First Impression Review – IPSY Glam Bag December 2017
Hello Friends,
So, I have been getting IPSY Glam Bags since before they were called IPSY Glam Bags. (*Gasp*) To be honest, I don’t remember what it was even called before, but the gist of the subscription bag has remained the same over the years. For $10 per month, IPSY sends you a “Glam Bag” with 5 mini sized (deluxe samples) makeup items that have been “handpicked” for you each month. I used to get both IPSY and BirchBox and, for a while, Glossybox. However, over time, I was just accumulating tons of small beauty products faster than I could use them. I decided to narrow my subscription down to exclusively IPSY, and I don’t regret it. I always feel like the products are ones that I can incorporate into my routine and are worth way more than the $10 I spent. My only complaint would be the tendency to repeat brands. Still, I typically enjoy the items I get.
My IPSY bag for December 2017 included a 0.75 fl oz Nourishing Coconut Milk Daily Facial Scrub with Walnuts and Sugar by Promise Organic, a Liquid Lipstick in Color: Ipsy Unzipped by OFRA Cosmetics, an Eyeshadow Crayon in Color: Fetch by Dirty Little Secret Cosmetics, a Precision Shader Onyx Brush 239 by Luxie Beauty, and a Mini Brow Pencil in Color: Americano by Trèstique.
Nourishing Coconut Milk Daily Facial Scrub with Walnuts and Sugar by Promise Organic:
For some reason, I was convinced that this was a wash rather than a scrub, so at first, I squirted out way too much. However, given that this is actually a scrub; you don’t need very much. I used a dime amount of scrub for my whole face. I found it to be fairly standard. It has a pleasant and light smell of coconut and walnut. I liked that it didn’t leave my face perfume-y. The scrub wasn’t too harsh and could be used as an exfoliant. In addition, the organic ideology of the brand is appealing. Although this is supposed to be a daily addition, I don’t exfoliate every day as it tends to dry out my already dry skin.
Liquid Lipstick in Color: Ipsy Unzipped by OFRA Cosmetics
I tried this liquid lipstick with no liner underneath. Immediately, I thought the formula was very soft. The color was definitely a highlight for me (no pun intended), the pinky mauve was beautiful, and I could see myself wearing it regularly. The formula accentuated some dry spots on my lips (see image), but overall it was moisturizing (for a matte liquid lipstick). It isn’t completely smudge proof and does take a while (about half an hour) to dry completely. The color fades over the course of a few hours, but the fade is even. Note, this is not very eating resistant.
Eyeshadow Crayon in Color: Fetch by Dirty Little Secret Cosmetics
This eyeshadow crayon was probably my least favorite part of the bag. Firstly, I am not much of a shadow crayon person; they never quite work as well as I want them to. Immediately I noticed that the color pay off on the stick was mediocre and I feared creasing on my lid when in use. The color is a peachy shimmer when applied, but it blended into my skin tone too much to be noticeable. In addition, the bulky crayon tugged on my eyelid with application, which I was unpleased with. I ended up using this as an eyeshadow base and a face highlighter. It was a pretty enough highlighter, but within a few hours it had faded and I didn’t notice it anymore. Creasing wasn’t as bad as I anticipated it to be. Still, I don’t think I’ll be using this product and I wouldn’t recommend it.
Precision Shader Onyx Brush 239 by Luxie Beauty
I love eyeshadow brushes, but to be honest, I think I have too many of them. A lot of them pretty much do the same thing, some are denser or fluffier or colored or softer, but I end up using the same few over and over. This is a dense precision shader. I would probably use this to apply a smokey eye. Then again, I don’t wear smokey eyes very often, so I probably won’t get much use from the brush. The brush shape makes it good for a patting motion, for shading and placing pigment, as well as for brush back and forth, for blending. It seemed nice enough, but not particularly unique.
Mini Brow Pencil in Color: Americano by Trèstique
At first, I was unimpressed with the brow pencil, the product is very hard – so it felt like I was trying to draw on my face with a wax crayon. However, after using it for a minute, it softened a bit. To get the best experience and color pay off with this pencil, I’d recommend warming it up somehow first, maybe with your hands, running warm water, blow dryer, etc. I was able to get to a point where I was happy with the way my eyebrows looked quickly. Still, I didn’t feel that the product did anything phenomenal. This could be good for someone who prefers eyebrow pencils over brow powder. Personally, I am more partial to powder.
The day after receiving my Glam Bag in the mail, I used them all together in a fairly simple/natural look. Regardless, this is how the products looked on me, full duck face.
I hope this was helpful! Happy Holidays!