IPSY | March 2015

I am totally in love with my IPSY bag this month!  First off, the bag its self is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. The colours and print are on trend, creative, and entirely inspired by spring.  I hope they keep up with the bags being more in tune with young women, and less in tune with my five year old little cousin (August 2013-- I'm looking at you!).  While none of the items were "cool", each is useful and wearable!

IPSY | February 2015

Forgive me while I continue to play catch up!

While I love the bag that Ipsy came in this month, I was not exactly the biggest fan of the contents.  There were some things I really did like, and others that just felt "meh".  Thankfully the love I feel for the "loves" outweighs the indifference I have towards the "mehs"-- my Ipsy subscription will live to last another month!

Ipsy | August 2014

I'm back from my vacation!  Over the next few weeks I will be sharing photos of my hauls and reviews of the goodies I bought.

When I came home I had a huge pile of mail to go through.  One of the first packages I opened was my Ipsy bag!  How could I not?  It came in a hot pink bubble package (as usual!)

This month I received a blush, lip gloss, primer, eyeliner, mascara, and a crappy plastic bag.  The bag will be given as a gift to my cousin because, thankfully, she likes polka dots. Everything in this month's bag was tiny!  Super tiny.  Almost useless its so tiny.

Lord & Berry Black Silk Mini Kajal Kohl-liner

This eyeliner is literally the size of my pinky finger.  I would almost argue it is too small to effectively use.  Can you imagine sharpening it? There's nothing special about this eyeliner.  It works just like every other average black eyeliner pencil.  Which is nice, but I hardly use eyeliner in pencil form.  I'm more of a liquid/cream type of girl.  This eyeliner will probably end up going to my mom.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara

I am really excited about this mascara.  Its brand new, with a nice big fluffy brush and a wet formula.  I really like that Ipsy has such a new, high profile product for us to test.  I hope they keep this up!  I haven't given the mascara a try yet as I am already working on getting through a few more.  I might toss this in my travel bag.

Costal Scents Forever Blush

The formula may be nice, but the size is awful.  Its nearly impossible to swirl a proper blush brush around in this tiny awkward pan.  At least it is really easy to depot and put in my Z-Palette.  I'm really not sure what to do with this...

Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner Primer

I was really excited to receive this!  It is a pretty generous size, especially compared to the rest of the bag.  I was surprised that it was a nude coloured primer, but found that it did a good job at keeping my foundation on.  I will be using this up!

You're The Balm "Grape"

While I was in the States I saw these in packs of two at Marshalls for $3.99. This product is a bit of a dud to me.  I really don't like how it smells.  It smells like plastic grapes.  I might just scoop out the whole product and use the tin for jewellery when I travel.  If not, I will likely pass it on to my little cousin.  Its age appropriate for her!  Over all really not impressed by this.

Conclusions

Over all I am disappointed by this bag, especially compared to last months!  The bag its self it pretty crappy, and all of the products are tiny.  I am really happy that I got the Urban Decay mascara, and the Dr. Brandt primer.  Everything else was just too tiny to be useful, or too junky to feel nice.  I am happy with the mascara though-- great to be able to try out a new product before committing to the full size.  Especially considering it is a mascara with a unique brush.  Here's hoping that next month goes better!

IPSY: July 2014 Sunsationally Sun Kissed Bag

My bag arrived a while ago, but I have been living away from home for the summer and have decided to keep all my mail going to my actual home.  I got home today only to find a pile of boxes on my bed waiting for me!  It was like Christmas, only in August.

Look at all those cuties peaking out!

While digging my way through the pile will take some time to open and review, my IPSY bag stood out from the pile in its hot pink bubble wrap package.  I'll admit, knowing what is in it takes away some of the fun.  However I knew I was going to love what was inside!

This month's bag is a neon pink faux leather square(ish) bag with adorable scalloped edges.  I think it is utterly adorable, and it is one of the few IPSY bags that I cold see myself using.  I especially like the idea of keeping "time of the month" products in here to toss in my purse as needed.  The only downside to this bag is that the white underside of the scallops is easily visible making the bag look cheap (which I mean honestly, it is).  

This month I received:

bareMinerals READY Eyeshadow 2.0 in Muse/Passion (0.03 oz) $7.50

pür~lisse pur~protect Essential Daily Moistuizer SPF 30 (0.5 oz) $16.17

Pür Minerals Big Look Waterproof Mascara (0.12 oz) $14.11

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass in Cherry (0.35 oz) *Full Size* $22.99

Marrakesh Endz Split End Mender (1 oz) $4.95

I paid +/- $15 for this bag and received $65.72 worth of product!  This is one of the higher value bags I have received.  Overall I am happy with this bag-- I love the eyeshadow duo!

Boxed!

Un-boxed!

Tints & Sass blended (cheek), Tints & Sass (lip), Muse, Passion

These three items in my bag make me so happy!  I love love love love love the eyeshadow duo.  Great brand.  The purple with slight gold shimmer would be an excellent crease shadow.  These eyeshadows are creamy and pigmented.  I find the lighter shade to be a touch chalky.  However the subtly pearl-shimmer is so pretty that it makes up for it!

Tints & Sass delivers an excellent lip colour. I'm not interested in using it on my cheek.  I love how it smells, but it has a bit of a strange feeling applied to my lip.  It comes with a doe foot applicator.  

This waterproof mascara contains argan oil which I find interesting.  The brush is plastic and spiky--similar to Benefit They're Real only more densely packed.  I prefer big fluffy brushes but am open to this style!  It has a bit of an odd smell it it.  Quasi herbal which I a chalking up to the argan oil.  It doesn't smell rancid.  Just a little different.  I will not be using this for a while as my line up of mini mascaras to use is painfully high.  I actually won't need to buy a mascara until I have grandchildren at this rate (and for the record I am basically a decade away from having kids, let alone grandkids!).  The little water droplets are soooo pretty. 

Can we take a moment to appreciate the water droplet effect on the lid?  Im mesmerized.

Also something to admire: The size of this mascara!  Its like a deluxe sample .5. It is roughly 2/3 the size of the full sized mascara which makes it awkwardly not really a sample, but not quite full sized.  

Without even trying it I gave the moisturizer to my mom.  I have tried their products before and don't really have much of an opinion on them.  They get the job done.  I already have a moisturizer that I use and love.  

I am delighted by the split end treatment.  While first impressions can't determine any lasting effects, I have enjoyed it so far and am excited to add it to my arsenal of hair care products.  This will be great for travel and weekends away!

Over all I am delighted with this bag.  I love the bag its self, the split end mender, the eyeshadow and the tint.  The mascara is nice, but not needed given my absurd collection of unused mini mascaras.  I don't need any more moisturizers so I hope my mom enjoys this!  I just don't want to disrupt a skin care routine that works.

IPSY gets bonus points this month based on the fact that they hit the perfect balance of items in the bag.  3 makeup items, 1 hair item, and 1 skincare item.  Personally I could do without the skincare item, but I know that it has its place in a variety bag like IPSY.  I hope IPSY keeps up this flawless ratio of goodies.  

As always feel free to follow the link in my right hand menu bar to join IPSY and earn my some points.  More points for me means more items to review means more fun for you to read!

What did you love/not love about you rJuly IPSY bag?

Happy Friday <3