Ipsy "Glam Bag" Review for February 2013

It's mid-month and that means one thing and one thing only. My "Glam Bag" from Ipsy comes in.

For those of you who may not know, Ipsy is one of many subscription bags/boxes that you can receive and I suggest everyone checks them out. This is my second Glam Bag so far and I'm going to let you know all about them.

Ipsy works like this:

Every month you pay 10 dollars and you receive a bag in the mail of 4-5 makeup products. Every month, the  money you spend on the bag will be at least doubled. One of the best thing about ipsy is, although everyone receives "the same thing", each person fills out a profile and it helps ipsy send you makeup that fits your skin tone. Also, while you mostly receive sample sizes-- you also get discounts during the month on the products you like-- which can end up very profitable.

Glam bag arrives in a pretty pink bag every month:

My face and my ipsy bag.

 Once you open it up, you see a makeup carrying case (you get one each month, in varying levels of adorable-- I'm not very worried about what they look like. I'm more worried about capacity and usefulness, but hey sometimes that's a deal breaker for people).

 Here's this months bag. Nice simple and shiny black. Nice size. Could probably hold most of my lipstick (most, I have a lot of lipstick). Every month has a different theme-- this theme was "Red Carpet Ready" (the themes rarely have anything to do with the items you receive).

I value this bag at about $8.
(I feel this is a fair estimate because a good bag of this size is $14 dollars or more, small though it may be.)

Let's get to the good part! What's inside of it?

This here is "pixi Flawless & Poreless: Pore minimizing face primer" it's the .5 oz size. Good news for those of us with sensitive skin, it has not irritated my skin in the last 10 minutes I've had it on. It's also oil free, hydrating, hypoallergenic and for all skin types (the bottle tells me). It's supposed to be in translucent (the only color sold). I'm a mid-range pale, white girl. It doesn't stick out on me (not that I'm sure it matters-- since you cover it with foundation). That being said-- I can't speak for someone of darker skin tones-- it does come out looking fairly creamy.

Also, it smells like cake-batter to me. I asked Andy what it smelled like and she said it smelt weird "like old paper" and I had her smell my other hand (to compare) and she replied "ah... no that's just you". So I think it smells like cake-batter (but that just be my "weird old paper" aroma).

A 1 oz bottle is $29.00 (both at Target and Pixi website), I feel justified in halving that (to match .5 oz) and valuing this at: $14.50.

This is POP Beauty's "Smokey Lash Kapow!!!" in No. 1 Smokey Black (only color). This bottle is .17 oz.

From looking at it, it looks like it doesn't clump much and it's super dark. Having tried it on, (I have dark eyelashes as it is) it doesn't really have much effect. There are better mascara's out there (but for someone with super fine, super light eyelashes--this would probably be great).

I found a package of this size, 2 for 10.00. I value this at: $5.00.

Also it has a ridiculous name, which is really it's own reward.

My bag also came with a pack of four of Lash Card's "Mascara Shields". 

These have apparently been all over the place in fashion magazines. Apparently Glamour did a whole thing about them. They seem handy enough, for someone like me that struggles just managing to hold the wand and not obstruct my view of the lashes, these may or may not come in handy. But I also struggle with not getting the mascara all over my eye when putting it on (this makes me sound completely incompetent like those people on infomercials). I promise I can and do put makeup on to a successful effect. That being said- I can see how these come in handy. 

Doing the math (one package is 10 cards at $7), I value this at: $ 2.80.

This is MicaBeauty's gel liner in black (they have five other colors). Gel liner has always intimidated me (see above section on my clumsiness with things near my eyes). But so did liquid liner until I found just the right way to apply it. This would require a liner brush (something some people don't have or know how to use), but it's also great for when you're trying to do twenties style make up (trust me on this-- makes the best heavy twenties eyelid). And this is high quality mineral makeup. 

The bottle you can buy online is $35.00. It comes with a (rather low quality, but effective) brush. and has maybe (can't be sure) double the amount. I would say this bottle is worth at least: $15.00.

This is Coastal Scents "Glitz & Glamour" Eye Shadow Sample Set.  There are four colors here: Candelight, Gunmetal (which Andy appreciates, I'm sure), Incognito, and Ashen. While you may not be able to see the colors clearly here, this is a dark neutral palette (grays, silvers, blacks). Which is nice-- anyone can use it (though they do send it to you based on your palette needs-- so there was one with yellows and things). Always good to know what you're getting into before you buy a big version of it. Is the eye shadow poorly made? does it stick for next to no time? are the colors vibrant?-- these sorts of things are things you want to know before you invest in a $10-20 palette that you hate. 

This is a "create your own palette" creation. Each color is $2, I'm not going to include the price of the actual palette holder (which is $4, if you care). 4 colors at $2 a piece. I value this at $8. 

Like I said before, you get discounts from the brands included in the bags (varying). But when you think about the fact that 20% off the Pixi primer is 6 dollars-- that's a pretty good deal. Not to mention you don't necessarily have to buy what you received in the bag. If you hate Pixi's primer, but love their eye shadow-- you can use it on that instead. 

Overall, this ipsy bag adds up to at least $53. And that's without including the savings you can get from the discounts included with the subscription. At ten dollars, this is a pretty good deal. I've seen bags worth a lot more. 

Also, it's always nice to get your ipsy bag as a little mid-month surprise to perk you up. 

If you would like join Ipsy and get your monthly bag, you can go here. 

--Katie