Beauty Review: January 2020 Ipsy Bag

Starting these Ipsy bag posts… man, what a challenge. I never really know what to say, but I guess one of the best things I can talk about is how my month was and how this bag made me feel. One thing I really want to emphasize is giving yourself little gifts throughout the month; while you’re building your career, or taking care of your child, or whatever… you deserve a few things for yourself.

And I want those things to be worth it. So month to month, the one thing I look for in every Ipsy bag is value. Is this bag both valuable monetarily and also to my life? Do the products make me feel good? Or do they make me feel blah?

So often, my Ipsy posts have been reflections of how I’m doing that month. Some of my saltiest reviews came when I was not feeling so great.

For a little context: the last few months have been some of the hardest of my life. I’ve struggled a lot, but I find myself doing better and better as time goes on. But December and January were definitely rougher months in the scheme of things—and honestly, November too.

With that being said, lately I’ve needed my self-care items to be even bigger than before. I’ve needed my therapy sessions; I’ve needed my bubble baths; I’ve needed my evenings to be quiet. Sometimes, I don’t get those things. Sometimes, self-care is just going to bed early or making an extra pot of coffee or closing my office door for 5 minutes to silently scream.

Not to give it all away quite so quickly, but this month’s Ipsy definitely felt like a bit of a let down. The last few months definitely have. But this month’s in particular is very disappointing and I’ll hit why on those specific items. Let’s get started, shall we?

You can read my past Ipsy reviews here. If you want to try Ipsy, you can sign up using my referral link here.

1. Glow Recipe Blueberry Bounce Cleanser, $3.19 value

I love the Glow Recipe, it’s such a great brand, but as I’m trying to repair my skin’s pH barrier, I’ve become more and more picky about cleansers I use. This one has a lot of pure soap ingredients—and it foams in a way I find slightly repulsive, for lack of a better word. The texture is akin to snot. There, I said it. It’s snot-like! It’s a snot-like cleanser and I don’t want to wash my face with it and despite being called “Blueberry Bounce Cleanser,” it smells like a Dollar Store.

I don’t like it! There!

I’m relegating this little sample tube to my travel bin; I think it’s OK for pH (I haven’t noticed any serious issues cropping up), but the weird smell alone is enough to make me avoid it. I give it a solid 3/10 in terms of how much I enjoyed it.

A full size tube is 160 ml and costs $34 (WHEW!). This sample tube is only 15 ml, making it’s value around $3.19. If I was nice, I would have rounded up to $3.20, but… I didn’t.

2. Luxie Fan Brush, $18 (Not Pictured)

I fully forgot to grab this brush while taking photos and didn’t notice until I was editing afterwards and wondering where my 4th item was. Then I remembered, “oh yeah, I got a 4th fan brush.”

You read that correctly: my 4th fan brush.

I have so many fan brushes, I expect to find all my cleanser samples fanning my blush samples in my bathroom any day now. (The blush samples are the kings of all the samples I receive, natch.) I have fan brushes coming out of my eyeballs at this point, which is funny only because no one needs a fan brush. It is the most useless brush. I don’t even wear highlighter anymore! What else is a fan brush used for? That’s right, nothing.

0/10. It is pretty. But… 4 fan brushes, guys. I’ve gotten 4 of them.

3. Urban Juve Lip Balm, $10

I love a lip balm moment, but guys. $10 for a lip balm this big?? For comparison, the Glossier Balm Dot Coms come in a 3 pack for $30, making them $10 a piece. And they have 0.5 fluid oz (which is HUGE!) This little lip balm has… 0.14 fluid ounces. Sorry, but that’s highway robbery. It’s not any different from Burt’s Bees either, it just has hemp in it!

If I’m going to spend $10 on a lip balm, it better be the size of a Moon Pie. I’ll take Glossier’s tubes of lip balm, but they’re on thin ice anyway. $10 for a Burt’s Bees size tube? Girl. 0/10. It’s just minty! It’s not even special!

4. Finding Ferdinand Lipstick in Very Berry, $6

You’ll be shocked to learn that I love this lipstick. Yes, I said it! I love one thing in this bag! And it’s this lipstick. It’s tiny, it’s cute, and it comes in a clear component that literally made me squeal out loud. I like it! What can I say? It’s a nice, bright berry color and perfect for spring. The formula is a little more dry than the average lipstick, which makes it more long lasting than a high shine formula. And at only $6, it’s pretty reasonable for a sample size that you can carry in your purse with ease. I give it an 8/10.

A full size is valued at $30 and the mini is $6. You can buy a set with both for $33 (savings!)

5. REALHER Eyeshadow in Victorious, $3.11 value

So, this shade is apparently in the Conquer from Within palette, but to me, that looks like a completely different color. Mine is a shimmery, pink-brown (I’d describe it as a dusty pink with a gold sheen if I was pressed). That looks like a straight champagne. They describe Victorious in the palette like this: “Metallic light slate. Perfect color to add a touch of highlight to inner corner of eye, or to work over entire lid.”

Ipsy, in comparison, describes it like this: “Rose gold is a universally flattering shade that’s always on-trend—this super pretty, shimmery color will quickly glam up your beauty looks, but it’s versatile enough to wear during day or night.”

Metallic light slate and rose gold are… not the same color whatsoever. So is this the same shade? A different one? With the same name? I don’t know!! Is this an extra that they slapped a random sticker on that they just needed to get rid of? God, I suspect so.

Either way, I did use the cost of that palette to calculate the cost of a single shadow.

Apparently, you can buy this brand in Neiman Marcus. Remember when Neiman Marcus was name dropped in like every song in 2004? What a weird time to be alive that was.

