Beauty Review: My February Ipsy Bag

Another month, another Ipsy bag! I'm quite excited about this one. If you remember, last month's bag was a bit of a let down... so this month needed to be big or I was going to be over it. 

Well, Ipsy seems to know when they are starting to make me mad and this bag was truly my favorite in a long time! Don't forget to read my past Ipsy reviews to get an idea of how I review these and determine the value of each item. 

Let's jump into what I received!

1. F.A.R.A.H Angled Contour Brush 30F, $13

F.A.R.A.H actually sells these brushes in a variety of colors, but I received "Your Majesty" (purple). These are vegan brushes, which us always a plus, and quite soft for synthetic bristles. This brush is designed specifically for contour, bronzer, and blush. I am a little bit of a brush fanatic and I already have a preferred brush for my blush and contour. However, I do like this one for blush just a little bit more, although I find that the bristles are almost a little too soft. It's not a huge flaw, however, and it's nice to have a second option when it comes to blending blush! 

2. Ofra Cosmetics Liquid Lipstick in Ipsy Unzipped, $20

This is a dark pink color--not mauve-y, for once! When I first saw I was receiving it, I was a little frustrated because I have a ton of mauve-y pinks. However, this one definitely falls more into the "berry" family--making it ideal since I don't have a ton of light berry shades! I've never used Ofra before so I was really excited to try this liquid lip. I found the formula quite soft and comfortable, and very matte without being dry. However, I did find that it transferred and faded a lot, very quickly. Not a huge downside because it's such a pretty color and so comfortable, but something to be aware of! 

3. Estate Cosmetics Dew Me Baked Highlighter in Afterglow, $10

Estate Cosmetics is a brand known for making highlighters in unique, pretty shades. This one, Afterglow, is a iridescent lavender color; it's very pigmented, without being like a blush, and gives a nice highlight. Just be sure to go easy; when I first applied it, I realized I went a little too hard and looked a little like an Easter egg until I did some blending! The formula is very smooth and easy to use and the packaging is so cute. Millennial pink, baby! 

4. Biobelle Perfecting Primer Facial Mask, $9.98

I love getting face masks in my Ipsy bags! Seriously, if I get a mask, it's a good bag. These ones from Biobelle feature masks made of botanic fibers, which means they biodegrade (really cool!) These masks promise to boost texture, minimize pores, and even skin tone, making them ideal for wearing before you put on your make up. They contain tea tree oil, rosehips extract, vitamin C, and niacinamide, ingredients that are known to be good for the skin. However, I don't know about you, but I rarely have time to wear a mask for 10-15 minutes before I put on my make up! Not with a toddler, that's for sure. I wore these at night and definitely felt like my skin felt amazing afterwards. At $4.99 a piece, for valuation, I just doubled it--since I received 2! That means, this weekend, I'll be able to test this out before I put on my makeup. 

5. IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye in Light, $24

I literally just bought Shape Tape, so at first I was a little disappointed to receive a concealer in my bag. However, this concealer really blew me away. In terms of coverage, it covers everything. Seriously, everything. It is extremely thick and sticky, making it ideal for not just undereyes, but blemishes and more. And even though it's $24 for a tube that is barely bigger than a lipstick, a little goes a long way. I used a half-pea-sized amount on my entire face basically! I will say: the shade range is extremely disappointing with only 6 shades and only 2 of those shades being appropriate for people of color. I do my best to amplify brands that are diverse in terms of their offerings; it sucks that IT Cosmetics makes such an amazing product that most of the population simply can't use. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, this bag is valued at $76.98. That's pretty good for a bag that I love everything in (despite my disappointment in the late of IT Cosmetics shade range). Considering I did not love my bag last month, this felt like a nice breath of fresh air and I am really happy with everything I received. If you'd like to try out Ipsy, click here to use my referral link. 

Beauty Review: My January Ipsy Bag

Can you believe it's time for another Ipsy bag review? Since I wrote my December review late, it feels like these are happening back to back! If you'd like to see my past Ipsy bag reviews, click here. 

This month's Ipsy bag had a work out theme (herumph) because it's January, after all. I'm quite happy with the things I received, except for the bag. I'll get to that in a minute. First, let's list these products, shall we? 

