If you're a long-time reader of my blog (*ehem* mom), you know that I used to receive Birchbox, and it left a really sour taste in my mouth as far as subscription boxes go. I never felt like the products were "personalized" like they claimed to be, and I just ended up with a lot of mini items that went unused and just took up space. Finally I got fed up and quit my subscription, and I haven't turned back since or had any desire to try other boxes. Since I've become a youtube beauty fanatic in the past year or so, I've seen tons of unboxings and subscription boxes on people's channels. The last few months, everyone has been putting Ipsy up on a pedestal. They seem to give out full-size products often, promote high-end brands, give great deals on items you want to purchase, and have great youtubers backing them up. And, you get a cute little makeup bag with all your products in it each month. For $10, I decided to give it a try, honestly not expecting anything great to come of it. And man oh man did I underestimate!
Just like Birchbox, Ipsy has you take a quiz when you first subscribe about your skin type, skin tone, hair color, preferences, style, etc. to learn what you like and what products to send you. In my profile, I stressed that I prefer makeup, haircare, nailcare, and accessories over skincare products since my skin is so dang sensitive. I described my style and mostly simple and natural, but sometimes bold, very experienced with makeup and always willing to try new things. Let's go ahead and get into what I got!
Everyone's bags are sent in this bright pink bubble wrapped envelope. This month's bag was designed by Ipsy's founder, Michelle Phan, and it's so gorgeous! To me it looks like a sea mermaid being pampered by hands of everyone around her, I love it. Inside the pouch and outside the beauty bag you find a card giving a description of the theme of the month, with the curator of the bag on the front as well. This month is Christen Dominique, and the card says "Pop the champagne cans. Deck yourself in ring pops. Get gorgeously glammed up and dip into everyday decadence gone wildly galore."
The first item I pulled out of my bag was the Mongongo Nutrient Dense Anti-aging Lip Conditioner from the brand Jersey Shore Sun in vanilla coconut creme scent. This is a full-sized product retailing at $10, which already covers my price of the bag, crazy! This stuff smells amazing, and it feels very balmy and hydrating. I have a hard time finding chapsticks that my lips approve of, so I really hope this one works out for me!
Next in the bag is a deluxe sample size (0.43oz) of the NYX Born To Glow Liquid Illuminator in the shade Gleam. This is a very bronzey shade, one that I'll definitely need to use under foundations or mixed in with my foundations for a bronzed glow. This isn't something that would work as a liquid highlighter on my fair skin. Regardless, it's a beautiful product! The consistency was nice and easy to blend out, didn't set too quickly, and gave a gorgeous sparkle highlight. I can't wait to try it out! Something to note is that there was a pretty strong sunscreen scent to this product. A full-size of this product weighs in at 0.60oz for $7.50.
Next in my bag was a matte lip crayon from Lord & Berry in the shade Intimacy. This shade is a really beautiful everyday mauve-toned nude. Swatched, it looks extremely matte, but feels very creamy and comfortable, and doesn't settle in lines. This looks like the perfect lip crayon formula! A full-size retails at $20 for 0.11oz, this sample size is 0.06oz.
The next item I received was a Formula X nail polish in the shade Dollface. I couldn't have been more excited to see this in my bag! Formula X is such a raved about polish brand, and this shade is a perfect pinky beige. I don't own any nail polish, so I am very anxious to give this a try and give my sad nails some love! The full size of their polishes are $10.50 for 0.40oz and the size I received was 0.13oz.
The last item in my bag was a haircare product from IT Haircare - the 12-in-one Amazing Serum. It claims to reduce frizziness and increase shine by 200%. This was wrapped in bubble wrap, which I heavily appreciate! This is a full-size item at 1.7oz, retailing for $9.99. This stuff smells freaking incredible! I couldn't begin to explain it, but it truly smells lovely. It has a dropper, which is really nice for it's oily serum texture. You are supposed to run it through dry hair for extra shine and taming the frizzies. I watched videos on this product to learn how to use it, and while it honestly looks pretty gimmicky (hard to find information on it, cheesy videos trying to sell it to an audience, etc.), I'll give my 100% Argan Oil a break and give this little guy a go. If it really does what it says - increase shine without weighing down hair - I will be really impressed!
So, what are my thoughts?
I LOVE IPSY! So far, I am truly excited and my mind has really been changed about subscription boxes, clearly they aren't all the same. I feel like they really followed my personalization quiz, I love every single product that I got, and I am so excited to try them all! The one thing I wish was that there was a card describing the products you receive and their full-size prices. I honestly looked frantically through my bag thinking mine went missing when I first got it, but they don't include one at all, however I feel that it would be extremely helpful! And, this is totally worth the value - I received well over twice the amount of money's worth that I spent on this bag, which I think is so awesome.
What did you guys get in your Ipsy bag this month? What subscriptions are you signed up for?
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