I always seem to receive my monthly subscription beauty bag from ipsy later than other bloggers. So this month, I purposely didn’t look at any of the posts and reviews by others because, as usual, I wanted to be surprised.
It arrived in the mail on Saturday while I was at Jeff’s for the weekend. I was so curious to see what I got for my $10, but I had to wait. When I got home, I made a video of me unboxing the goodies (using my new tripod) in case you’d rather watch video than read this post.
January is usually about a fresh start, so no surprise that the ipsy Glam Bag that I received focuses on the face.
The makeup bag this month is cute and waterproof blue and turquoise fabric with drawings of makeup products. I like the bag, and I’ll use it.
The CoastalScents foundation brush in its packaging was too big to fit in the makeup bag, so it wasn’t a “surprise”. It’s a small foundation brush with a good size handle, and it’s made of synthetic fibers which I like because it’s cruelty free and hopefully easy to clean. I needed another foundation brush, so I’m happy to get this.
Next, I pulled out a one ounce sample of épicé Purifying Exfoliant. A new brand to me, épicé sounds French, but the company is based in Florida. I’ll go to their website and check it out. Although I’m really liking the Radical Skincare Instant Revitalizing Mask with the heavenly orange scent and no grit that I’ve been using, this is a good exfoliator if you don’t mind fine-milled grit. I tried it and found it relatively easy to rinse off.
A couple of months ago, I received two sample size tubes of Nourish Organic Hand & Body Lotion in a nice coconut scent. I liked it a lot, and I actually lucked out and found a full size tube on sale at Ulta. So I was happy to see a little sample (0.5 oz.) of Nourish Organic Face Lotion in this month’s bag. The face lotion:
- is 100% natural USDA Certified Organic
- contains Moroccan Argan oil, rosewater and shea butter
- is lightweight.
I’m excited to give the face lotion a try. I’m traveling on business soon, and if this product is moisturizing enough for my dry skin, it would be great to take along. The only downside is there’s no SPF.
Next, I found a sample tube of Yaby Natural Finish Liquid Foundation, oil-free. The shade is “buff” which is perfect for me. It provides light to medium coverage, and feels lightweight, very soft and comfortable. It blends well with my skin tone. It feels like it has dimethicone in it because it’s very, very smooth. Again, the only downside is that, unlike BB or CC cream, it doesn’t appear to have sunscreen in it.
Finally, I found a small pot of Mica Beauty lip balm. In my video, I mistook it for cream highlighter or even eye shadow in a lovely milk chocolate shade. Although I finally saw the little writing on the side that identified it as lip balm in shade, natural, I tried it as a highlighter and it worked just fine, lol! It’s a nice lip balm, very sheer and feather light. But I may continue to use it as a highlighter, so there 😉 (I was so eager to see what it was, I swiped it with my finger before snapping the photo, sorry.) Back in October, I received a full-size Mica Beauty lip balm in a gorgeous red shade. The lip balm in natural, just like the red one, feels a little drying — it doesn’t seem like a balm at all, frankly — so I need to wear lipgloss with it. (Did I mention that Mica Beauty Cosmetics are mineral makeup which is why it is both lightweight and a little drying.) Nevertheless, the color is fairly long-lasting, and as it fades over time, it does leave some color on my lips. I just think the company needs to change the name from “lip balm” to “lipstick”.
Here I am rocking’ the natural look: I’m wearing the Yaby Foundation in buff and the Mica Beauty lip balm in natural. I just have on CoverGirl Clump Crusher mascara on my upper lashes only. I’m heading out to shovel snow, so I don’t need full makeup for that!
So what’s my verdict? I liked the mix of skincare and makeup products in this month’s Glam Bag. My only complaint is that the sample sizes were quite small. They’re probably large enough to form an opinion of the product, but I usually get at least one full-size product. So, it was kinda chintzy compared to past months. But I’m still happy with the products I received, and each brand offers a discount from 20-45% of all its products for the next month. I still think ipsy’s a deal and a steal for 10 bucks!
If you think you want to give ipsy a try, please use the link below to go to the ipsy site. That way if you do sign up, I’ll get credit for the referral and get some extra points toward bonus products! Thanks! 🙂 http://www.ipsy.com/r/1zp5
great video! great write up! ….great shirt (and where did you get your tripod for your camera phone?)
PS- My ipsy bag was lost in the delivery but they’re sending me a new one 🙂
Thanks, Lois! So sorry that tipsy lost your bag. It must be an initiation rite, since that was what happened to me too early on but they just reimbursed me and gave me a free extra month. Hope it gets there soon! The tripod for my iPhone came from amazon.com. I think the brand is Joby Gorillapod and I paid about $14 for it including delivery. It works very well!
Love the video, you are a Natural! And the shirt….FABULOUS!!!!!
Thanks on both counts, Sybille! I got the shirt at Willoughby’s about 5 years ago, I think. I love it, and I think it was clearly influenced by the Japanese designers use of shredded fabric as embellishment!
You can always wear makeup to shovel snow! You look great dear! I loved your Ipsy bag. Mine is super duper late this month so I am living vicariously through everyone else. So thanks for letting me sneak a peek. Great video and great post!
Shalunya recently posted…Schick Hydro Silk Sensitive Care
Thanks, Shalunya! I figured foundation, lip balm & a little mascara would be enough for shoveling. Luckily, I didn’t run into any neighbors 😉 Sorry your ipsy bag is late. My cousin’s got lost and they are hopefully sending her a new one. Hope both of them arrive soon!
How fun is that ipsy bag! I will definitely give it a try when I’m back home (and have an income again!) That foundation and lippy are good colors on you — but I’m also spoiled by BB creams in that I want EVERYTHING to have SPF in it now.
Natasha recently posted…The countdown begins!
Thanks, Natasha! I’ve gotten some good ipsy bags since I signed up a few months ago. And there seem to be more organic skincare products included. I hope you discover some lovely Hawaiian skincare and makeup products while you’re on sabbatical. Enjoy your adventure!
This looks like another nice box! I’ll be interested in more info on that foundation brush.
Tina @ My Highest Self recently posted…Swatch & Review: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup
Tina, my collection of makeup brushes consists of random inexpensive brushes I’ve picked up here and there plus the set of Crown brushes from iFabbo, so I may not be in a position to evaluate it. That said, it’s thick (in a good way) and soft, and I think it did a very good job applying the Yaby foundation 🙂