Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription that gives subscribers 4-5 sample and full size beauty products for $10 a month. All of the beauty samples also come in a handy little makeup bag that changes from month-to-month. This month's bag was a beautiful halloween-themed bag with lacey red fabric and a little bat charm as the zipper!
Essence Cosmetics: Satin Touch Blush in Satin Love | Retail $2.99
Essence is a brand I've never tried before so I was excited to test this out! It's a pretty pink shade with a satin-y finish. I think the shade just looked a little too bubble gum pink for my more tanned skin tone but it would look beautiful for fairer skin tones. There were two shade options and the other one was a little more on the peach-y coral shade.
TonyMoly Peach Hand Cream | Retail $12
I honestly don't have too much to say about this sample! It feels like a pretty standard hand cream but the description does say it contains adenosine which is meant to help minimize wrinkles. I won’t be re-purchasing since it didn’t really stand out for me but the sample size is great to throw in a small bag when I’m on the go! The full-size version does comes in an adorable peach container though, which makes it very tempting 😃
JM Solution: Water Luminous Jelly Cleanser | Retail $25
Although I’m not opposed to receiving cleansers in subscription boxes, I’m generally not super excited about them either - it’s hard to get excited about a cleanser! This cleanser, however, proved me wrong! It has a cool jelly texture and bubbles up when you rub it between your hands or onto your face. It’s also packed full of hyaluronic acid which is one of my absolute favorite skincare ingredients. I love it!
IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Pressed Anti-Aging Finishing Powder | Retail $29
I've heard tons of great things about the IT Cosmetics line and already love their CC cream so I was super excited to receive this product! After testing it out for a couple of days, however, I really haven't noticed it performing better than my other, less expensive, powders. Although this didn't turn out to be my favorite product, I love receiving products that I've heard about but never tried. It gives you an awesome opportunity to truly test out a product without having to spend your money blindly buying the full-price item.
Furless: Black Beauty Blending Crease Brush | Retail $11.99
I always appreciate receiving a good brush from my subscriptions because honestly - it saves me tons of time! I'm not too picky about my brushes and I'm super lazy about washing them so having a lot of different brushes to cycle through ensures that I'm using clean brushes on my face! This one from Furless is a super soft crease brush that is hypoallergenic, vegan, and cruelty-free.
This month's ipsy bag was just middle of the line for me. None of the products in the box really blew me away but they are all products that I use in my regular routine and I always enjoy swapping out different brands to see if there might be a better one out there for me! Although I didn't end up loving any of these products, I am thoroughly appreciating the fact that ipsy seems to actually listen to my feedback and has been sending me products that reflect what I've noted about previous months.
Ipsy also recently launched a feature where you can choose to skip certain bags without cancelling your subscription entirely so that you do not have to receive a bag every single month if you find that to be too much. I think this is an awesome feature because it gives me more flexibility to stop the subscription if I ever feel like I have too many products or if I'm away for a month or even on a budget for a couple of months (looking at you Christmas gift shopping!). What did you think of your Ipsy bag this month? Are there any other subscription boxes you'd like me to review? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Ipsy also recently launched a feature where you can choose to skip certain bags without cancelling your subscription entirely so that you do not have to receive a bag every single month if you find that to be too much. I think this is an awesome feature because it gives me more flexibility to stop the subscription if I ever feel like I have too many products or if I'm away for a month or even on a budget for a couple of months (looking at you Christmas gift shopping!). What did you think of your Ipsy bag this month? Are there any other subscription boxes you'd like me to review? I'd love to hear your thoughts!
PopSugar Must Have: September 2017
The PopSugar Must Have box is a monthly subscription ($40/month or less if you make a 3, 6, or year long commitment) that sends subscribers full-size versions of the season's must-have beauty, fashion, and home products. I’ve subscribed to a lot of boxes in my time and the PopSugar Must Have box is my all-time favorite by a mile! If you’re looking for a box that gives you a ton of value and awesome products, this is the box for you!
Hudson + Bleecker: Bonjour Smartphone Wallet in Dusty Rose | Retail $47
I was so excited to see this little wallet in my PopSugar box this month! Although I am not the biggest fan of the snakeskin pattern, I do love the millennial pink color and always love receiving unique items like this in my PopSugar boxes. One of the areas where PopSugar excels is including items that I don’t often see appear in other subscription boxes. It’s extremely common to receive things like notebooks and candles in subscription boxes and while I love those kinds of products, PopSugar does a great job of selecting products that I wouldn’t expect to receive in a subscription box, this wallet being one of them!
Figs & Rouge: Hydra Prime Light Reflective Brightening Primer & Illuminator | Retail $45
One of my favorite things about PopSugar boxes? Everything is full-size! Everyone needs primer, no matter their skin tone or skin type so I love that PopSugar decided to throw in a full-size primer for this month! (Especially since I’m running a little low on primer right now HA). Although this primer is a little too shimmery for my taste (I tend to prefer all things matte), I’ll definitely still get tons of use out of it on the days that I decide to go for a more dewy look.
