April 2014 Ipsy Bag Review: "Beauty Rocks"

It's that time again... another Ipsy bag, another review from yours truly. If you don't know (or forgot), Ipsy is a cosmetics sampling program. For $10 a month, subscribers receive a makeup bag with four to five deluxe samples or full-size items. It's a fun little monthly treat, and I've discovered some new favorites through my subscription.

In which I attempt to not just show you the items standing in front of the bag.

 The April theme was "Beauty Rocks," which is apparently an attempt at some tenuous connection between makeup and the upcoming music festival season. Whatever. The bag itself actually had the potential to be kind of great this month... I love the deep purple color and the large square size, and the vintage-y record image is kind of groovy. But then you look at the record label, and there's that stupid-ass "Beauty Rocks" tagline. Cheeses it right up. If I cared a little more about the bag, I'd pull out some craft supplies and figure out a way to cover it over by snazzing up the label section... but I don't care that much. I'll still use it.

Aaaand here are the items standing in front of the bag.

On to the contents:

• Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil in "Black Velvet" ("travel size" item, valued at $15): I was pretty happy to receive this product, because it seems that the Urban Decay pencils are the Holy Grails of eyeliners for a lot of people. My expectations were high after hearing all the praise... too high, as it turns out. I think the problem may be that this is a new product that is meant to be smudged for a "smokey eye" effect, and I prefer a nice defined line from my liners, so the joy of the smudginess is lost on me. My liner also seemed rather dry, and I did notice quite a few specks of fall-out under my eyes after only a couple of hours of wear. On the bright side, I contacted Ipsy's customer service to comment about the pencil being dry, and they are sending me a replacement item. Hopefully it will perform better, because I had high hopes for this little guy.

• City Color White Gold Shadow & Highlight Mousse (full size item, valued at $3.99): Don't let the cheap-o price tag fool you, friends... this little container is by far the best thing I received this month! This creamy mousse goes on smoothly and blends out beautifully, adding a white gold (for lack of a better description... guess it's not just a clever name) shine wherever it's applied. I love that it's definitely a fine shimmer, not a glitter bomb, because I'm past the age where it's suitable to load my face up with glitter. I find that it's not great as a cheek highlight for me, because there is just the slightest tinge of a greenish cast to the color at some angles, but I am loving using it on my eyes. The container is tiny, but don't let the size put you off, because a little goes a LONG way. This product is exactly why I signed up for Ipsy: to discover new things that I would never have stumbled across or thought to try otherwise. I know that some people are disappointed by not getting samples of more high-end makeup brands from Ipsy, but between this and the also-dirt-cheap Be Matte blushes I ordered a while back, City Color is fast becoming one of my favorite makeup lines. For me it's not about the price tag or the prestige of a label, it's about how the product works for me, and this WORKS.

For scale, that cap is about the size of a half-dollar.

• Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in "Acid Pink" (full size item, valued at $19): In the interest of full disclosure, I actually received the shade "Apple Pink" in my bag, but I really liked the look of the Acid Pink, so I arranged a swap. I shouldn't have bothered. Calling this product a "balm" reminds me of "The Emperor's New Clothes," in that I picture a Cailyn staff meeting wherein not a single employee has the nerve to point out to the boss that this product is THE MOST DRYING LIP PRODUCT ON THE PLANET. It feels unpleasant on, and if your lips aren't in tip-top shape before application, this product will highlight every last bit of dryness and chapping. In addition, the packaging is kind of ridiculous and unwieldy; there is a lip brush built into the cap, so when you take apart the lid to get at the brush, you're left wrangling three separate parts. No bueno if you're trying to apply on the fly. I suppose if I were a "display my makeup on the vanity" kind of girl, this might have some sort of visual appeal, but for practical purposes, it doesn't seem like it would travel well at all. As for the color, it's bright as hell, but what can you expect from something called "Acid Pink," right? The opacity and matte finish of this product combine to make it too obnoxious for my liking... one day when I'm extra-bored, I will probably try melting it down and mixing in some actual lip balm to see if I can Frankenstein a more sheer, pleasant-to-wear gloss. The good news is that I will have plenty of room in the container to add in another balm, because the container comes mostly empty. (Can you tell I'm not a fan of this product?)

Two thumbs down. Way down.

• Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant (deluxe sample, valued at $9.75): I had zero desire to try a product that costs $40 an ounce to do the same job as something I can whip up in my kitchen (sugar + olive or coconut oil = exfoliation on the cheap that doesn't taste nasty when you accidentally get some in your mouth), but this was apparently a pretty in-demand item in the Ipsy crowd, so I traded it away for some other non-Ipsy goodies.

• Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse (mini item, valued at $6): I actually already had a can of this. In my bathroom closet. Way in the back, in a dark corner on a low shelf that holds all the nearly-full products that just didn't work for me, but that I feel too guilty just throwing away.

White Gold blended out, not blended out, and you can figure out the other two.

 So the overall value of this month's bag rings up at $53.74... again, none too shabby a return on my $10 investment from a numeric standpoint, but I wound up kind of underwhelmed with the actual products, so that lessens the value for me. Totally worth it because of the City Color White Gold, though, and hopefully the replacement Urban Decay product will work better for me. There were other products this month that I would have preferred to receive instead of the exfoliant and hair product (Benefit Lollitint, Demeter fragrance), but at least I didn't receive some of the products I would have REALLY hated, like self-tanner or appallingly ginormous false eyelashes. So there's that?