All that being said: I think I’ve received this same shade of eyeshadow about 40 times from Ipsy and I still am not going to wear it. It’s a perfectly fine eyeshadow, but… it’s not new! Ipsy, stop it with the brown-pink eyeshadows! It gets a 5/10: not awful, but I’m not going to wear it, so…

Final Thoughts

The total value of this bag is… $40.30. Womp womp. That’s pretty low. That may be in the running for one of the lowest valued bags I’ve gotten in… quite a while, actually.

If you can’t tell, there were some bummers in this bag. I don’t know why, but I get really annoyed when the cost of the bag is dependent on one item. An $18 brush does not a high value bag make, monetarily or enjoyment wise. I don’t need an $18 fan brush because I’ve already been sent 4 $18 fan brushes! That single brush ups the value of the bag significantly, but the other items are all valued at less than $10—except for the bizarre lip balm, which is so offensive at $10 that I actually find myself getting keyed up and mad.

Did this bag make me feel good? Honestly, not really. It was just sort of another thing, you know? I do love the make up bag—what blogger doesn’t love a bit of marble, huh?—but besides the lipstick, I wasn’t excited to use anything.

Here’s to hoping next month brings me a little bit of joy. I need it, y’all!

Beauty Review: My December 2019 Ipsy Bag

Sometimes, I’m afraid that people think my love of beauty products makes me seem air headed or flighty.

I think that’s a message we all absorb, right? In one way or another, we’re taught that “dumb girls” are the ones who are interested in their appearance, who like beauty products. When I was young, I remember feeling like I needed to keep the fact that I wore foundation a secret (even though it was pretty obvious). Girls might talk privately about make up, but to do so too loud was to admit that you cared what other people thought of you. As I’ve gotten older and society has shifted, that’s changed a lot—but you still see tweets about taking girls swimming on the first date, as if the only reason women use make up to make themselves beautiful in the eyes of others (and that somehow make up changes our entire face to the point of a very good disguise).

In recent months, I moved away from writing about beauty and skincare, not because I don’t like it anymore—but just because in terms of my headspace, I just wasn’t there. I couldn’t. All my energy, both mentally and physically, has gone into starting my freelance business, networking, and taking care of my home and family.

I feel like I finally have the mental energy to focus on myself, and my beauty products, again—but there is still that niggling little fear. What if people think I’m vapid because this is what I like writing about? How can I fully combine the idea that you can be a mom who gets shit done but also is very invested in double cleansing? The truth is we all contain multitudes and the attitudes and ideas we’ve absorbed from society about beauty standards are basically 100% bullshit. You can be an entrepreneur, a high level employee, a badass mom, a very dedicated college student… and still care about the new eyeshadow palette you just bought, or the skincare routine you perform every single day. We all deserve to feel good about the things we like and none of them are vapid, empty, or meaningless.

So this is my way to say: if you want to get Ipsy, but are worried about collecting too many products, or being “too invested” in beauty products, or if you’ve worried about those things and have never really let yourself indulge in a really good, expensive moisturizer… here’s your permission. I’m handing it to you. Go to Ulta, buy the moisturizer, subscribe to Ipsy, luxuriate in your oils to your hearts content. It doesn’t make you less of anything to care about those things if they make you feel good.

Whew! Now that that is out of the way, let’s talk Ipsy, shall we? You can read my past Ipsy reviews here. If you want to try Ipsy, you can sign up using my referral link here.

This month’s bag is sparkly, silver realness. Ipsy has slightly changed since my last review (in October). It now costs $12 a month and you get to choose one product in your bag every month—if you remember to log in and choose it in time. There is only a 24-hour window to do so, so if you, like me, are kind of busy and see the email and think, “I’ll do that later!” it will probably be too late by the time you log in the next day. As a warning.

That’s something I think Ipsy needs to readjust or change; not many of us have time right upon receiving an email to act on it. I try to spend less than 10 minutes in my email inbox at a time, just so I actually work on my to do list instead of, say, constantly reply to emails and click links.

That being said, even though I didn’t get to choose an item this month, I still like everything in my bag. Plus, I got 3 bonus items (which I haven’t included in this review) because they were having a buy-2-get-1-free deal on Black Friday. i love the monthly option to add on items for $3 a sample. I almost always choose one or two just so I have something new to try. I’ll actually be reviewing one of my add-ons at the beginning of January, so stay tuned for that!

Let’s walk through everything I got this month, shall we?

1. Hanhoo Watermelon Illuminator Daytime Facial Oil, $8 value

I love a facial oil! You probably know that by now. This facial oil contains watermelon extract and niacinamide; here’s what niacinamide promises: “niacinamide has been getting lots of love lately—and it’s a star ingredient in this face oil. It helps to refine pores, even skin tone and texture, treat acne-prone skin, and get you glowing.” That sounds… pretty good, right?

This facial oil reminds me a lot of the bliss drench moisturizer; it’s more of a cream-to-oil texture instead of a straight oil and has quite a bit of water in it, according to the ingredients list. I really like how it feels on my skin, but it doesn’t feel like a facial oil at all. That’s not necessarily a problem. It’s a good moisturizer! It just doesn’t contain any actual oil; it contains cyclopentasiloxane, which is a common ingredient to act as a lubricant in things like anti-aging creams and conditioner.

Facial oil is a popular term these days and this strikes me as an example of marketing versus what the products actually is. That being said, I don’t hate the product; I actually really like it! It’s just… not a facial oil.

A full size bottle of this products is 1 fluid oz and costs $16; this sample is 0.5 fluid oz and therefore has a value of $8. Pretty good!