Lipstick Queen: Black Lace Rabbit Cream Blush | Retail $25
My first reaction to this blush: “WOAH”. This blush from Lipstick Queen is black in the packaging but works with your skin’s PH to create a blush shade that is meant to work with your skin tone! While I love the idea of this product, I’m a little mixed when it comes to products that claim to create personalized shades. PopSugar previously included a lipstick from this same brand that also claimed to do the same thing and while the idea is cool, I didn’t think the lipstick shade went well with my skin tone at all. This blush turns out to be a pretty purple-y pink on my skin but my main problem with the product is that I have some discoloration spots on my skin and it seems like the blush darkens the discoloration even more 😔 I’ll definitely continue to play around with this blush to see if I can figure out a way to prevent this, but until I can figure this one out, it’s not one of my favorite blushes.
Buji Baja by Hat Attack: Coco Flower Pin | Retail $17
According to PopSugar this flower pin can be attached to coats, blouses, purses, or even bracelets! Honestly, the whole flower pin trend probably isn’t something I’ll be sporting in full force, but I threw this little pin on my backpack and have been loving the way it adds a bit of flair to my relatively boring bag 😃
Richer Poorer: Wool Striped Nora Sock | Retail $22
These wool socks are knee high and perfect for wearing underneath fall boots. I’m not one of those people who gets super excited about receiving socks, but I recognize that they’re a necessity of life so I will never say no to another pair! I like that they’re a nice neutral black/gray striped color so that they can match just about any pair of boots I decide to throw on.
Pipsnacks: Kettle Pipcorn | Retail $4.99
This kettle popcorn from Pipsnacks is non-GMO, gluten-free, and (the best part) it’s miniature! Hence the name “pipcorn”! I don’t have any dietary restrictions and don’t pay too much attention to the healthy-ness of the snacks I buy, but that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a snack that tastes good and is good for you. Warning: Keep away from hungry pets if you don’t want to come back to a chubby cat and an empty popcorn bag 😃
I was actually really surprised that this month’s box wasn’t more fall themed (although I assume that’ll be coming in the near future!). In my experience with subscription boxes, they always take full advantage of seasonal changes and love to feature anything pumpkin-y and candle-related in fall months. My favorite product of this month was definitely the Pipcorn! I never realized that I wanted my popcorn to be smaller, but now that I’ve tried this itty bitty popcorn, I’m not sure how I’ll go back to eating full-size popcorn! Although this definitely wasn’t one of my favorite PopSugar boxes, nothing in the box was a complete flop for me and I will still get use out of all of them! What did you think of your September subscription boxes? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Ipsy vs. Birchbox: September 2017
Marcelle: New-Age 8-in-1 Power Serum | Full-Size $37
Beauty Protector: Protect & Oil | Full-Size $28
Lollia by Margot Elena in Love: Eau de Parfum | Full-Size $50
MAC Cosmetics: Extreme Dimension Black Lash Mascara | Full-Size $23
Pixi by Petra: LipLift Max | Full-Size $14
This month’s Birchbox was disappointing for me. Although I am 100% open to trying new products, I tend to be pretty selective about the type of product I want to try out. Fragrances, hair products, and mascaras are all products that I receive way too much of and hardly ever use in my own day-to-day routine. And when I say I hardly ever use these products, I’m talking hairsprays and mascaras I’ve had for 5+ years - eek! I honestly wish I could have skipped this month’s Birchbox.
Birch Juice: Hydro Sleeping Pack | Full-Size $30
Luxie Beauty: Rose Gold Medium Angled Shading Eye Brush 207 | Full-Size $12
Pixi by Petra: Beauty Blush Duo in Peach Honey | Full-Size $18
Feel Renewed: Pumpkin Walnut Facial Cleanser | Full-Size $28
Smashbox Cosmetics: Photo Finish Radiance Primer | Full-Size $39
How I feel about this month’s Ipsy bag is almost the complete opposite of how I felt about the Birchbox! Although I didn’t end up loving all of these products, they are all within categories of products that I love testing out! I am a huge skincare junkie so the sleeping pack, facial cleanser, and primer are all up my alley! I also love playing around with blushes and frankly, you can never have enough makeup brushes (especially if you forget to wash them like I do!). I’ve be so impressed lately by how spot on my ipsy bags have been! I feel like they’ve made a lot of improvements when it comes to sending products that are more closely tailored to my preferences and I’m very happy with it!
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It probably goes without saying, but this month’s winner was ipsy by about a mile! I’ve actually decided to cancel my Birchbox (yet again) because it just really hasn’t been worth it for me over the past couple of months! While my relationship with subscription boxes is always a little tumultuous 😛, I’ve really seen ipsy improve over time but not Birchbox. What did you think of your subscription boxes this month? Are there any other boxes you’d like me to test out? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