1. So Susan Liquid Matte in Raisin Flesh 

This is a full-size liquid lipstick that retails for $14.00 and comes in 6 shades. You can visit So Susan here. This liquid lip promises "brilliant moisture without the stickiness and long-lasting colour without the flakiness." These are lies. Absolute, bald-faced lies. This liquid lip is gorgeous; I love the color Raisin Flesh (a deep, rich, pink-mauve), but on the lips it wears... really oddly. If you apply too much (like, the normal amount you'd put on), it doesn't dry down and basically shellacs your lips together. I put it on when I first opened my Ipsy bag and then drove home; I had to pull over halfway home, grab a baby wipe, and scrub my mouth. I couldn't part my lips it was so sticky! When I rewore it later, I applied a super thin layer and it dried down better; but this lipstick does that thing where it wears off only in the middle, leaving me with a super attractive halo every single time I popped into the bathroom. 

Needless to say, this isn't something I would recommend to wear all day; good for a single event, perhaps, where I won't be eating or drinking, but it is not long-wearing and the texture is super odd. 

2. Vasanti Cosmetics Kajal Waterline Eyeliner in Intense Black

This full-size eyeliner retails for $19.00. You can view it here. I have to be honest, this was an item I knew was going to be disappointed to me. As a personal point, I do not tightline my eyes; to me, this is a trend that ages you... to around 2005, when everyone was walking around looking like a raccoon! I haven't tightlined my eyes since I was probably 19 years old and I'm not looking to start again. It makes my eyes look smaller. Period, end of story, I don't want to talk about it anymore. 

That being said, this is a decent pencil; it's creamy and quite pigmented. It's just not my thing. I could see myself using it on my top lashline, but absolutely not my waterline. 

3. Preventative Measures 101 After Hours Lip Balm

This lip balm retails for $8 and is available here. I love a good lip balm and this is another one. It smells, lightly, of papayas and goes on pretty smooth. It doesn't have any ingredients that cause irritation or dryness (looking at you, Burt's Bees with peppermint oil!). It is, however, just a lip balm. 

4. Purlisse Beauty Blue Lotus Seed Mud Mask

This mask retails for $48 (!!!!!) for a full-size and is available here. 

I have to say: I wasn't sure about this mask when I saw I would be receiving it, but I quite like it. When I first applied it, I started to grumble because it felt like it had walnut shells in it. But after reading the ingredients more closely, I realized it is crunched up blue lotus seeds--still a little intense for an exfoliant (they are much too rough), but for a mask every 1-2 weeks, not bad. I did like the smell and feel of this mask and it made my skin feel good and my pores look small. 

5. The Balm Cosmetics Mary Lou-Minizer 

The full-size version of this retails for $24 and is available here. I expected to be disappointed by this as I'm not a huge fan of the Balm... but this highlight is pretty nice. It's not chalky and goes on pretty smooth. It also makes a great eyeshadow color. It's pretty smooth and pigmented, but blends in nicely. I really love it! I wish the size they'd sent to us was larger; it's the size of a small eyeshadow pan, as opposed to the larger compact. 

The Verdict

This bag is perhaps the ugliest bag I have ever received from Ipsy. I've been struggling not to be like, "I love this product, but did you SEE this UGLY BAG?" while writing this entire review! The bag is heinous! It's going into my donate bin, alongside the liquid lip and eyeliner. (Both sterilized, I promise.) 

Per usual, let's add up the cost of this bag if you purchased each separate item. The total is $113, but that uses the prices for full-size and I received 2 trial size products. And while $113 value for a $10 purchase is quite big, I was disappointed by both of the full-size objects I received. 

Not every Ipsy bag will be a winner! I left feedback regarding these items on my Ipsy account, so I'm hoping for a better month next month! If you want to try Ipsy for just $10 a month, click here to sign up using my referral code. 

Beauty Review: My December Ipsy Bag

This is my 4th ipsy bag and if I'm being absolutely, positively honest... I still really love it.

Ah, gotcha! Right? 

(If you'd like to read my past reviews, click here.) 

This month was really exciting. I was hoping to get some amazing products that I'd never tried before. I feel like each month, ipsy gets a little bit better as I review things, ask them to stop sending certain things, and share these reviews. 

