Tag: Ipsy
June 2024 Ipsy Bag – Sunny Days Ahead
I don’t remember picking GIRLACTIK Fruit Superfood Sugar Face Scrub, but I must have…because ipsy said that’s what I chose. I’ve used almost the whole tube…it smells divine, but the exfoliants are sharp and jagged – and WHATEVER YOU DO, don’t get any in your mouth. It’s nasty bitter.
Also in this month’s bag: Benefit Plush Tint in “Cream Puff” (this color is bad on me and it got on everything – gross product); Jazmine Cosmetics Brow Boss – Brow Styling Wax (What on earth would I do with this?); JLo Beauty That JLo Glo Brightening & Firming Serum with Niacinamide (oh, I know about this stuff – I think it aggravated my psoriasis); and Wander Beauty Mile High Club Length and Define Mascara.
It’s not an awful month, but it’s not great either. Am I considering canceling ipsy after a decade? Mayyyyyybe…
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
May 2024 Ipsy Icon Box – Patrick Starrr
No, not Spongebob Squarepants’ best friend…this is Patrick Starrrr with 3 Rs!
Patrick Starrr is one of the OG YouTube Beauty Influencers. If there was a Mount Rushmore of YouTube Beauty, Patrick would be up there with Nikkie Tutorials and Manny MUA. Patrick’s beauty brand, One/Size has grown steadily and honestly, it’s great to see more diversity in an industry that has been traditionally dominated by white women.
That being said, not all of the products worked for me. I wanted to love One/Size Turn Up the Base Blurring Foundation in “Fair 3” ($35), but it oxidized on my chin immediately and gave so much texture. The color match was great – but my skin is just not a good fit. It wasn’t as hellacious as the Charlotte Tilbury, at least…
I did, however, LOVE the One/Size Cheek Clapper 3D Blush Trio Palette in “Gworly Pop” ($38) – I love having a matte choice and a shimmery choice. I probably won’t use the cream…but never say never. I also like the One/Size Eye Popper Sparkle Vision Eyeshadow in “Everything & More” ($24) – it was one of my product choices. I usually stay away from liquid eyeshadow, but this one is blendable and beautiful.
My other product choices worked out as well: 5 SENS “Life of the Party” Eau de Parfum ($65) and Huda Beauty BOMBBROWS Microshade Pencil in “Medium Brown” ($17). This is actually the most precise brow pencil I’ve ever used – it’s almost “too” thin. I think I’d like to try a darker shade, though.
Also in this quarter’s box: Fenty Beauty Icon Semi Matte Refillable Lipstick in “Motha Love” ($20 for the case and $12 for the lipstick) – which was frustrating as fuck to put together; Kosas GrowPotion Fluffy Brow + Lash Boosting Serum ($48) – haven’t tried yet; and The Nue Co. Water Therapy Fragrance ($60) – a unique and masculine fragrance.
$319 worth of products for $74 – not bad!
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
April 2024 Ipsy Bag – Welcome Home
The zipper pull is a fuzzy little peach and looks like a little tushy and I just want to SQUEEZE it…
I was excited to dig into my product choice this month – Chica Beauty Mini Fiesta Eyeshadow Palette. It’s a tiny 9 shade palette of earth tones, but with a pop of dark green and violet shimmer. It’s inspired by San Antonio Fiesta Week – I haven’t been since I was a kid, but this palette brings me there…
I’ve already used up the ODACITÉ Brightening Serum, Vitamin C and E + Hyaluronic Acid – it smelled wonderful. I’ve got maybe one use left in the Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream and Elizabeth Mott Vitamin C Cleanser. The only thing in the bag that I won’t use is the Billion Dollar Brows Billion Dollar Brow Lift – kinda need eyebrows to use brow gel.
A GREAT bag this month! Looking forward to next month’s Patrick Starr Icon Box.
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
March 2024 Ipsy Bag – Rewrite the Rules
March’s bag itself is adorable – I love the painted agate design and it’s fully lines and everything. The contents though…
I have no complaints with my product choice this month – Goldfaden MD Plant Profusion Night Cream. It’s creamy and smooth, with a luxe scent. It’s almost empty, actually.
