IPSY November 2013

I received my November IPSY bag in the mail.  This month everyone was promised an EM by Michelle Phan product in their bags. I think that everyone that subscribes to IPSY is aware of who Michelle Phan is, so there was a lot of hype behind this bag. Keep reading to see if it was worth all the hype.

First Look!

This month's bag was a gold snakeskin print with a wristlet.  This bag was different because it was the first bag that I have received that was made to be more than just a cosmetics bag that you throw in your purse. This bag was marketed to actually be used as a clutch - although I probably would never do that. The bag still looks and feels a little too cheap to use as a purse at a party. But I appreciate that they made that attempt and you really can't expect a high quality bag in a $10.00 beauty subscription. 

This month's theme was "Glam it Up" they also included a card in this month's bag all about Em Cosmetics.

FULL SIZED Be a Bombshell lip crayon in Shameless.  I was not expecting too much from this product. I have received a blush in an IPSY bag in the past and it was nice, but not something I really took notice of.  As with the blush, the lip crayon's packaging feels really cheap and thin.  I tried out this crayon for work one day and I ended up liking the color on my skin tone and the color lasted on my lips for a considerable amount of time. I would be happy to receive another product from them and would even consider purchasing some more colors of the lip crayon from this brand. I just wish that they sold them in stores near me. I think that they only sell online and with shipping costs and not being able to see the colors in real life it makes it hard for me to purchase online. I really prefer seeing the product in stores and deciding then to purchase. 

FULL SIZED EM by Michelle Phan 'Lash Gallery Dramatic Volume Mascara' in black. I was originally disappointed that I got a mascara in by bag (you could have received a lipstick, lipgloss or eyeliner) - until I saw a video of an IPSY unboxing where they received the same mascara. When I received this mascara I immediately put this at the bottom of my mascara drawer and said that I would get to it later. After seeing the video I realized that this is a fiber mascara.  I tend to like fiber mascaras because my eyelashes are really thin and short.  I am excited to try this one out to see how well it works at making me look like I actually have eyelashes. 

FULL SIZED Starlooks Gem pencil in Amethyst. I was super happy with this color! It is a light purple shade with full on shimmer. I have been using this product on my lower water line and then lining my bottom lashes with the purple eyeshadow that I received in my IPSY September 2013 bag. I only wish that the liner was long wearing. 

FULL SIZED Pixi 'Beauty Bronzer' in Subtly Suntouched. This shade is a little light for a bronzer, I will use this as a blush and layer on a brighter color on top. 

BH Cosmetics 'Galaxy Chic' baked eyeshadow in Sun.

I received this terra cotta shade that is a nice color for the fall. 

FULL SIZED Nailtini nail lacquer in Champagne. I have been receiving a lot of these rose colored polishes recently.  They are all a little different from each oher (pinker, more of a bronze color, glitter) but I am getting a little sick of this color. 

I was very happy with this month's bag and IPSY continues not disappoint each month. They seem to send out mostly full sized products, as opposed to the sample sizes that Birchbox sends. But Birchbox tends to send higher price, luxury products in brands that I have not heard of before. I like both of the sample boxes for different reasons and will continue to subscribe for those reasons. 

IPSY referral link Please use my referral link if you would like to sign up for your own IPSY bag subscription.

IPSY September 2013

This month's IPSY bag arrived!

This month's theme was Classic Beauty

The creator of IPSY, Michelle Phan, started out as a You Tube beauty guru. She then created a beauty sample company named MyGlam. Which evolved into IPSY. She just released a makeup line called "EM by Michelle Phan" and is doing some heavy duty marketing for her new line. One such marketing strategy is by putting samples of her makeup in every IPSY bag. What I appreciated about this sample is that it didn't count as one of the samples for the months bag. 

The big selling point of her line is the Life Palette. She included this fold out brochure with three eyeshadow samples and a blush sample.

 0.14 fl. oz. It's so Big by Elizabeth Mott mascara in black? The packaging didn't say what color it was and I didn't want to open the mascara up. I have a lot of different mascaras that I'm trying out and didn't want to open another one and have it start drying out. Interesting fact. Elizabeth Mott only makes two products, this mascara and Lash Cards.

FULL SIZE Starlooks Kohl eye pencil in Obsidian

FULL SIZE Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Big Apple. I really wouldn't call this a lip balm. It's not sheer like I would expect from a lip balm. The color on this was really strong and bright. It was more of lipstick, in a pot.

This product separated into three pieces like their eyeliners. The top of the lid separates to a brush. This is the same packaging as the gel eyeliners in their brand. The only difference between the eyeliner and the lip balm is packaging color and the actual product inside the pot. I didn't like the brush for eyeliner application and I really don't like the brush for lip product application either. I felt that it was too stiff for use on the lips. I have been using the brush for eyeshadow that I use to set my gel eyeliner.

FULL SIZE NYX eyeshadow in Purple. Love this color.

FULL SIZE J.Cat Beauty Fantabulous lipstick in Honeycrisp I hated this color. It looked even worse on my lips. It made me look dead. I applied the Cailyn lip balm over top of this and I looked a little more alive, but I still wasn't completely happy with the color.  The packaging was really cheap feeling. I received another J.Cat product in a previous month's bag and the quality of the product was not very impressive. I don't think the products that I have receive in my IPSY bags from this brand, impress me enough to want to make purchases from the brand. 

For some reason I didn't take a picture of this month's bag. If you are really interested in seeing the bag, I'm sure you can search what other people received. Overall I was happy with this month's bag.

IPSY referral link. Please use my referral link if you would like to sign up for your own IPSY subscription.