I’ve had Ipsy for over a year now. This blog post has been 13 months in the making; I signed up for Ipsy with the intention of writing a blog post like this one. I know, I know, that sounds absolutely weird, right? But sometimes content ideas are what they are and this felt like an important one. There are lots of individual Ipsy blog posts out there that base value on one or two bags. But I’ve never seen a blog post that goes through the average value per bag and more. That’s what I set out to do with this blog post!
Ipsy has been a wild ride. There have been some excellent months and some not-so-great months. I’ve learned a lot along the way. I don’t want to take up too much space with this introduction—I mean, what more is there for me to say about Ipsy? Let’s jump into the important bits: is Ipsy worth it?
What is the Value of Ipsy?
If you’ve read my Ipsy reviews for a while, you know that I have a standard way of calculating the value of each item. This was something I started doing after 2 or 3 bags—so unfortunately, my first few blog posts didn’t include this information. I had to go back and accurately calculate values, so some valuations have changed! (If you want to read all my past Ipsy reviews, click here.)
A big part of this blog post is going to be focused on the actual value of the bags over a year—or 14 months, in this case.
The bag with the lowest value was my October 2018 bag at $44.75. In that blog post, I actually said I was pretty sure it was the absolute lowest value of a bag and my somewhat educated guess was right. Now, a $44.75 bag for $10 is still pretty good. However…
My bag with the highest value was my July 2018 bag at $93. Now, that’s a good value for $10! I will be honest though, I barely even remember my July 2018 bag, but I was pretty sure I loved everything in it.
Let’s talk averages.
I received 14 bags from the time I first signed up for Ipsy and in total, all 14 of those bags contained items that have a value of $911.65. I calculated this number 3 different times, then had Danny calculate it twice. Yes, over $900. That’s insane. I pay $10 a month for an Ipsy bag, so for $140, I have received over $911.65 worth of make up, skincare, and brushes. That’s… impressive. That really is wild.
The average value per bag is roughly $65.12, when you calculate it out. That’s pretty decent for, again, a $10-per-month subscription service.
In total, 14 bags with 5 items each (sometimes, I received 2 masks, but I still consider that 1 item) equals 70 items total. That feels like a lot! If you calculate the average value per item, it comes to $13.02. That’s pretty decent.
If you’re like me, you like trying new things all the time and that’s really the beauty of Ipsy. So, in terms of monetary value, yeah, it’s a great deal. If you’re looking for the cheapest bag with the highest reward, I think you can’t do much worse than Ipsy.
Can You Pick Favorites?
Remembering 14 bags, with 5 items each time, can leave me struggling to remember when I received what. For example, I received two very similar highlights in a row (February and March, I think), but I get them mixed up all the time. However, I was able to identify a few favorite and least favorite bags and items.
My favorite bag so far has been April 2018: this bag is actually my favorite actual make up bag, plus contains some of my favorite items ever. When identifying my favorite item, I picked the Steve Laurant blush I received in this bag. I wear this blush at least 3 times a week. It is just a perfect blush. This bag also had a spectacular mask, a good lip color, and a decent body scrub. The eyeshadow from this bag makes my eyes itch, but that’s not really anyone’s fault.
In terms of least favorites, my least favorite bag has been my most recent bag, October 2018. Sorry, October 2018, you were just a bummer of a bag.
If I had to pick a least favorite item, I actually wouldn’t be able to; I would say, the multitude of similar eyeshadows and highlighters I’ve received have been my least favorite items overall. I don’t wear highlighter anymore (your girl has texture, ok!) and most of the eyeshadows are formulas that fall incredibly flat… or they send me a taupe which I already own 20 times or a purple which has no pigment. It’s always a toss up.
This is one of the downsides of Ipsy. We’ll tackle it next.
What Are the Downsides of Ipsy?
Things start to duplicate. It’s a real bummer to get the same color of eyeshadow four times. Or a highlighter that you don’t wear. Or masks that you can’t use. Lots of people complain about this aspect of Ipsy. But, it is plain impossible for any subscription service to stock eyeshadows in unique colors that everyone will like. Think about it: it’s not cost effective to haver 4-5 different eyeshadow colors for each Ipsy subscriber, so they settle on extremely common shades, like purple or taupe. It’s just the way of the world.
But it does get exhausting! To me, that has been a major downside and I end up regifting eyeshadows and highlighters to people who can genuinely use them.
Another downside really is the bags. In concept, a make up bag is a useful item. But most of these make up bags aren’t big enough to hold more than the 5 items that come in it! In fact, some of the masks I’ve received haven’t even fit in the bag itself. I can use them in my purse for a few items, or for traveling on day trips, but otherwise, they aren’t useless. I’ve gathered up most of these bags from over the past year and I’m donating them to my local women’s shelter to provide for women there.
So, Is Ipsy Worth It?
Like I said, monetarily, if you’re someone who likes trying lots of new products, absolutely Ipsy is worth it. $10 a month will get you a decent variety of things to try. And it’s important to remember that you can always tell them not to include things! I’ve officially removed highlighters and eyeshadows from my Ipsy preferences, so I won’t be receiving them anymore.
Some people suspect that Ipsy bags get worse over time, but I think this is actually a bias. Ipsy is really fun and exciting at first, but as humans, I think we naturally get jaded and the excitement gets old. “Oh, another highlighter? Yawn!” It’s not as fresh. That’s why I think it’s important to take a break if you find yourself getting bored. I’ll be receiving my November and December Ipsy bags, then pausing for a while, at least 6 months, before restarting. This will give me time to use up some things I’ve been hanging on to, clean out anything expired from my collection, and restart fresh.
I feel like I’ve received a decent variety of items—I’ve been able to try brands I would never buy on my own, like Huda Beauty, as well as gotten some items I really genuinely love.
If you’re looking to try Ipsy, know that it takes a little tweaking to get your preferences just right. But it can be really fun! If you want to sign up, use my link here.
