After last month's dramatic opening to my ipsy review, it's nice to be able to say there was no drama with them this month. This month's theme was all about summer and the poolside: the bag is the perfect mesh bag to take to the pool (stuff this baby full of SPF and you're set, honestly). While I don't have access to a pool throughout the summer, it's a nice thought. I live in an area where in ground pools are relatively rare, but a girl can dream, right?
As always, you can read all my past Ipsy reviews here. If you're interested in trying Ipsy yourself, you can sign up using my referral code here.
1. Callyssee Caffeine Rush Nourishing Sheet Mask, $19 for 2 masks
You guys know I like masks and ipsy really knows the way to my heart: sending me lots of sheet masks. And these ones are absolutely lovely. Here's what they promise:
“This mask is infused with caffeine and nutrients to wake up your inner beauty and turn on your outer glow. A cocktail of skin loving ingredients includes nature’s nearly perfect skin softener, Argan Kernal Oil and Soybean Seed Extract, which feel like a rich skin treat. Our hero ingredient, Organic Coffea Arabica Seed Extract, is known to help with encouraging cell renewal and soothing the skin, while Panax Ginseng Root Extract, feels great on your skin and can add a delicate flush to your face.”
Yeah, so that bit about adding a flush to your face... it's true! My face felt so warm after I used this mask, not unpleasant, but until I read that description, it kind of scared me! My face has been very dehydrated since I went to Idaho and despite my best efforts, all my efforts to rehydrate were failing. This mask totally helped though, so if you're in a dry climate, or just need a bit of a pick-me-up, these masks are great. They also smell like coffee, which is really lovely.
2. Smashbox Cosmetics Always On Liquid Lipstick in Stepping Out, $24
Liquid lipstick is another easy thing for me to love. I wear liquid lipstick everyday. (As a note, you can see a swatch of this lipstick below, as well as a photo of it at the end of this post!) I was very impressed by the Smashbox lipstick I received in December, so I was really excited to try this liquid lip. And I have to say, even though $24 is pretty steep for a liquid lipstick for me, it was so comfortable to wear. This liquid lip comes with a hefty promise: "An 8-hour, liquid matte lipstick that’s specifically formulated to be comfortable and not dry out your lips." And honestly, that's not a lie. I wore this lipstick for an entire day at home and forgot I was wearing it a few times. It's that good!
3. Elizabeth Mott Tapered Blending Brush, $16
I love collecting brushes, but I hate spending money on them. Ipsy has been great because it has rapidly expanded my collection of brushes, especially by sending me really high quality ones I wouldn't have ever bought myself. I've been needing a new fluffy blending brush for eyeshadow; my tried-and-true Urban Decay brush has started shedding, so it's time to send it to the great beyond, and this brush stepped perfectly into its spot. Absolutely love it.
4. Ella Eden Eyeshadow in Harmony, $14
This was the one product that, when I saw it on my sneak peek, I was very disappointed in. A pink eyeshadow? Really? Haven't I said I'm tired of receiving eyeshadows!? However, this is such a pretty color (it's the first swatch above) and it really does look great. I like that it is a more cool-toned peach-pink, instead of being very warm and orangey, so it's a little more suited to my color. Here's what the eyeshadow promises:
“Ella EDEN’s mineral pressed/compact eye shadow gives you a versatile base of color you can easily add to, or wear alone. The creamy consistency is easy to blend, and the deep hues create the perfect look for conservative daytime wear, or bolder statements to highlight your nightlife. ”
While that's true, I did personally feel that this eyeshadow struggled to be applied with a brush. I ended up using my finger and it was quite flaky, but I made it work. It's pretty enough that it works! I also used it as a highlighter over my blush and it looks great that way too!
5. Pacifica Coconut Blush in Beaming & Tenderheart, $20
I love a blush! You can see these blushes swatched above (the two middle shades). The shade Beaming is the bronzer and the shade Tenderheart is the blush. The bronzer looked great on me, but the blush itself is quite dark; I had to be really careful not to apply too heavily and make myself look like a clown! With a little effort, it looks great though. There is quite a lot of fall out with both shades. One odd note: I couldn't find these blushes on Pacifica's website, which suggests they were discontinued. However, based on the price of single blushes from Pacifica ($14 a pop) and other blush sets ($24 for 3), I settled on $20 as a price for these two.
Final Thoughts
The value of this bag is $93. I will have to look, but I think this is the highest value of any ipsy bag I've received so far! I also like everything in it. Initially, when I saw my sneak peek of products, I was disappointed: another liquid lip, another eyeshadow, siiiiigh. But once it arrived and I played with everything, I really ate my words. I love everything in this bag and they are all high quality products. My favorite is probably the brush (I've been needing a tapered brush like this to replace my Urban Decay blending brush, which has started loosing hairs) and the Pacifica blush--you know I love a blush!
To the left here, you can see a look I did with everything from this ipsy bag: the liquid lip, the blush & bronzer, and the eyeshadow. I also used the tapered brush to blend and the eyeshadow as a highlight and blush on top of the Pacifica blush, just for an extra rosie glow. (I'm also wearing the Aerie Hometown sweatshirt in this photo, which is my absolute favorite.)
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