It’s my favorite time of the month! Beauty subscriptions are making their way to my mailbox. The first that usually arrives is Ipsy. I’m a little late, but here it is. Each month, Ipsy subscribers receive a makeup bag with 4-5 deluxe samples and full sized beauty products for only $10. It’s awesome, and a great way to try out all kinds of new beauty products without breaking the bank. Here’s my bag this month:
Ipsy Glam Bag April 2014
The bag itself was meh. I’m just not a fan of things that say things. However, I was ridiculously excited about this month’s bag because there were so many products available that have been on my wish list for a while now. I didn’t get all of the ones that I wanted, but the one I was most looking forward to trying was the Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil.
Urban Decay
24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil
I have heard nothing but great things about Urban Decay liner. I’ve been eyeing them for a while, but eyeliner just isn’t one of those fun things I like to go crazy and splurge on. Because it’s eyeliner. It came in a travel size in my bag (0.030 oz, $15 value) . This liner feels very creamy and incredibly smooth. So far, so good. And then I blended it out. It blended out to a light gray and then flaked off onto my cheeks. All. Day. Long. Tons of flakes. I didn’t even know eyeliner could flake off because I’ve never had one that did. Not even the super cheap ones that were so dry, they scratched my eyelids when I applied them.
Urban Decay
24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil
The left is before blending, the right is after blending. See how it flakes up just marking it across my skin? Not good. I had high hopes for this. I have insanely wrinkly eyelids, so blended eyeliner is my thing because a straight, crisp line is pretty much impossible. Especially with a pencil liner. When the black didn’t even blend out as much as my daily, cheap eyeliner that I use, I was disappointed. Needless to say, I probably won’t be purchasing this. Perhaps this is just a fluke and other Urban Decay liners are a higher quality, but so far, I am not impressed.
Next–Elizabeth Mott pop! goes the eyeshadow. I like this because I like neutrals. When I’m in a hurry (most days), I can just smear a neutral eyeshadow across my lids and feel halfway decent throughout the day.
Elizabeth Mott pop! goes the eyeshadow
This was okay, but it did feel a little cakey and sparkly piling on compared to some of my other neutrals. Regardless, it’s pretty decent if you’re looking for something neutral with a little shimmer.
Elizabeth Mott pop! goes the eyeshadow
For whatever reason, it seemed to level out throughout the day, so that was fine. It’s smooth, soft, and very basic for a shimmery, everyday champagne color. I received the full size-0.07oz, $12.99 value.
Elizabeth Mott pop! goes the eyeshadow
I got the Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse because I have fine, limp hair, I guess. I do, I really do. But didn’t really notice a difference in the volume of my hair after using this. It just kept its curl better and had more shine to it. And I smelled delicious all day. I got it in the travel size, a $2.71 value.
Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse
I was looking forward to the dr. brandt® microdermabrasion because I have insanely sensitive skin that needs to be exfoliated, but it gets mad when I exfoliate (aka avalanche of oiliness). This is my life. I scrubbed this on my face with as little force as possible (feather light force), and it still hurt. My skin burned and felt irritated the next morning as well. If your skin can withstand all kinds of abuse, I say go for it because it is a top notch exfoliator and smells like a delicious vanilla lemon cake. But if you have super sensitive skin, or even just normal skin, I wouldn’t recommend it because it’s very harsh. 0.25oz in my bag, a $9.75 value.
dr. brandt® microdermabrasion
This is lipliner. It’s by Starlooks and looks and feels super creamy and fancy and all, but I just don’t use lipliner. I have no idea what lipliner is supposed to be like.
Starlooks
Luscious Longwear Lip Pencil
It’s a peachy pink color, which is pretty and all, but I have pretty much been wearing tinted chapstick or lip gloss up to this point. Slow down, guys. Unfortunately, this was not very flattering on my skin tone, so I probably won’t be using it again. Full size, $14 value.
Starlooks
Luscious Longwear Lip Pencil
As usual, even though I’m not completely satisfied with all of the products, I am happy to have had the chance to try them out for a totally affordable $10/month. Especially when the total value of the bag is $54.45. Some are better than others. Either way, it’s a pretty amazing deal because I don’t have to purchase the full size to find out if I like it or not. Plus, it gives me chance to recommend products to others that may work for them, even if they don’t fit my particular tastes.
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