2. Jolii Cosmetics Luxe Creme Matte in Lavanda, $18

I love a liquid lip and this one has a great, creamy texture. I received the color Lavanda, which is described as “a vibrant violet shade that’s surprisingly versatile and flatters every skin tone.” Violet is close to how I would describe it; it’s pretty bright in person, and almost grey-beige (greige). It’s really pretty, but there is something about a grey-toned purple lipstick that makes my teeth look yellow as all hell. So I will not be wearing this shade until I get my teeth whitened to roughly the shade of snow.

This is a full size product, though, and I love when I get a full size product in my bag!

3. Cela Black Gold Supreme Coffee Scrub, $3.70 value

I’m not a huge fan of coffee scrubs; I find them messy and slightly useless, as you never receive enough in a sample to really get the job done. That being said, I like this one. It smells good (like coffee, of course). And the packaging is gorgeous. If body scrubs are your thing, this one is a great option.

A full size tube of this product contains 200 grams and costs $37. This sample tube is 0.7 oz or 20 ml. It’s hard to convert between mls and grams as they are two different types of measurement, but in this case, it’s most likely a 1-to-1 ratio. Therefore, this sample tube, at 20ml or 20g, has a value of $3.70.

4. Space Case Cosmetics Blush in It’s Not Me, It’s My Sign, $9

I love blush! It’s my favorite thing to receive in my Ipsy bag because it’s my favorite step of my make up. The funny thing about make up, for me, is that I spend a lot of time taking all the color out of my skin via foundation, then I have to put a little bit of color back so I don’t look like a corpse. Hence why I love blush so much.

This blush is in the color It’s Not Me, It’s My Sign, which is a cute name. The shade is described as “an orchid pink with a semi-matte finish.” However, I would call it closer to a true pink—not necessarily floral or natural. I have a lot of rosey blushes like it, but I do quite like this one. It’s a bit more sheer than the average blush.

This is another full size product. It is sold out on the Space Case website, but the other blushes are also valued at $9 each and look just as lovely.

5. Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Bronzer in Park Avenue Princess, $3.33 value

This is the funniest little product. I don’t wear bronzer and no matter how many times i tell Ipsy not to send me bronzer, they tend to lump it in with blushes. To them, they’re the same sort of product, so why wouldn’t I want both? This one is from the Amazonian Clay line, but comes in a package totally different from other sample blushes I’ve received from the same line. It’s tiny! It clocks in at 1 gram; a full size is 9 grams! The packaging is a cheap plastic and the unit of bronzer itself is pretty small, more of an eyeshadow size really! In terms of color, it’s quite yellow for a bronzer and very light.

I can’t imagine being someone with a darker skin tone receiving this product. It doesn’t look like this bronzer is offered in any other shade, at least on Sephora; it’s just one shade of bronzer and maybe 20% of the population can wear it. It’s so light! This is probably the biggest disappointment of the bag because I just won’t use it.

A full size clocks in at 9 grams for $30. (WHEW!)

Final Thoughts

The total value of this bag is $42.03. In terms of value, that’s one of the lowest valued bags I’ve ever received, but I do like 4 out of the 5 products! I can’t complain too much, but for $13, I feel like I do expect a slightly higher value.

Did you receive an Ipsy bag this month? What did you think?

My October 2019 Ipsy Glam Bag

Well, well, well, I’m back again with an Ipsy review!

I had kind of resigned myself to stop doing these, as I haven’t been that dedicated to anything beauty. However, after a long think about it with myself, I think it’s incredibly valuable (at least to me and my mental health) to write one thing that brings me joy every once and a while.

Spending all my time trying to craft evergreen content that benefits my blog and my niche and everyone else… it can get really exhausting and I’ve been experiencing a pretty significant period of burn out since probably January. Work has been hard (for all the reasons I’ve written about and others!); blogging has been hard; doing anything other than sitting on the couch and scrolling through Twitter has been hard, honestly.

But part of getting myself out of that slump has required some creativity and motivating myself with something other than building a career (which is overwhelming and exhausting). For me, that means writing about beauty. Even if it doesn’t fit my niche! That’s fine! It’s ok to do things just because they are fun. Not everything has to be about growth and making money. I think this is the issue with blogging for me right now, that the onus is so much on “what’s going to make me grow and make me money” instead of on doing something you enjoy that other people enjoy.

Anyway, thoughts of blogging aside, I’m excited to start doing Ipsy reviews again. You can read my past Ipsy reviews here. If you want to try Ipsy, you can sign up using my referral link here.

1. Beau Cachis Concealer Brush, $11.95

I love a good brush, as I’ve said a few times, but I’m not sure I’ll ever use a concealer brush enough to make it worth it. This is a nice one: nice soft bristles, good handle. I use it to spread my concealer a bit before blending with my Real Techniques sponge, but that’s about it. A nice brush, worth $11.95—not bad! I like it, but I’ll probably not use it too much.

2. Betty Boop x Ipsy Blink & Wink Mascara, $7

Ipsy has restructured recently: it’s now $13 for a regular Glam Bag, you pick one item per month, and they do monthly add-ons. They’ve also started doing their own collabs, which is fine, but these collabs have dominated glam bags for the past few months. The Tetris palette was in my second Ipsy Glam Bag Plus, and I hated it. I don’t mind this Betty Boop mascara—it’s a good formula, but this is the 4th mascara I’ve received in as many months. GOOD GOD! Stop sending me mascara.