Without further ado, let's talk about what I got in my bag! 

1. Promise Organic Nourishing Coconut Milk Daily Facial Scrub, $9.99

This product has sugar crystals, walnut shell powder, honey, coconut milk, aloe, and more in it, promising to be "pH balanced and gentle." It smells really good (like coconut--sort of that fake coconut smell I associate with sunscreen). Despite claiming to be a gentle daily scrub, it is definitely a rough feeling scrub. I like that it has ingredients that are natural and biodegradable (no more microbeads!), but it is definitely something I would say to not use daily. It did leave my skin feeling quite soft though. I've only used it once since receiving it because I only exfoliate once a week. This brand is available at CVS, as well as from online retailers. 

2. Smashbox Cosmetics Legendary Lipstick in Legendary, $21

I love getting lipsticks in my Ipsy bags and this was no exception. At first, I was a little nervous about this color. It's more a bright red than I usually go for (I definitely prefer my reds to be more blue or purple, as opposed to pink or orange). This is what I would call a race car red. However, it goes on absolutely smooth and feels so good on that it's hard to argue--plus, for the Christmas season, it's such a nice color! This is a sample size, so while a full size is valued at $21, I am valuing the size in my bag at around $11. 

3. Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral Duo in Orchid Ornament, approx. $4 value

This eyeshadow due had a lot of promise, but unfortunately fell absolutely flat. One of the shadows is a beautiful, shimmery champagne color that I absolutely love. The other color is supposed to be a shimmery, deep plum shade. 

A little bit of information about purple eyeshadows: they are notoriously difficult to formulate. For whatever reason, purple is just a color that is difficult to make work. If you've ever had a drugstore eyeshadow in a purple shade, you've experienced this before: it looks great in the pan, but it goes on gray or absolutely sheer. That's the issue with this eyeshadow. The plum shade goes on a dark gray color that blends into nothing. To get any color pay off, I have to put on so much eyeshadow, it starts to feel cakey... and it fades fast. Needless to say, I was very disappointed by this item. It's just not good, which is unfortunate because I love most of Pixi's makeup and skincare. This was just a bit of a dud. 

As well, these eyeshadow duos don't appear to be available off of the Ipsy website. Pixi does make whole palettes out of these shadows: the Mesmerizing Mineral Palettes for $12. Based on that price, I estimated this eyeshadow duo at about $4 ($2 per shadow). 

4. Luxie Beauty Precision Shader Onyx Brush 239, $14

I love getting brushes! I've loved nearly every brush I've received from Ipsy and this one is probably my favorite. I love using shader brushes to place shadow before I start to blend; I find it helps me get a better color payoff, as well as more even color on both eyes. This brush is really wonderful to use and works perfectly. 

5. Feel Brilliant Bamboo Charcoal Facial Sheet Masks, $17.50

You know how I feel about masks. (You can read about my favorite masks here; as well, you can read a review of some expensive masks here.) These masks are absolutely lovely; they have activated charcoal, which works to purify your skin. (I am never 100% on that claim; I don't love the idea of it. However, that's what the mask claims, so I'm repeating it here just to make sure I include what the brand promises!) It also has hyaluronic acid, which, despite the name, is actually a moisturizer and helps lock in moisture, so perfect for winter.

I found these masks really soothing to put on and they definitely helped with some difficult patches I've been dealing with lately, including some dry patches on my cheeks and chin. I really like using charcoal products, but I'm still not sold on their claims of "detoxifying"! These masks are $35 for a pack of 4; since I received 2, I priced them at a $17.50 value. 

Final Thoughts

The final value of this ipsy bag is roughly $56.49. This is less than last month's value of $69.64. I feel like I got more sample size products than last month, specifically the lipstick and eyeshadow duo. As well, there was one major dud this month; in a $4 eyeshadow duo, I really don't expect a lot... but coming from ipsy, I expect at least somewhat of a decent product. However, I love 4 out of 5 of these products, so I definitely can't complain! A $56 value is still pretty good, considering I only pay $10. 

Did you receive an Ipsy bag this month? What did you receive? Did you like it? 

If you don't have ipsy yet, why not give it a shot? Sign up for $10 a month and get 5 items picked just for you every single month. You can sign up using my referral link here.