The rest of the products are unlikely to be touched: Benefit Cosmetics Precisely My Brow Wax in “Shade 3” (you have to HAVE eyebrows to put wax in them); Jazmine Beauty Coastal Chic Shine Control Primer (ugh, another primer); Gloss Moderne Clean Luxury Radiant Polish for Hand + Body; and WingMe Cosmetics Mega Blending Brush 15 (ugh, another makeup brush). Ipsy needs to step it up!
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
February 2024 Ipsy Icon Box – Gwen Stefani
I swear I just finished posting about January’s bag…
Hands down, this month’s Icon Box might be the best one that ipsy has ever sent out. Is it because it’s Gwen Stefani? She’s had brand collabs before – remember her Urban Decay palette – but now she has her own line, GXVE Beauty. I’ve never had strong opinions on Gwen Stefani – I don’t hate her, I don’t love her…she is just kinda…here? But her makeup might change my opinion.
Right off the bat, Gwen’s lipstick blew me away. I received GXVE Beauty Xtra Sauce Longwear Vinyl Liquid Lipstick in “Original Recipe” ($24) and it is what Urban Decay WISHES their Lip Bond product was like. That shit did not BUDGE, yet it didn’t dry out my lips. It did, however, require very powerful makeup removed to get rid of…I haven’t tried the other GVXE Beauty product – GVXE Beauty Line It Up Clean 24-Hr Gel Pencil Waterproof Eyeliner in “Bathwater” ($20). I just don’t have much use for blue eyeliner at 48.
Another homerun in this box – the Dominique Cosmetics The Essential Palette ($49). Christen Dominique is an ipsy stylist – I guess she has her own makeup line now? This eye shadow palette is GORGEOUS. The colors are very similar to the Lolita Por Vida palette. This is the only eye shadow I’ve worn since the Icon Box arrived.
The Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation in “2 Neutral” ($49) was underwhelming. The color match was okay, not perfect…but it oxidized on my face almost immediately. I was able to smooth it out with a wet blender, but it was still frustrating to use. The REN Clean Skincare Glycol Lactic Radiance Renewal Mask ($58) was fine. I used it yesterday and it did make my face smoother.
My product choices were mediocre this box. I should’ve looked for more details on the Maison Louis Marie No.13 Nouvelle Vague Perfume Oil ($65). The top note is muguet AKA lily of the valley, which is far too geriatric for me. It overpowers the citrus. I was happier with my other two picks: First Aid Beauty Oil-Minimizing Toner with Salicylic Acid ($24) and SONÄGE SKINCARE Saffron Energizing Vitamin Mask ($68).
This might be the first Icon Box where I use EVERY single product…except maybe that perfume. The box is worth $357 – NICE.
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
January 2024 Ipsy Bag – Come Clean
It’s already February…and I’m tired. So tired.
My product choice for January was Yensa Beauty Pink Lotus Peptide Renewal Face Cream. It’s a heavy, HEAVY cream – but it smells nice and luxurious. It doesn’t leave a greasy residue on my pillowcase, so I like it.
My other products this month were Floss Rise Above Lengthening Mascara in “Black” (suspiciously similar packaging to MILK Makeup’s Lengthening Mascara); Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Intensive Exfoliating Treatment (oh yeah); Les Beauty Lip Liner in “City Lights” (haven’t touched it); and Ren Clean Skincare Radiance Glow and Protect Serum (I HATE the scent – it smells like rotten yogurt).
I like the sequined bag, but I am afraid to use it – the sequins might fall off. I think it will end up being a Barbie bag.
I just got February’s Icon Box – I need to catch up!
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
Pink Nutcracker
I’ve already done a few Xmas manicures…but each year, the OFFICIAL Xmas manicure if the one I wear on Xmas day…this one is the OFFICIAL.
I was so entranced by December’s ipsy bag, that I decided to do a matchy matchy manicure. I was afraid my nails would be stained by “Net Worth How Much”, but I was pleasantly surprised that my nails weren’t yellow when I removed it. I started with Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat, followed by two coats of Sinful Colors “Petals in Pink”, a sheer pink matte polish (will I ever get through all these polishes?). I followed with Funky Fingers “Son of a Nutcracker” on the tips, followed by Glisten & Glow Glitter Grabber and Glisten & Glow Top Coat.