The worst part is I think they use these collabs to boost the value of the bags beyond what they should be. This mascara isn’t for sale in full size or at all, so there is no way for me to know how much its worth. The new Ipsy Glam Bags have a guaranteed value, but I’m not sure how they actually calculate that. This mascara is only 5ml; on average, a sample mascara that size would never be valued over $10. Considering this isn’t from a prestige brand, just Ipsy, I’d put it at $7, being totally generous.

But like I said, it’s not a bad mascara; I would just prefer to get known brands from my Ipsy bag.

3. It Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+, $7.50

This tube is about 1/2 the size of the travel size, which retails for $15; so, I’ve decided to value it at $7.50 ish.

I really like It Cosmetics; I use their powder. I knew I’d probably like this CC+ cream and I do. The color is slightly off for me, but I fully plan to repurchase a full tube once I’m done using it (I use my way-too-light Colourpop Concealer to make it lighter) and I’ll get a better color match then.

It’s really lovely! It has SPF 50 so if you struggle with daily sunscreen (YOU SHOULD BE USING IT!!!) this is a great option. It’s fully coverage, but lighter, and sets really well with the It Cosmetics powder that I love.

4. Soo Ae Panda Eye Brightening Mask, $4 each

I really like these masks! The brand Soo Ae is sold at some Wal-marts, Walgreens, CVS, and the like, but mainly is available from k-beauty websites online. That being said, they are really nice. I like that they are half-size, which means they don’t go over your mouth. They’re cute and they seem to genuinely work. I received 2 in my bag; I originally thought it was 3 (I can’t count), so I was disappointed to pull out the second mask and realize… oh, it’s the only one left. These are something I was definitely repurchase if I ever encountered them in the real world.

5. First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Pads, $4

I love these! They are an AHA pad, which helps with texture and acne. If you struggle with either of those things, adding an AHA to your routine is key. However, I try to avoid things that come on disposable pads; I prefer to use a reusable pad (or spritz it onto my face without using anything). That being said: they are really good. I actually noticed significant changes to my skin within 3-4 days of using these once a day (at night, as AHA can make your skin sensitive to the sun). God, they’re good! A pack of 28 pads costs $16, however, and the larger pack costs $30+. So for a full month, you’re looking at $16 minimum. That’s quite a bit!

I am valuing these around $4, as 28 pads costs $16. There are about 8-10 pads in this sample pack.

Bonus: Betty Boop x Ipsy Be Cheeky Powder Blush in All Dolled Up, $6

I added this as an add-on because I quite liked the color; online, it looked like a peachy, autumnal color. However, in person, it’s basically bubblegum pink. A perfectly fine blush color, but I have a million of those! I was disappointed to say the least. However, I do quite like the formula; it’s slightly shimmier. It reminds me of Milani blush actually, so I priced this similarly. Again, to reiterate what I said early, I’m naturally suspicious of these Ipsy collections, but I do like both products I received from them, so really, who’s the fool here? It’s me.

Final Thoughts

Final value of around $36.45.

Oof! That’s pretty low. Actually, I think that’s one of the lowest valued bags I’ve ever gotten. Part of that might be that I’m not going to let Ipsy get away with valuing their own products super high; again, ipsy isn’t a well-known make up or beauty brand (besides being a subscription service), they are not a prestige brand, and you can’t buy the two ipsy exclusive products anywhere at all. They aren’t made with another brand. It’s just Ipsy!

I also don’t love that the October bag is Betty Boop’s face; Betty Boop has a slightly problematic history and in general, I just don’t like her, so color me not impressed when we could have had, like, pumpkin anything to better effect.

I realize these all seem like nitpicks, but it’s something to consider when you’re picking a beauty subscription! I did like nearly everything I received, even if I had reservations about it. So while $36 is a very low value, I did like everything, so I can’t complain.

Again, you can read my past Ipsy reviews here. If you want to try Ipsy, you can sign up using my referral link here.

Beauty Review: My December 2018 Ipsy Bag

I’m so glad I stuck it out for Ipsy because in December, everyone got 6 items instead of 5. I’m always here for a little bonus! Funny enough, last December, I wrote something like “the December Ipsy should have an extra little gift!” Now, I’m not crediting myself with this 6-item Ipsy, but I do think it’s funny that they decided this year was the year to do it.

The last few months of Ipsy have been a little ho-hum for me. So I’m really excited that I’m finally excited about a bag again! This month’s bag was really, really good minus one item—and considering it is a 6 item bag, that’s pretty good.

As always, you can read my past Ipsy bag reviews here. And don’t forget, if you want to try Ipsy, you can sign up using my code here.

1. Ciate London Glitter Flip Lipstick in Infamous, $9.50

This is a half-size lipstick (a deluxe sample). It’s 1.5 ml, as opposed to the full size 3 ml. Therefore, i priced it as half the usual price. I’ve been receiving a lot of Ciate London stuff, which is fine because I love their packaging! And I love this lip; it’s a fairly standard berry-toned red lipstick, that when you rub your lips together goes glittery. It’s an interesting lipstick and the glitter isn’t chunky or anything (shout out to the glitter balms I wore in middle school that had literal craft glitter in them). It will be gorgeous for a holiday party!

2. F.A.R.A.H 35E Tapered Blending Brush, $10

You can really never go wrong with a brush! I feel like I’m always reaching for a new blending brush, so adding another one to my collection is absolutely no problem. This one is especially pretty. The standard 35E brush with a non-decorative handle is priced at $10, so I kept this one at that value. It is a lovely brush though—very soft—and I’ve had good luck with the F.A.R.A.H brushes I’ve received in the past.

