Ipsy July 2014 Review

Ipsy July 2014

My July Ipsy bag arrived just in time for my vacation to the beach. This month, my bag was packed with brands I already love or that I’ve wanted to try, so I couldn’t wait to get it. Each month, Ipsy subscribers receive a makeup bag with 4-5 deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products for only $10. The cosmetic bag for July is a pink faux leather with a scalloped edge. Cute enough.

Models Own Nail Polish in Red Sea, Full size 0.47 oz, $8.52 value

Every time I see Models Own nail polish, it’s in a really fun color, so this is a brand I’ve been dying to try. The color is a sheer red with iridescent, chunky flakes called Red Sea. Unfortunately, I HATE this nail polish. It is a thick gel consistency that is nearly impossible to apply evenly. It took three coats just to get the chunky glitter to look evenly distributed, and by that point, it was a nice, clumpy mess on top of my nails. Perhaps it would work better as one coat on top of a complimentary opaque polish, but I still can’t get over the sludgy consistency. The glitter flakes also started breaking up and peeling after a couple of days, leaving fuzzy spots all over my nails like I had halfway removed the polish and left little pieces of cotton stuck all over them. Huge disappointment. Full size 0.47 oz, $8.52 value

Pur~lisse pur~protect essential daily moisturizer spf 30, 0.5 oz, $16.18 value

Okay, enough with the sunscreen already. I get it. It’s summer and I need to protect my face. I just purchased a ginormous bottle of Supergoop! for that purpose. I wasn’t too unhappy about this because I got a Pur-lisse moisturizer in a recent bag and really liked it, but I also feel like this is basically a repeat, only with sunscreen. I liked the Pur~lisse Pur~protect essential daily moisturizer spf 30 at first because it felt like it was moisturizing deep into my skin and it wasn’t greasy, but even with primer, my makeup was smearing and melting off my face by the middle of the day. I’ll probably use the rest of this when I go on runs or swimming, but I won’t ever purchase it because it doesn’t do well under makeup. 0.5 oz, $16.18 value

bareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in Barely Nude 0.03 oz, $5.40 value

I was happy to find the bareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in Barely Nude in my bag over the powder shadow that was also available because I haven’t tried it yet.

bareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in Barely Nude Swatch

This particular shade looks like foundation to me. It applies nicely and blends out well, but there is no way I can use it alone. I used my Urban Decay Naked Basics palette to fill in my creases and highlight my brows, and they both worked well together. This shadow didn’t crease all day and looked a lot better on my eyelids than most matte shadows I’ve tried, but I would never use this specific color given that it doesn’t work well alone and there is a shade that matches this almost exactly in my Naked Basics palette. I would much rather use just one palette than switch back and forth between a few different products. I do like the formula, though, so if I happen to fall in love with another color, I won’t hesitate to pick it up. 0.03 oz, $5.40 value

Clear Clinic Laboratories Vanished Clear Spot Treatment 0.07 oz, $9.33 value

I have had kind of an irrational fear of acne treatment products for several years now, and probably haven’t even used any since I was about 19. The benzoyl peroxide in so many of them ruined enough sheets and towels to make me crazy. I don’t know why it took me so long to make the connection, but it did. I eventually swore off all acne products because they never worked anyway. Between the stress of trying to get packed for my vacation last week and the usual hormonal breakout, I got a chance to test out the Clear Clinic Laboratories Vanished Clear Spot Treatment in my bag. I wasn’t too afraid to try it because it contains salicylic acid instead of benzoyl peroxide, so it wasn’t likely any bleaching would occur. The spot treatment worked like a dream. The acne and red marks I had cleared up considerably overnight without becoming too dry or causing my skin to peel. In just a couple of days, my skin was clear and ready for the beach! This stuff is awesome, but there is one issue I really dislike about it. The applicator is one of those fuzzy lipgloss-type applicators and it picks up any residue left on your face and goes right back into the bottle. After just a couple of uses, there were tiny pieces of cotton from wiping my face with astringent floating around inside the bottle, which was pretty gross. I already want to throw the sample away because continuing to use it seems so unsanitary. I would recommend putting some on a q-tip instead of mucking up the whole bottle. 0.07 oz, $9.33 value

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass Fabulous Lip and Cheek Stain, Full size 0.35 oz, $22.99 value

I usually don’t like lip stains because all of the ones I’ve tried wear off quickly and leave behind that very undesirable lip liner-only look. This Elizabeth Mott Tints and Sass Fabulous Lip and Cheek Stain is a totally different breed of stain, though.

Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass Fabulous Lip and Cheek Stain Swatch

First off, it smells like cherry lip gloss from the 80s, so I get a little nostalgic every time I open it. The application isn’t messy and it’s relatively simple to fill in your lips to any intensity perfectly without it bleeding off into random places. It looks dry and flat, but with a little clear gloss on top, it looks great and lasts for an impressive amount of time. Cheek stain is not a concept I’m ready for yet, so I haven’t tried it that way. I swatched it on my wrist and tried to blend it out with a brush, but it dried too fast for me to achieve a natural, flushed look. This color is probably too dark to use as a blush on my fair skin anyway, so I’m perfectly content with using it only as a lip stain. It’s too bad it doesn’t appear to come in any other colors that would match my complexion better. Full size 0.35 oz, $22.99 value

Here is what the Elizabeth Mott Tints & Sass Fabulous Lip and Cheek Stain and the bareMinerals 5-in-1 BB Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF 15 in Barely Nude look like on my face:

Ipsy July 2014 Products on Face

Total Ipsy July bag value is $62.42. For $10 and three great finds, I’m happy.

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