“Son of a Nutcracker” is my FAVORITE Xmas-y glitter!
Net Worth How Much
Get ready for A LOT of catch-up posts this week…I took a mini hiatus from Xmas to New Year’s and now it’s time to catch up!
Dark forest green is Xmas-y, eh? I almost added red glitter, but I decided I like this green as it is.
This is two coats of LAW Beauty Essentials “Net Worth How Much” over Glisten & Glow Ridge Filling Base Coat and under Glisten & Glow Top Coat. “Net Worth How Much” is from an ipsy bag last summer. The polish had been languishing in a cabinet, I had forgotten all about it!
December 2023 Ipsy Bag – The Glammest Show on Earth
Is “glammest” even a word?
Doesn’t matter, this bag IS the glammest…and check out the zipper pull! I love a big heavy ball, don’t you?
My product choice this month was Veriphy Skincare Self Absorbed Moisturizer. I’ve been using it as a daily moisturizer and it’s the perfect weight. My skin feels well moisturized and it isn’t too heavy.
Also in this month’s glammest bag: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz in “Medium Brown” (I’m usually a “Dark Brown” girl, but I’ll still use it for “no-makeup” makeup days); Dr. Brandt Skincare Microdermabrasion Age Defying Exfoliator (slightly peppermint scented, seems very similar to his POREdermabrasion product); SKIN1004 Madagascar Centella Hyalu-Cica First Ampoule (the texture is very serum-like); and Tresluce Beauty Ilusión Volumizing & Lengthening Mini Mascara in “Jet Black”.
A pretty good bag – I’ll use 4/5 products.
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.
November 2023 Ipsy Icon Box – Pat McGrath
This quarter’s curator is Pat McGrath, of Pat McGrath Labs. I don’t have a lot of Pat McGrath products…in fact, her stuff is so pricey that the only stuff I’ve tried out is lippies either from other ipsy drops or Sephora Favorites Sets. Her eyeshadow is supposed to be FANTASTIC, so I was excited that her Divine Rose Luxe Quad in “Eternal Eden” ($62) was in this quarter’s icon box. It was every bit as soft and blendable as they say – I am in love with the palette. The color story is very similar to one of my other faves – KVD Lolita Por Vida, just on a smaller scale. The box also included Pat McGrath Labs MatteTrance Lipstick in “Elson” ($39). It is a great-for-everyone red…but it’s lipstick and when I wore it, it got all OVERYTHING. My poor Smashburger was covered in lipstick.
My first product choice this month was Gloss Moderne Clean Luxury Shampoo + Conditioner Duo ($65). Imagine, spending $65 for a TINY set of shampoo and conditioner. It did smell nice, but I have so much hair that I will probably only get 4 uses out of the conditioner. NOTE TO SELF: do not use again until I get a haircut.
My second product choice was Act + Acre Cold Processed Stem Cell Scalp Serum ($86). I haven’t tried it yet…but my hair is thinning and I figured, why not? NOTE TO SELF: Don’t complain about having too much hair in one paragraph and then describe a product to grow MORE hair in the next paragraph.
My final product choice was the Baublebar Cosmic Couple Earring Set ($44). I just needed more gold earrings.
I also received: Dew of the Gods The THEORY Retinol Moisturizer ($42) – which has been a nice light moisturizer for every day; Tatcha The Rice Wash Soft Cream Cleanser ($40) – I like that it has a bit of texture to it; and Danessa Myricks Beauty Dew Wet Balm in Rose Water ($22) – very unlikely to use this one.
Ipsy says this month’s box was worth $400…even at the new price of $60/quarter, that’s a steal.
I subscribe to the basic ipsy bag for $14/month (recently increased from $13/month) and Icon Box (formerly Glam Bag X) for an extra $60/quarterly (recently increased from $43/quarterly). If you’d like to try Ipsy – click here. I’ll earn 250 points if you sign up through my referral link.