3. Dr. Lipp Moisturizing Colour Tint in Sweet Potato, $8.80

When I first saw I was getting a tinted lip balm, I was a little annoyed. But I ate that annoyance because this balm is, well, bomb. It’s tinted using sweet potato dye, which means it’s all natural. I also found that the brand Dr. Lipp makes a lanolin nipple balm, so to the nursing or pregnant women out there—might be worth a gander! Their prices are really affordable (once I ran them through conversion from pounds to dollars). And this tint is lovely; my lips feel moisturized and the tint isn’t too much. Just a nice natural color.

4. Steve Laurant Loose Powder Pigment in Antique Olive, $18.00

I love Steve Laurant products—I’m on record saying the blush I have from them is my favorite blush of all time. It’s so gorgeous. I was excited to receive a loose powder pigment, which isn’t something I use a lot, but I was so disappointed when my bag arrived and I saw I got… antique olive. What a shade! It’s like a shimmery khaki green. I will probably never wear it, but at least the packaging is pretty.

5. Tinct Nail Polish in Aarhus, $10.50

I can’t find this color on their website. As well, they seem to have completely different packaging. And the mL to oz measurements on the packaging I received from Ipsy do not 1) match the same size nail polishes on their website or 2) make sense. This nail polish is sketch. Also their website’s heading is “Mysite 1.” My SEO brain itches.

Either way, I don’t wear nail polish and I have NO idea why I received this. The color is pretty ugly too.

6. Kiss & Smink The Everything in Tulum, $20

This product is a great idea in thought, but in execution, it’s… questionable. It is a lovely product and I will use it, but the color I received is just a little too shimmery for me. This is an all-purpose stick: blush, eyeshadow, lips. It’s the color Tulum, which is a shimmery, light pink. It does look lovely as a blush, but it’s so shimmery. It looks almost like a highlight-blush combination on the skin, which is fine—except I stopped wearing highlighter, so…

Final Thoughts

The total value of this bag is $76.80. I’d say this is the best bag I’ve received int he last few months—I love just about everything in it minus the nail polish and the loose powder (which I don’t hate, I just don’t like the color at all). I feel like Ipsy is pulling out all the stops because they know I’m getting ready to cancel! That’s still my plan, but if this bag isn’t making me have my doubts… I do think it will be good to take a break though. This bag was definitely worth the $10 and I’m so excited to play with everything I got!

Beauty Review: My November 2018 Ipsy Bag

It feels like ages since I reviewed my last Ipsy bag! How was November so long and so short at the same time? Thanksgiving fell early this year, plus my Ipsy bag took a particularly long time to get here (thanks to an additional order I made).

I’ve officially decided that after I get my December bag, I’ll be discontinuing ipsy for a while. I think it will help me refresh and get back into loving it. As I wrote in my one year of ipsy review, I’ve lost my appreciation for ipsy, simply because getting 5 new things a month is… a lot at first, then gradually becomes normalized.

As always, you can read my past Ipsy bag reviews here. And don’t forget, if you want to try Ipsy, you can sign up using my code here.

1. Helios Beauty Eyeshadow in Pinky’s Up, $12

I didn’t want to like this eyeshadow, but gosh darnit, I did. I got the shade Pinky’s Up, which is a champagne pink shade. It is a cream-to-powder blend that can be used as a primer as well. However, I wore it plain on Monday and really loved how it looked. It applied really well and did not crease.

2. Marc Anthony True Professional Bye Bye Frizz Leave In Conditioner, $2

One thing I really resent from Ipsy is when they send something that is super cheap from the drug store. Case in point: this leave in conditioner is from a brand I can find in Wal-greens, Target, and Walmart, as well as Ulta. It’s only $8.99 for a full size. So the sample size they sent is less than $2 if I bought it somewhere. So not only do I not have the hair texture for a leave in conditioner, this isn’t something I need sent to me as a sample. They might as well send me a tube of deodorant!

3. Ciate London Translucent Powder, $3

I’m a sucker for translucent powders. It was in my ipsy bag that I first used my favorite of all time, It Cosmetics Bye Bye pores, so getting a new powder is very exciting. This teeny tiny baby sample is from Ciate London. It’s really cute, but taking photos of this reflective tub was a huge pain. Cut to me spending hours photoshopping my own reflection out of the main image for this blog post!

Ok, but does it work well? Yes. It does. I happened to use it my first day back from Idaho when my skin was dry as a bone, so I did get some irritation around my nose but I think that was my own fault. I’m moisturizing like crazy and will report back if it improves once I’m not experiencing massive dry patches. This sample is about 1.5g; the full size is $22, which isn’t bad for a full size product, so I estimated the sample to be about $3 value.

4. Dermadeli Pumpkin Seed Serum, $8.75

I love a serum. This is probably my favorite thing in my bag this month! Here’s what it promises: “Pumpkin Seed Serum is considered one of the ‘super-foods’ for skin hydration. With the addition of zinc, our Pumpkin Seed Serum also helps decrease inflammation of acne and completely eliminating acne formation on surface of skin.” Sign me up!

This serum actually did a lot to help with those Idaho-induced dry patches on my face. It feels great on the skin. A full size is 1 oz for $35; this is 0.23oz, about 1/4 the size, so I estimated value at around $8.75.

5. Huda Beauty Lip Strobe in Enchanting, $18

There is no world in which I would put this lip gloss on. It’s pretty. It’s nice! It smells good! But I am 30 years old with a toddler. Lip gloss isn’t in the cards for me most days, but especially not one that is basically white with pink-blue sparkles.

