The Ipsy Glam Bag is a monthly beauty subscription box that gives you a personalized bag of full-size and sample size beauty and make-up products for $10 a month. All of their products also come in a cute, handy little make-up bag!
Tarte Cosmetics: Smooth Operating Amazonian Clay Finishing Powder | Full-Size: $33
This finishing powder is so smooth. I love the way it feels once it’s applied on the skin! I have pretty oily skin, so I tend to be pretty picky about the powder products I use. This one leaves my skin feeling extremely matte and has good staying power so it has quickly become a favorite. Plus, I love the cute size of this sample because it’s been perfect for me to throw into my bag for quick touch ups and travel :)
Veneffect Skin Care: Micro-Exfoliant | Full-Size: $60
One thing I love about subscription boxes is when they read my mind and send me a product I've been meaning to buy or try! I recently ran out of an amazing exfoliating scrub and this one came at the perfect time. I love that the beads in this exfoliant very fine so it feels like you're getting every nook and cranny of your face.
TonyMoly: Painting Therapy Pack | Full-Size: $6.50
I'm really excited to be seeing more skincare in ipsy bags lately! This clay mask from TonyMoly was a lot of fun to play with - plus, a little bit goes a long way so this little sample will actually last me quite a while!
SLMISSGLAM: Sparkle Everyday Glam Beauty Sponge | Retail: $17.50
I use sponges from both beauty blender and real techniques regularly in my make-up routine so I was very excited to see this beauty sponge included in my May ipsy bag! Unfortunately, this sponge was a little disappointing. It’s not quite a full size sponge and it doesn’t grow in size as much as the other beauty sponges I own. I find that the beauty sponges that grow in size tend to be the most bouncy which makes it easier to blend foundation into the skin. This sponge did the job, but wasn’t as great as other sponges out there.
First Aid Beauty: Ultra Repair Hydrating Serum | Full-Size: $36
Like I said, I'm so excited to see more skincare in my ipsy bags like this serum! I am a huge fan of First Aid Beauty - in fact, I think I'ved liked every product I've ever tried from them - and this serum is no different! It has hyaluronic acid and aloe, two of my favorite skincare products, and like all other First Aid Beauty products, it feels super clean and natural on the skin.
Products Mentioned:
I’ve subscribed and un-subscribed to ipsy numerous times over the past couple of years and I think the reason for this is two-fold. 1) If I get a couple of bags in a row that I find underwhelming, it can be difficult to justify the monthly cost given that the samples are usually so small and 2) I have other subscription boxes to which I’m more committed and when I think I have too many samples and can’t keep up with the influx of products, usually ipsy is the first to go! This is why I’m super excited about the fact that they now offer a couple of different subscription options that allow you to change how often you receive an ipsy bag! You can choose to receive a glam bag once a month, once every other month, or even pause your subscription for 3 or 6 months. I've now chosen to receive ipsy just once every other month and I think this will be a great fit for me!
What did you think of your ipsy glam bag this month? Thanks for stopping by!!
Tarte Shape Tape: Worth the Hype?
Packaging
The thing that makes Tarte Shape Tape stand out most compared to other concealers is how large the product’s packaging is. Usually you see concealers come in these thin, dainty tubes but shape tape comes in a package almost two times fatter than most of my other concealers! It’s had to tell whether this packaging means that you are actually getting more product or if it’s just extra plastic around the sides. Overall, however, there’s nothing special about the concealer’s packaging other than its sheer size.
Application
Shape tape’s applicator, however, is a whole other story! Like most liquid concealers, shape tape comes with a doe foot applicator but unlike other liquid concealers, the doe foot applicator is ginormous. The doe foot applicator is about the thickness of my pinky finger and given that most doe foot applicators are about a quarter of that size, this definitely changes the way that you apply the product! Another thing I have also noticed about the applicator is that it’s much more sponge-y than other doe foot applicators. I’m not sure if this is simply due to the applicator's increased size, but with the bigger size and the spongier consistency, I find myself dabbing this concealer on the under eyes rather than the downward swiping motion I would usually use with concealers.
Product
As you’ve probably already heard about shape tape, this product is full coverage. I like to use it for my undereye circles and with this concealer, you really only need a couple of tiny dots of product in order to cover your entire undereye area. Although I love that the product is so full coverage, I think its formula ends up being very thick because it is so full coverage. This makes it a lot harder to blend out which means the concealer can look very cake-y if I don’t take extra special care when applying it! The best way that I’ve found to apply shape tape is to apply a couple of tiny dots to my undereye and immediately blend it out with a damp beauty blender. I’ve found that if I leave it on my skin for any amount of time before blending it out, that it often won’t blend out as well and ends up looking thick and cake-y underneath the eyes.
