Ipsy – August 2013

I’m a simple person truly. I don’t like spending a lot of time on myself. I’m a jeans & t-shirt, easy ponytail kind of girl. Lately I’ve been on this kick of NEEDING to pause & take more time to appreciate myself more. Whether it’s an esteem thing or just my current mode of trying to find who I am, I don’t know.

Like most things they start with me being bored & surfing the web. This one started after listening to Peppermint talking about Julep, (a monthly nail polish subscription box), on The DigiShow and me clicking around & being amazed at all the subscription boxes out there. Truly baffling all the things that you could get delivered right to your door. And of course I love the Studio Calico Project Life subscription that I’ve been getting since February.

Everyone loves mail right?

In my mindless stroll around the internet I came across Ipsy and immediately joined the waiting list after watching a few of their helpful makeup tutorials & reading a bunch of reviews. The price sounded perfect, (just $10 a month with free shipping), & as I’m trying to spend more time on myself the premise was too good to pass up! You get 4-5 beauty products every month all in a small make up bag.

I came off the waiting list in time for the August Ipsy Glam Bag!

Though it took a while to arrive, (shipped August 8th & arrived August 21st), I was excited to open it up & try out what was inside.

For $10 my Ispy Glam Bag included:

• Pixi Beauty Lash Booster Mascara in Blackest Black: 0.105 oz: valued at $7.14
• Michael Todd Jojoba Charcoal Gentle Exfoliating Facial Scrub: 1 oz: valued at $5.29
• NYX Blush in the shade Espresso: full size: retails for $6.00
• Noya Lip Balm in Vanilla: full size: retails for $3.99
• Pacifica Alight Multi-Mineral BB Cream: 0.34 oz: valued at $5.44

So the total value for my Ipsy Bag for August was $27.86 not including the makeup bag the products came in. While there were other subscribers that received higher value items, I think this was an amazing value!

Here are the reviews I posted on Ipsy after trying out the products, (and I say take these opinions with a grain of salt as I’m just getting back into wearing makeup since middle school! HA!):

• Pixi Mascara: Besides not wanting to wash off, this mascara was great for me. Not too dramatic, but definitely noticeable since I have brown lashes. No caking or clumping for me.
• Michael Todd Scrub: I used this for the first time last night. It wasn’t too harsh. The smell wasn’t anything special, but it wasn’t unpleasant either. I didn’t feel any tingling while it was on, but once I washed it off I could feel a little heat & knew it was working. My skin feel completely soft & smooth today. I do want to use it a few more times before I say if I love it, but so far I’m leaning that way!
• NYX Blush: Definitely pigmented which can be a good thing, but the color was WAY too bright for me. Less sunkissed & more sunburt with my skin tone. Really blending it & using my powdered foundation on top brought it back to a nice shade though.
• Noya Lip Balm: I got the vanilla. It felt great on my lips & the smell was definitely pleasant. (Though not the “A cupcake packed into every balm.” like their site says, lol!)
• Pacifica BB Cream: Seeing the color out of the tube I was a little worried that it was too dark for me, but after applying it & blending it in it was perfect! Great for a natural look with a little bit of shimmer. It is very light coverage though.

The products I really loved this month were the Noya Lip Balm, (being a more natural girl I will get more use out of a balm than a lip stick), & the Pacifica BB Cream.

Overall I’m happy with the value & look forward to next month!!