Ipsy Glam Bag: December 2015

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I fell in love with subscription boxes when I started in 2012 witha subscription to Birchbox. Since then, I have fallen in and out of love with different boxes, but I'm always excited to try new boxes. I love coming home to a package in the mail and getting to try new beauty samples without having to spend money on full-size products. I originally subscribed simply because I loved the idea of getting a little gift every month, but I've since found that beauty boxes have actually helped curb my makeup buying habits. I find that (contrary to popular belief) I actually buy less makeup since I know that I will always get a new lip product or nail polish every couple of months

Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription that gives subscribers 4-5 sample and full size products for $10 a month. All of the beauty samples also come in a handy little makeup bag. I love that all of Ipsy's products come in these adorable bags because they are insanely useful for holding just about anything!

Pacifica: Power of Love Natural Lipstick

My favorite thing about this lipstick is that it almost doesn't feel like I'm putting on a lipstick when I'm applying it. The design of the tube and the consistency of the lipstick both feel more like a lip balm than anything else which makes applying the lipstick much smoother and easier. The lipstick color goes on a little bit more orangey than what the lipstick itself looks like but other than that, I'm happy with this one! 

Briogeo: Curl Charisma Leave-In Crème

With a recently cut curly lob hairstyle, I was excited to receive this product because I'm looking to try more curl creams that will help hold my curls with the newly shortened hair. I really like the consistency of this cream - it's very thin and feels almost like water on your fingertips. It smells fresh and doesn't feel too crusty or oily on my hair. It doesn't really do too much to hold my curls but would be good for helping to define slightly wavy hair.

Peony Cosmetics: Shadow Trio

The shades on this shadow trio look beautiful! When I swatched the shades on my arm they were much sparkly than they look in the palette so beware of this if you're going for a subtle look and planning on using these shades! The eye shadows come in a tiny little container that is incredibly portable and easy to use for travel. As I've said time and time again, however, eye shadows don't work extremely well with my monolids- yet I keep receiving them in my ipsy bag despite my specified preferences. I will be re-gifting this item to someone else and hoping that ipsy listens to preferences for my next bag!

Elizabeth Mott: Thank Me Later Eye Shadow Primer

Like the last sample, I wasn't too thrilled to receive eye shadow primer since I do not use eye shadow often and have indicated this on my ipsy profile before. This eye shadow primer is a little bit more on the oily side than eye shadow primers I've used in the past but since I do not use this type of product much, I'm not sure if this changes it's effectiveness. I'll be giving this away with the shadow trio above. 

Jersey Shore Cosmetics: Vanilla Bean Anti-aging Lip & Hand Polish

This is my favorite beauty sample from this month's bag! My lips get dry very easily and exfoliating them regularly is something I have been intending to do for some time. This product is perfect because the brown sugar in it exfoliates gently without being too rough on the lips. I also love that the brown sugar gives the polish a nice sugary smell/taste that pairs well with the vanilla scent.

I loved the lipstick and the lip polish included in this bag but wasn't too thrilled with the eye shadow products ipsy sent in my bag. I plan to stick it out at least 3-6 more months but I'm really looking for a beauty bag that is more customizable and won't send me products that I've already indicated I do not use. I'm disappointed since ipsy has been so good to me for the past year, but maybe that means it's time to try another beauty subscription- If you have any suggestions for me, let me know!

Ipsy Glam Bag: November 2015

Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription that gives subscribers 4-5 sample and full size products for $10 a month. All of the beauty samples also come in a handy little makeup bag. I love that all of Ipsy's products come in these adorable bags because they are insanely useful for holding just about anything!

This month's ipsy bag has a beautiful starry sky pattern which I loved! Despite the fact that I've been subscribed to ipsy for over a year, I still love receiving these makeup bags and am always finding new ways to use them - they're handy for storing and carrying nearly anything!

Absolute New York: Nano Liner

I love that this liner is specifically designed to help draw the perfect cat eye. As someone who wears the cat eye eyeliner style nearly every day, this is definitely a product I would have appreciated in my beginning cat-eye days. The liner is very thin which makes it much easier to make precise lines.  My only complaint is that the liner dried out halfway through my cat eye and I had to let it sit for 5 minutes before I could continue. I think I am going to stick to my go-to liquid eyeliner for my cat eyes but overall, I think this nano liner is a great product if you're looking to try a cat eye but haven't had much practice and need something that is easy to use!

Smashbox Cosmetics: Full Exposure Mascara

As I've said in my previous posts, I am not a mascara person because I still haven't figured out a reliable way to keep my stubborn eyelashes curled so as to prevent any and all mascara from stabbing me in the eye (If you have any suggestions or personal experience with this please share - I would love to hear from you!). This mascara goes on well but I don't love that the mascara globs pretty heavily on the tip of the brush. I'll be gifting this sample to someone else for the holidays. 

tre'StiQue: Mini Matte Lip Crayon

This is my favorite item from this month's ipsy bag! I am a huge sucker for any and all lip products - but especially for lip pencils/crayons. This lip crayon is just a touch pinker than my natural lip color and gives them a little boost to make them look more awake! This little lip crayon also has great staying power especially when I put a light layer of foundation over the top. 

