Ipsy September 2013 Glam Bag: Classic Beauty

I learned about the Ipsy Glam Bag beauty subscription from YouTubers like Kayley Hyde and Kristina Horner, and I was intrigued enough to sign up for a subscription last July. For those who don't know, Ipsy sends out cosmetics bags each month filled with four to five beauty products, at least a couple of which are full-size. The bags have a theme, and the products are customized to your coloring, style, and needs according to a survey you fill out upon subscribing. It costs $10 per month, which averages out to only a couple of dollars per product. I'm in the process of seeking out new beauty brands and trying new looks, so I thought that this would be a great way to do that without investing a lot of money.

I got my first Glam Bag, September's "Classic Beauty," in the mail yesterday, and so far I'm pretty impressed. The bag was made of a fairly substantial waterproof material, printed with a royal blue and black pattern. The bag came with a brochure with very tiny samples of the Life Palette by Em-Cosmetics, and inside the bag were five products:

I read other reviews and spoilers for the September Glam Bag online, so I knew which products might be in my bag. Since the bags are customized, I wasn't sure exactly which of the possible products I was going to get, and I was pleased to find a tinted lip balm, a lipstick, an eyeshadow, a mascara, and an eye pencil. All of these are products that I either use in some form or wanted to try, so it seems that the customization process worked well.

The NYX eyeshadow was spoiled as coming to everyone, and most of the reviewers I found online had received neutral shades or blues. I received the color Purple, which isn't something I wear that often but might be nice for a dressed-up look. I've never used NYX products before, and I thought that the pigmentation and consistency were pretty nice. Since the price is pretty reasonable, I'll definitely try more single eyeshadows from NYX.

The Cailyn tinted lip balm was another spoiled product that seemed pretty certain to arrive, and I was really excited about it. The color, Big Apple, is a bright rosy red, a shade I've wanted to try for a while now but have been too chicken to invest in. The Cailyn lip balm retails for $19, twice the cost of the bag subscription, so this was a real bargain. I loved the color and consistency, but it's a quite a bit more opaque than I would have guessed for something billed as a tinted balm. I wouldn't wear this everyday, but might give it a try for the holidays.

 

The J. Cat lipstick was another product that I was excited to try.  The color, Honeycrisp, is one I often pick for my lips--a warm, peachy nude--but in a lipstick formula instead of my go-to gloss. Swatched on the back of my hand it looked orange and a little sheer, but the sheerness proved an asset since the natural pink of my lips toned down the orange hue. The lipstick has a nice vanilla scent that reminds me of candy corn, and I really thought that this would become a new staple for me until the entire stick broke off in the tube! I don't know if this is just because the product is cheap (it retails around $2.50) or if it was jostled during shipping, but I was disappointed. I'll have to use a lip brush to get any use out of it.

I haven't yet tried the Starlooks Kohl eye pencil or the Elizabeth Mott mascara. I've never used a pencil eyeliner, favoring brown eyeshadow and an angled brush for lining, and I've only rarely tried mascara. Since the pencil is black I'll definitely be saving it for a special occasion, and most likely will save the mascara for one as well. I decided not to review them here since I'm such an amateur with these kinds of products, so I wouldn't necessarily have much to say about them or to compare them with.

Overall I'm happy with my first Glam Bag, and I'm looking forward to October's edition. I hope that you found this review useful if you're considering trying Ipsy or any of these products. For full disclosure, my links to Ipsy in this post are affiliate links, and if you sign up after using one of them I'll earn points for bonus Ipsy items.

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