Cost
Shape tape will set you back $27 at Ulta. While this might not seem like a lot when it comes to high-end make-up products, you can find tons of drugstore concealers for a quarter of the cost! The only thing that justifies the $27 you’ll have to spend is the fact that you don’t need a lot of product to get tons of coverage!
Final Verdict
Is it worth the hype? Not really. At least not for me. While I think it’s a good product if you’re someone who needs a lot of coverage underneath the eyes, for the cost and how fussy the formula is, I think most people would be better off with another concealer. There are a lot of other concealers out there that offer great coverage but are more affordable and more forgiving if you don’t blend them exactly the right way. While its a great product that I’ll probably still reach for on nights out or special events where I need a lot of long lasting coverage, I don't think it's worth the hype when it comes to everyday use. As someone who likes to keep my makeup products as easy to use as possible, Tarte Shape Tape is just a little too fussy to be worth it.
What did you think of Tarte Shape Tape? Did you think it was worth the hype? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
![My Monolid Lash Extension Experience [Updated]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/55f5b873e4b0f6a6215b1d53/1599505418634-MOBJC6DLHKI54WEX7ZY0/monolid+lash+ext.PNG)
Tips for Clear Skin!
For many years, I struggled with acne-prone skin and often still experience quite a bit of acne if I’m not diligent about my skincare routine! I used to think that skincare was ridiculous and that my acne was something I just had to “deal with” rather than trying to find solutions for clearing my skin. When I finally decided to get serious about skincare, it was an entire overhaul of my routine - and despite the extra time this takes, it’s well worth it for the dramatic difference I’ve seen in my skin! So without further ado, onto my top tips for clear skin!
Double (or triple) cleanse
My current cleansing routine: a) use a makeup wipe to remove all of my makeup a couple of hours before bed b) wash my face with a very neutral cleanser and c) wipe my face with a cotton ball soaked in micellar water right before bed. This might seem a little ridiculous but I find that even after my first two cleansing steps, i often still have some makeup on my face! Some of that stuff has really good staying power - which is great when you don’t want your makeup to move, but not so great when you’re trying to get it off! Triple cleansing makes me feel at ease about not having any remaining bits of makeup and gunk on my face before going to bed. (Current faves: Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water and CeraVe Hydrating Cleanser)
Have a designated towel for your face!
This might seem like a “no duh” tip but I ignored this tip for ages because I was lazy and I think it really bit me in the butt! Your bath towels touch all kinds of weird, gross places on your body and if you use the same towel to wipe your face, you don’t know what kinds of germs are ending up on your skin! Now, I have a collection of small towels specifically for my face that I change on a weekly basis and I think this has been a huge factor in helping to clear my skin.
Change your pillowcase
Something I never thought about before starting my skincare routine is how gross your pillowcase gets at night! There’s probably nothing else that touches your face as much as your pillowcase so it’s important to change it regularly! I change mine about once a week and have found that to be enough to keep my skin clear!
Clay masks for clear skin!
Although I wasn’t too keen on using masks before, I’ve noticed they make a huge difference in helping to speed up the acne healing process. Nowadays, when i do get a blemish or even feel a bit of acne starting to pop up, I hit it immediately with a clay mask. Clay masks are amazing for helping to dry out acne and pull out all of that gross stuff from your pores! Since clay masks can sometimes be a little drying, I use clay masks as more of a spot treatment rather than slathering it all over my face! (Current fave: Loreal Purify & Mattify Pure-Clay Mask)
Follow the directions on your skincare products
Along with trying different products, it’s important to actually follow the directions on how to use them! As you can probably tell by the general trend of this post, I’ve been pretty lazy in the past and haven’t followed the directions on most of my acne products. Once I actually reading the directions and actually trying to follow them, it made a world of difference! Most of the time, I was caking on way too much product!
Test out a bunch of different products!
I’ve tried about a million and a half different types of cleansing, toning, exfoliating, acne fighting products and after months of trial and error finally have my favorite products (you can check them out below!). This process, however, took ages! Lots of testing out samples, lots of trial and error to figure out what did and didn’t work on my skin! As helpful as it can be to read reviews and see what other people are using, it’s always best to test it out yourself since what works for someone else’s skin type may not work for your skin type.
I hope these skincare tips are helpful! What are your favorite skincare products? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