Final Thoughts

The full value of this bag is… $43.75. Wah-wah. Two very low cost items combined with some middle-of-the-road cost items. As I’ve said, it’s not necessarily the value of the bag, but the novelty. I enjoy the translucent powder, the eyeshadow, and the serum. I had hoped for a darker shade of the Huda Beauty gloss (a cranberry was available, why did I have to get the unicorn snot one!?) and the leave-in conditioner is absolutely baffling. All in all, a really decent bag!

One Year of Ipsy: Is Ipsy Worth It?

I’ve had Ipsy for over a year now. This blog post has been 13 months in the making; I signed up for Ipsy with the intention of writing a blog post like this one. I know, I know, that sounds absolutely weird, right? But sometimes content ideas are what they are and this felt like an important one. There are lots of individual Ipsy blog posts out there that base value on one or two bags. But I’ve never seen a blog post that goes through the average value per bag and more. That’s what I set out to do with this blog post!

Ipsy has been a wild ride. There have been some excellent months and some not-so-great months. I’ve learned a lot along the way. I don’t want to take up too much space with this introduction—I mean, what more is there for me to say about Ipsy? Let’s jump into the important bits: is Ipsy worth it?

What is the Value of Ipsy?

If you’ve read my Ipsy reviews for a while, you know that I have a standard way of calculating the value of each item. This was something I started doing after 2 or 3 bags—so unfortunately, my first few blog posts didn’t include this information. I had to go back and accurately calculate values, so some valuations have changed! (If you want to read all my past Ipsy reviews, click here.)

A big part of this blog post is going to be focused on the actual value of the bags over a year—or 14 months, in this case.

The bag with the lowest value was my October 2018 bag at $44.75. In that blog post, I actually said I was pretty sure it was the absolute lowest value of a bag and my somewhat educated guess was right. Now, a $44.75 bag for $10 is still pretty good. However…

My bag with the highest value was my July 2018 bag at $93. Now, that’s a good value for $10! I will be honest though, I barely even remember my July 2018 bag, but I was pretty sure I loved everything in it.

Let’s talk averages.

I received 14 bags from the time I first signed up for Ipsy and in total, all 14 of those bags contained items that have a value of $911.65. I calculated this number 3 different times, then had Danny calculate it twice. Yes, over $900. That’s insane. I pay $10 a month for an Ipsy bag, so for $140, I have received over $911.65 worth of make up, skincare, and brushes. That’s… impressive. That really is wild.

The average value per bag is roughly $65.12, when you calculate it out. That’s pretty decent for, again, a $10-per-month subscription service.

In total, 14 bags with 5 items each (sometimes, I received 2 masks, but I still consider that 1 item) equals 70 items total. That feels like a lot! If you calculate the average value per item, it comes to $13.02. That’s pretty decent.

If you’re like me, you like trying new things all the time and that’s really the beauty of Ipsy. So, in terms of monetary value, yeah, it’s a great deal. If you’re looking for the cheapest bag with the highest reward, I think you can’t do much worse than Ipsy.

Can You Pick Favorites?

Remembering 14 bags, with 5 items each time, can leave me struggling to remember when I received what. For example, I received two very similar highlights in a row (February and March, I think), but I get them mixed up all the time. However, I was able to identify a few favorite and least favorite bags and items.

My favorite bag so far has been April 2018: this bag is actually my favorite actual make up bag, plus contains some of my favorite items ever. When identifying my favorite item, I picked the Steve Laurant blush I received in this bag. I wear this blush at least 3 times a week. It is just a perfect blush. This bag also had a spectacular mask, a good lip color, and a decent body scrub. The eyeshadow from this bag makes my eyes itch, but that’s not really anyone’s fault.

In terms of least favorites, my least favorite bag has been my most recent bag, October 2018. Sorry, October 2018, you were just a bummer of a bag.

If I had to pick a least favorite item, I actually wouldn’t be able to; I would say, the multitude of similar eyeshadows and highlighters I’ve received have been my least favorite items overall. I don’t wear highlighter anymore (your girl has texture, ok!) and most of the eyeshadows are formulas that fall incredibly flat… or they send me a taupe which I already own 20 times or a purple which has no pigment. It’s always a toss up.

This is one of the downsides of Ipsy. We’ll tackle it next.

What Are the Downsides of Ipsy?

Things start to duplicate. It’s a real bummer to get the same color of eyeshadow four times. Or a highlighter that you don’t wear. Or masks that you can’t use. Lots of people complain about this aspect of Ipsy. But, it is plain impossible for any subscription service to stock eyeshadows in unique colors that everyone will like. Think about it: it’s not cost effective to haver 4-5 different eyeshadow colors for each Ipsy subscriber, so they settle on extremely common shades, like purple or taupe. It’s just the way of the world.

But it does get exhausting! To me, that has been a major downside and I end up regifting eyeshadows and highlighters to people who can genuinely use them.

Another downside really is the bags. In concept, a make up bag is a useful item. But most of these make up bags aren’t big enough to hold more than the 5 items that come in it! In fact, some of the masks I’ve received haven’t even fit in the bag itself. I can use them in my purse for a few items, or for traveling on day trips, but otherwise, they aren’t useless. I’ve gathered up most of these bags from over the past year and I’m donating them to my local women’s shelter to provide for women there.

So, Is Ipsy Worth It?

Like I said, monetarily, if you’re someone who likes trying lots of new products, absolutely Ipsy is worth it. $10 a month will get you a decent variety of things to try. And it’s important to remember that you can always tell them not to include things! I’ve officially removed highlighters and eyeshadows from my Ipsy preferences, so I won’t be receiving them anymore.