If my less-than-glowing review this month has somehow left you dying to try Ipsy for yourself, please feel free to clicky-clicky on my referral link to sign up. Full disclosure: I get points if you use my link, which I can redeem for products, but I wouldn't suggest signing up if I didn't think it was worthwhile. As you can see, even in a disappointing month, there's something awesome that totally saves the overall experience... and for just $10, it's a cheap, fun little monthly treat to yourself.

March 2014 Ipsy Bag Review: "Destination Beauty"

Huzzah, it's already time for another Ipsy bag! (A refresher: Ipsy is a makeup sampling service that sends me a little makeup bag full of 4-5 cosmetics goodies each month.) This one's theme is "Destination Beauty," which somehow denotes a connection between cosmetics and traveling, so there ya go. I don't require a theme... just give me the pretties!

The bag...

This month's bag is interesting... the pattern is a detail of a larger piece by artist Klari Reis, which is an abstract map of the city of San Francisco. (Get it? "Destination Beauty" = map? Cute, Ipsy.) For me, the beauty of the piece was lost in translation due to the scale; a smaller scale incorporating more of the image would have been much more appealing, and could have made it more clear that it was a map and not just a random, vaguely amoeba-esque pattern. The vibrancy of the colors is also muted on the bag because of the plasticky material it's printed on, which is great for bag-cleaning purposes, but not so great for translating the crisp, bright hues. I still like the bag, though, and it's already living in my purse.

The goodies...

My bag contained:

• bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in "Get Ready" (mini, valued at $7.50): At first glance, this pink lipstick didn't appeal to me, but it's a very pretty "my lips but better" color when applied. Smooth creamy consistency, but the jury's still out on lasting power. I usually prefer glosses to lipsticks, but isn't trying new things what a sample service is for? And I actually really like getting these mini lip products, because I almost never finish full-sized items before they pass their "use-by" date, and they take up less space in my purse, so there's that.

•  Nicole by OPI Roughles nail polish in "On What Grounds?" (full-size item, valued at $8): As soon as I saw that I'd be getting this item, I made arrangements to trade it. This is a textured polish... and the swatches that I've seen online just weren't appealing to me. The color is a lovely robin's-egg sort of blue, but honestly, to me the gritty texture makes it look like blue sandpaper, and that's just not my jam. Plenty of people seem excited about this product, though, so it was easy for me to arrange a trade for an indigo Chella eyeliner that was one of the other options this month. I've really gotten into colored eyeliners lately, because they're great for adding a little vibrant color to my eyes without looking like I just stepped out of the 1980s or got punched in the eye.

• Be a Bombshell Eyeshadow Quad in "Bora Bora" (full-size item, valued at $16): Speaking of looking like I just stepped out of the '80s, there's this eyeshadow palette. Three of the four shades are more neutral, workable hues, but then there's that BAM teal! Not sure that quadrant of the palette is going to see a lot of use, and honestly, the other three are a little more shimmery than I like, but I'm going to experiment with them and see what I can pull off.

• Pixi Beauty Flawless Beauty Primer (deluxe sample, valued at $8.80): Like the eyeshadow quad, this primer is a little more shimmery than my usual selections, but I will probably end up using it when I run out of my current bottle. I think it may just need to wait its turn until warmer weather arrives... the shimmer may work a little better with bronzed summery makeup and a bit of a tan.

So the total value of my bag this month is $40.30. I don't really care about the dollar value of items or the brand names in my bag as long as I like the products; this time, I'm trading a cheaper item for a more expensive item, but I'd also happily do the reverse if I found a less expensive item more interesting than something else in my bag. I just kind of think it's interesting to keep track of the prices for informational purposes.

In other "newly-discovered makeup obsession" news, I also received a lovely little package from City Color Cosmetics, containing three "Be Matte" blushes. These blushes were options in the February Ipsy bag, but I did not receive one, and after seeing some good reviews, I couldn't pass up an order. I've found that a lot of blushes have more sparkle to them than I like, especially for work where I don't need to be looking like a glitter explosion, so I was excited to snap this matte trio up for the loooooooow price point of $2.99 apiece!

Enough blush for a stylish army...

 From L - R: "Fresh Melon," "Dragonfruit," and "Blood Orange." These pans are HUGE... I doubt I'll have to buy blush again for a long time. (I won't be keeping the Blood Orange, though, because it's just too bright for me.) The Dragonfruit is a really pretty pink shade that's not nearly as aggressively fuchsia as it looks in the pan. The Fresh Melon is a lovely change from the usual pinks, with a coral sort of hue that I find really natural and flattering. Both are highly pigmented and very easily buildable... I have to be careful to start small so I don't end up with clown cheeks! For the price, I'm very happy with the quality of these items.

Oh, and speaking of colored liners...

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I'M WATCHING YOU... with my snazzy green eyeliner, which is the only nod I'm making to green on this goofy beer-soaked holiday. A hearty "slainte" to you, dear (probably non-existent) reader... and may you be in heaven a half-hour before the devil knows you're dead!