I received and I feel like they go well with Ipsy's theme for the month without being over the top glittery. If you'd like to try Ipsy it is a monthly subscription service that costs $10/month including shipping.  I also have a referral link you can use here.  My video unboxing of this bag that also includes a review of my October products is below.

Ipsy - June 2014

I finally received my June Ipsy bag in the mail yesterday, shipping took several days longer than normal this month.  From the spoilers and Glam Room reveal of the products I received I have to say I was probably the least excited about this bag so far in the 4 months I've been getting Ipsy.  However I will use most of what I got, and the bag itself is nice so it still wasn't really a disappointment.

June's theme is Pretty In Paradise and all subscribers received 5 products.  There were a lot of potential bag variations and Ipsy had said this bag would be more makeup heavy than May's but there were still quite a few of skin and hair care items in the mix.

The first item I received was a Nyx Butter Gloss, which was the only item included in all bags, though with different colors.  I already own 4 of these glosses and plan on reviewing them on the blog soon because I love them.  The odds were against me to try a new color from Ipsy because 2 of the 3 they sent out I already own, and I got Creme Brulee which is one that I have.  I'm okay with owning a backup of it though since I use this color often.  This is a full size gloss worth $5.

The second item in my bag was the Be a Bombshell Lashout Mascara.  I wasn't too excited about it because I already have a couple of unopened black mascaras, but I figured I'd at least try it out eventually.  However, I started reading on Facebook and the Makeup Talk boards about it having a bad smell so I opened it when it came and sure enough it smells terrible.  Be a Bombshell has posted that they ran separate tests on the batch and it is safe to use but I wouldn't use any product that smells this bad so it unfortunately went into the trash.  I liked the Be a Bombshell eyeshadow I got in March so I don't dislike the brand overall but I'm surprised they would sell a mascara like this.  This is listed as their lengthening mascara and I received a 9 gram full sized product worth $15.

Next up was a .16 oz sample of Realtree Beauty Realtree for Her perfume.  I'm not much of a perfume wearer but this has a nice sweet scent so I tried it out when it came.  Unfortunately it still gave me a headache as many perfumes do so it's not for me, but that's not Realtree's fault, just my own allergies so I'll pass this on to someone who will use it.  This sample size is worth approximately $1.18.

The fourth item I received was a full sized .4 oz Ofra Universal Eyebrow Pencil.  This is advertised as being perfect for all skin tones, but swatches as a brown color.  This works find for me since I have brown hair and even darker eyebrows but I can't see it working for someone with blond or red hair.  I have I couple of other products I use for my brows but this is a nice soft pencil and I will use it up eventually.  This brow pencil is worth $13.

The final item in my bag was the Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray.  This is the item I am actually most excited for out of the bag.  I've been wanting to try a spray like this but didn't want to spend the money in case it doesn't work for my hair.  I haven't had a chance to use this yet but it has a light pleasant coconut scent and the full size 4.2 oz product is only $8.79 so it's affordable if I want to repurchase it.  The sample size I received is 1.52 oz which makes it worth $3.18.

The bag this month is cute and was designed by Rebecca Minkoff.  It's not completely my style but will be fun for summer and I really like that Ipsy partnered with a higher end designer.  It even has a Rebbeca Minkoff tag on it so it looks like one you could purchase, and Rebbeca Minkoff items are quite pricey.  As usual though I won't include the bag in my overall estimate for the month.

While June's products weren't the most exciting for me the only fail was the stinky mascara.  The overall value of this bag was $37.36.  Even if I take out the $15 for the mascara that went in the trash it's still worth $22.36 which is more than double the $10 price I pay each month.  If you'd like to sign up for Ipsy you can do so using my referral link here.