Some people suspect that Ipsy bags get worse over time, but I think this is actually a bias. Ipsy is really fun and exciting at first, but as humans, I think we naturally get jaded and the excitement gets old. “Oh, another highlighter? Yawn!” It’s not as fresh. That’s why I think it’s important to take a break if you find yourself getting bored. I’ll be receiving my November and December Ipsy bags, then pausing for a while, at least 6 months, before restarting. This will give me time to use up some things I’ve been hanging on to, clean out anything expired from my collection, and restart fresh.

I feel like I’ve received a decent variety of items—I’ve been able to try brands I would never buy on my own, like Huda Beauty, as well as gotten some items I really genuinely love.

If you’re looking to try Ipsy, know that it takes a little tweaking to get your preferences just right. But it can be really fun! If you want to sign up, use my link here.

Beauty Review: My August Ipsy Bag

I felt like I'd hit a major stride with Ipsy lately: I've been loving everything, I've been super happy. Then, this month happened. 

It's not a bad bag. I don't know how to describe it, except perhaps the magic has worn off. I'll let my reviews speak for themselves, but for whatever reason, this month's bag just didn't grab me or my imagination! Is it the orange, linen bag? Is it the fact that I'm just ready for Fall? Who knows? Let's jump in!

(As always, you can read my past ipsy reviews here. And you can sign up for ipsy using my code here.) 

1. Seraphine Botanicals Lychee + Gold Blush, $14

This blush promises "a multi-dimensional, versatile blush with micro gold frosting to create a subtle, shimmering flush," that is designed to "flatter all skin tones with just the right balance." It's pink. It's not a particularly special blush and it's quite pale, so the idea of it flattering all skin tones is a bit of a joke to me; I imagine it would translate to quite chalky on anyone with a darker or deeper skin tone. I love blush, so I like it, but it doesn't blow me away; I expected a more gold-toned blush than a pastel pink. 

2. Hey Honey Take Away the Drama Youth Boosting Honey & Copper Peel Off Mask, $9.80

I love masks! This mask promises the following: 

“Know how some peel-off masks can leave your skin feeling uncomfy and tight? Not this one. After we removed it we felt soft, smooth, and so clean. The main ingredient, propolis, is a resinous mixture honeybees make that helps fight acne, encourage cell growth, decongest pores, and heal damage. It was also one of Queen Cleopatra’s fave skin care ingredients.”

This is a beautiful mask. I mean it, it's a gorgeous bronze color. However, it does dry down really tight and was very difficult to peel off. I didn't feel like it did anything either: it didn't exfoliate or unclog my pores. I wasn't super impressed. I'll probably use it up, but it's kind of a nothing mask. (I estimated the value of this item based on it costing $49 for 60ml tube.) 

3. Caudalie Vinoperfect Concentrated Brightening Essence, $13 

This is the one item in this bag that I am quite impressed with. This essence (a toner, basically) promises to improve skin tone and reduce texture. In the few uses I got out of the 5ml I received, I did notice a huge improvement in my skin. However, it costs $78 for 30ml. That's an ounce! I'm currently on the hunt for a dupe. 

4. SLMISSGLAM Rose Gold Blusher Brush, ~$15

Sometimes, I receive things from Ipsy that I cannot find anywhere else; it is moments like this that make me think Ipsy just takes unsold leftovers from companies. SLMISSGLAM has a very sketchy website as it is; I've received a beauty sponge from them before, that I quite liked despite it costing $17 for something half the size of a Beauty Blender, but it tore apart after about 2 months. I could not find this brush anywhere on the SLMISSGLAM website: not in a set, not as an individual item. I estimated the value at around $15. 

In terms of blushes, the bristles are quite rough and they are neither super fluffy nor very smooth. Does that make sense? It reminds me of the cheap blushes that came in little blush compacts. It's too small for blush, but I've been using it for highlight and contour and I quite like it. It's just concerning that I can't find it anywhere on the internet! 

5. Huda Beauty Liquid Matte in Flirt, $20 

I've been wanting to try Huda Beauty liquid lips forever. They're everywhere on Instagram, aren't they? I was very excited to see what color I would receive and... honestly, this was the biggest disappointment of this bag. Brown. I received a brown liquid lip. It's pretty. I'm just not sure it's pretty for me. It's very 90s, which is still trendy, but it's just not something I would ever pick out--especially with the other colors available. However, it does go on very nicely (even though I ruined this make up bag opening it for the first time--it spits if you open the tube too fast) and dries down very matte; the staying power is amazing. Danny liked the color on me and I did wear it out, but I'm just not sure it's the magical color I wanted from it. 

Bonus Item: VENeffect Pore Minimizing Cleanser, $6 

I know I keep saying, "This is a thing that disappointed me about this bag." Well, this is another one: I traded in 500 of my ipsy points for this. I thought it was a full size cleanser, which would have been awesome. Instead, it's a travel size and quite small. I do like this cleanser; it smells amazing and it has helped my pore size a lot. But I can't believe I traded in 500 points for it. 

Final Thoughts

Ugh, I know this review was a bit of a slog! It's hard to write a fun review when you're just a bit... disappointed. There is nothing truly bad in this bag, but there is nothing really exciting and lovely either. It feels like filler! I'm hoping for a good bag next month and hopefully in October (Halloween fingers crossed!) 

The value for this month's bag, without my bonus item, is $71.80. I did that math twice because it seems very high for what I received; however, the Brightening Essence and Mask are both expensive items, even when down at sample size! The Huda Beauty lipstick is $20 on its own. My estimate for the brush might be entirely off, as well, but it's not from a "cheap" brand. I don't feel like this value really reflects the quality of this bag, though; I think it's definitely one of my least favorite bags throughout my entire experience with ipsy, because I don't feel strongly about it one way or another. 

