Ipsy August 2014 Review

Ipsy August 2014

That was a fast month. My August Ipsy bag got here before I even had time to stalk the spoiler pages on the internet to see what was going to be available this month. Ipsy thought this would be an appropriate month to make the bag beauty school-themed, since it’s that time of the year again. My stuff came in a cheap, plastic, cylinder-shaped pencil bag with orange polka dots that is complete garbage and is forever in a semi-squashed state from being crammed in the mailing envelope. Oh well.

Each month, Ipsy subscribers receive a makeup bag with 4-5 deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products for only $10.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara 0.1 oz, $5.50 value

LOOK AT THOSE EYELASHES. Those are not real eyelashes. No one has those eyelashes except for maybe that guy from Lost that always looks like he’s wearing eyeliner. I wish makeup companies would stop trying to fool us with the falsies and give us something real to look at when it comes to mascara. I will note that there was a before and after photo of an Urban Decay employee on the inside of the package, and her results were completely different from those on the cover.

Urban Decay Perversion Mascara

I don’t find the Urban Decay Perversion Mascara to be much different from the L’Oréal Voluminous Mascara I use every day. The black is a bit more true to black and it clumps less, but it still clumps. Having oily skin, I have to be careful of mascaras that transfer onto my brow bone. By the end of the day, I had full-on, extended eyelashes stamped onto my brow bone. Good thing I didn’t go anywhere. It also somehow UNCURLED my eyelashes. Yep, straight as a board when I use this stuff. I don’t think this mascara is as big of a deal as everyone is making out of it. There’s nothing special about it. It’s just mascara. 0.1 oz, $5.50 value

Absolute Lip Balm in Green Apple 0.42 oz, $3.00 value

If Ipsy wanted to remind me of school this month, they couldn’t have done any better than this. I don’t really mean that in a positive way, either. Absolute Lip Balm in Green Apple is your typical lip balm you probably used in middle school. It’s clear when applied, super shiny, and it mucks your mouth up with an icky film and its overwhelming scent of..er…watermelon Jolly Ranchers. It’s greasy, not sticky, and not in a bad way, but I probably won’t ever use it anyway. Full size 0.42 oz, $3.00 value

Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner 0.25 oz, $11.25 value

Dr. Brandt’s Pores No More Pore Refiner is right up there with just about every other pore-minimizing product I’ve tried. And I’ve tried a ton because lots of them supposedly also combat oiliness. It just doesn’t perform as well as I’d like for it to, and I don’t even have giant crater pores from Mars or anything.

Dr. Brandt Pores No More Pore Refiner

The No More Pore Refiner is similar in tint and texture as Benefit’s POREfessional. It feels pretty greasy, so a little goes a long way. I patted it into my pores around my nose and on my forehead and applied my foundation. I feel this actually made my pores stand out more than usual, and by lunch time, my makeup was an oily, cakey mess. For something that claims to hide pores and absorb oil to keep skin looking matte, you’d think it would do both of those things at least a little. Hiding my pores is not the biggest concern in the world for me, but I’d at least like my makeup to last most of the day. Not impressed. 0.25 oz, $11.25 value

Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample Duo in Fresh (left) and Elegant (right) 0.08 oz, $0.91 value

Ipsy is on fire with angry comments about how small the Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample Duo is. It’s TINY, but I’m not upset about it because I don’t use a giant, fluffy blush brush. I was able to dig into these just fine with my skinny MAC blush brush, and they performed just as well as the Coastal Scents eye shadow samples I got in a past Birchbox.

Coastal Scents Forever Blush Sample Duo Swatches in Fresh (top) and Elegant (bottom)

There are two matte shades in the duo, Fresh and Elegant. Fresh is a warm, rusty peach and Elegant is a perfect pink with a tiny bit of sparkle. Given how cheap these run, I’m amazed by how pigmented and smooth they are. They blend beautifully and look gorgeous. 0.08 oz, $0.91 value

Lord & Berry Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil 0.02 oz, ~$8.00 value

Is anyone sick of black eyeliner yet? Everyone was mad about this one too. Not because it’s black eyeliner, but because it’s so small. It is a short sample pencil, but sticking the lid on the opposite end added enough length for me to be able to use it easily. Being a broke college kid taught me how to use centimeter-long eyeliner pencils like a champ. I think people are just being cranky.

Lord & Berry Silk Kajal Kohl Eye Pencil Swatch

This eyeliner is pretty slick. It glides across the skin easily, it’s very black, and it smudges nicely. I didn’t have very high hopes for its staying power after I swatched it because it was REALLY easy to get off, but it sticks to my waterline pretty well throughout the day and stays in place. I dig. I searched the entire internet to find out how many ounces were in the full size, but came up with nothing. I can only assume it is somewhere around 0.04 oz like the majority of my other liner pencils, putting this sample size of 0.02 oz at about an $8.00 value.

Here is what the mascara, lip balm, primer, blush (in Fresh), and eyeliner look like together:

Ipsy August 2014 on Face

Total bag value is $28.66. At first sight, I was pretty grumbly about this whole bag, but the blush is awesome and more than affordable and the eyeliner was a nice surprise, even if it is just black eyeliner.

If you are interested in subscribing to Ipsy, feel free to use my referral link here.