Sinful Colors: Nail Polish

I've always been a big fan of the Sinful Colors nail polish line so I'm excited that I received this in my ipsy bag! The Sinful Colors line is very affordable and has a huge variety of colors to choose from. On top of that, You might not be able to see it in the picture but it's a beautiful deep sparkly red shade that I can't wait to try. 

Albertini International: Warm Love Pumpkin Exfoliating Mask

I love a good face mask so I was excited to try this Pumpkin Mask from Albertini. The mask goes on smoothly and tingles a little. While I don't love the pumpkin smell, it's a decent mask that I'm still happy to use. 

I also got a nice little bonus in my bag this month - a Pixi by Petra eyebrow set that I bought with my ipsy points. I love that ipsy allows you to review your bag for points because then I get to redeem cute little extras like this!

I liked but didn't love my ipsy bag this month. While I love my bag most of the time, my main complaint is that I often feel that the bag is not tailored enough to my specific beauty preferences. Through ipsy's online website, you can see all of the samples that were available each month along with which of the samples you received and this page always gives me serious FOMO. There are tons of samples that I would have loved to receive but for some reason they weren't chosen for me! I would love to see ipsy develop a better algorithm or even ask more specific questions to better determine my beauty profile. 

What did you think of your ipsy bag? Have any thoughts on a beauty subscription that I might like? Or one that might tailor more specifically to my beauty preferences? Shoot me a note! 

Ipsy Glam Bag: October 2015

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I fell in love with subscription boxes when I started in 2012 with a subscription to Birchbox. Since then, I have fallen in and out of love with different boxes, but I'm always excited to try new boxes. I love coming home to a package in the mail and getting to try new beauty samples without having to spend money on full-size products. I originally subscribed simply because I loved the idea of getting a little gift every month, but I've since found that beauty boxes have actually helped curb my makeup buying habits. I find that (contrary to popular belief) I actually buy less makeup since I know that I will always get a new lip product or nail polish every couple of months

Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription that gives subscribers 4-5 sample and full size products for $10 a month. All of the beauty samples also come in a handy little makeup bag. I love that all of Ipsy's products come in these adorable bags because they are insanely useful for holding just about anything!

IT Cosmetics: Hello Lashes 5-in-1 Mascara

One of my few complaints about my ipsy bag is that I get samples of mascara - a product that I do not use. Ipsy's website allows you to build your own profile and I try my best to provide feedback on the types of products that I use, but so far, it seems to have done very little to change the products that I actually get in my subscription. My eyes are very small with stubbornly straight eyelashes that refuse to curl, so it's nearly impossible for me to wear mascara without blinding myself in the process.

That being said, this mascara has become one of my favorites out of all the mascara samples I've received. To test it out, my boyfriend, David, graciously allowed me to use these on his superlongextracurly lashes (seriously, why is it that the most perfectly gorgeous eyelashes are always on guys?!). See below - the difference between his mascara-ed vs. unmascara-ed lashes is ridiculous! 

Hey Honey: Come Clean Propolis & Minerals Facial Scrub

Hey Honey is one of the only brands that I have consistently loved getting in my ipsy bag. Last time, I received a Hey Honey facial serum that I was absolutely addicted to! Ultimately, I didn't buy the full-size product since I already had a similar facial serum of my own, but what I appreciate about Hey Honey's products is that they always go on smoothly and feel very natural. The exfoliating beads in this facial scrub melt naturally with water and actually leave my skin feeling moisturized, a great contradiction to how facial scrubs usually make my face feel - irritated and dry!

Aromachology:  Exotic & SpicyEau de Parfum

Unfortunately, my personal fragrance preferences are really set in stone (I love fruity, tropical fresh scents - but can't stand anything spicy or musty) so most fragrance samples automatically go in my "to gift" pile. This one was no different for me. 

The Balm: Meet Matt(e) Hughes Long Lasting Liquid Lipstick

I was really excited about getting this lipstick from theBalm because I've recently become obsessed with nude shades. Even though they don't necessarily change the color of my lips too much, nude shades tend to even out all the little discolorations on my lips and even make them look fuller. I was a little bit disappointed that this lipstick didn't have as much staying power as some of my other liquid lipsticks, but it made up for that with its minty flavor :) 

(Side note - I'm one of those weirdos that needs all of my lip products to taste good because I am constantly licking it off my lips subconsciously. PSA: carmex lip balms taste the worst).

Browza: Super Proof Gel Brow Pencil

I'm about as lazy as lazy can get so the fact that this Browza brow pencil had a brow brush built into it made it on point with my lazy girl needs. The pencil was a little bit dark for my brows but having the built-in brush to smooth the color out made up for it!

I've been an ipster for a little over a year now and while there are some blips here and there where I'm not in love with the products I receive - overall, I'm happy with the products I get to try and of course, the handy makeup bags! This month wasn't my favorite because it really wasn't all that tailored to beauty categories I wanted to explore, but I'm still an ipster at heart.

love, ella