What did you think of your Ipsy bag this month? (As always, you can sign up for ipsy using my code here.)

Beauty Review: My July 2018 Ipsy Bag

After last month's dramatic opening to my ipsy review, it's nice to be able to say there was no drama with them this month. This month's theme was all about summer and the poolside: the bag is the perfect mesh bag to take to the pool (stuff this baby full of SPF and you're set, honestly). While I don't have access to a pool throughout the summer, it's a nice thought. I live in an area where in ground pools are relatively rare, but a girl can dream, right? 

As always, you can read all my past Ipsy reviews here. If you're interested in trying Ipsy yourself, you can sign up using my referral code here. 

1. Callyssee Caffeine Rush Nourishing Sheet Mask, $19 for 2 masks

You guys know I like masks and ipsy really knows the way to my heart: sending me lots of sheet masks. And these ones are absolutely lovely. Here's what they promise: 

“This mask is infused with caffeine and nutrients to wake up your inner beauty and turn on your outer glow. A cocktail of skin loving ingredients includes nature’s nearly perfect skin softener, Argan Kernal Oil and Soybean Seed Extract, which feel like a rich skin treat. Our hero ingredient, Organic Coffea Arabica Seed Extract, is known to help with encouraging cell renewal and soothing the skin, while Panax Ginseng Root Extract, feels great on your skin and can add a delicate flush to your face.”

Yeah, so that bit about adding a flush to your face... it's true! My face felt so warm after I used this mask, not unpleasant, but until I read that description, it kind of scared me! My face has been very dehydrated since I went to Idaho and despite my best efforts, all my efforts to rehydrate were failing. This mask totally helped though, so if you're in a dry climate, or just need a bit of a pick-me-up, these masks are great. They also smell like coffee, which is really lovely. 

2. Smashbox Cosmetics Always On Liquid Lipstick in Stepping Out, $24

Liquid lipstick is another easy thing for me to love. I wear liquid lipstick everyday. (As a note, you can see a swatch of this lipstick below, as well as a photo of it at the end of this post!) I was very impressed by the Smashbox lipstick I received in December, so I was really excited to try this liquid lip. And I have to say, even though $24 is pretty steep for a liquid lipstick for me, it was so comfortable to wear. This liquid lip comes with a hefty promise: "An 8-hour, liquid matte lipstick that’s specifically formulated to be comfortable and not dry out your lips." And honestly, that's not a lie. I wore this lipstick for an entire day at home and forgot I was wearing it a few times. It's that good! 

3. Elizabeth Mott Tapered Blending Brush, $16

I love collecting brushes, but I hate spending money on them. Ipsy has been great because it has rapidly expanded my collection of brushes, especially by sending me really high quality ones I wouldn't have ever bought myself. I've been needing a new fluffy blending brush for eyeshadow; my tried-and-true Urban Decay brush has started shedding, so it's time to send it to the great beyond, and this brush stepped perfectly into its spot. Absolutely love it. 

4. Ella Eden Eyeshadow in Harmony, $14

This was the one product that, when I saw it on my sneak peek, I was very disappointed in. A pink eyeshadow? Really? Haven't I said I'm tired of receiving eyeshadows!? However, this is such a pretty color (it's the first swatch above) and it really does look great. I like that it is a more cool-toned peach-pink, instead of being very warm and orangey, so it's a little more suited to my color. Here's what the eyeshadow promises: 

“Ella EDEN’s mineral pressed/compact eye shadow gives you a versatile base of color you can easily add to, or wear alone. The creamy consistency is easy to blend, and the deep hues create the perfect look for conservative daytime wear, or bolder statements to highlight your nightlife. ”

While that's true, I did personally feel that this eyeshadow struggled to be applied with a brush. I ended up using my finger and it was quite flaky, but I made it work. It's pretty enough that it works! I also used it as a highlighter over my blush and it looks great that way too! 

5. Pacifica Coconut Blush in Beaming & Tenderheart, $20

I love a blush! You can see these blushes swatched above (the two middle shades). The shade Beaming is the bronzer and the shade Tenderheart is the blush. The bronzer looked great on me, but the blush itself is quite dark; I had to be really careful not to apply too heavily and make myself look like a clown! With a little effort, it looks great though. There is quite a lot of fall out with both shades. One odd note: I couldn't find these blushes on Pacifica's website, which suggests they were discontinued. However, based on the price of single blushes from Pacifica ($14 a pop) and other blush sets ($24 for 3), I settled on $20 as a price for these two.

Final Thoughts

The value of this bag is $93. I will have to look, but I think this is the highest value of any ipsy bag I've received so far! I also like everything in it. Initially, when I saw my sneak peek of products, I was disappointed: another liquid lip, another eyeshadow, siiiiigh. But once it arrived and I played with everything, I really ate my words. I love everything in this bag and they are all high quality products. My favorite is probably the brush (I've been needing a tapered brush like this to replace my Urban Decay blending brush, which has started loosing hairs) and the Pacifica blush--you know I love a blush! 

To the left here, you can see a look I did with everything from this ipsy bag: the liquid lip, the blush & bronzer, and the eyeshadow. I also used the tapered brush to blend and the eyeshadow as a highlight and blush on top of the Pacifica blush, just for an extra rosie glow. (I'm also wearing the Aerie Hometown sweatshirt in this photo, which is my absolute favorite.) 

Do you want to try ipsy? Sign up for ipsy using my referral code here!