October Ipsy First Impressions

Another month, another late post. So I may have convinced two coworkers to sign up for Ipsy, which for those of you don't know, is a $10 a month beauty subscription bag. I promise, I did not proselytize or subscription stalk them (not my style, having grown up baptist). I cannot see it being overly useful to your average person since most of the samples are deluxe or sample sized and there are a LOT of black eyeliners that are sent out, and the profile one creates for oneself does not always correlate to the products one gets in one's bag, but it works for me (and the coworkers) since we are admitted nerds who have a minimal makeup "collection" to begin with. One of the coworkers has stated that she does not have a blush brush *GASP* though I only have one because I got married three years ago and did not feel like going Sarah Plain and Tall. I will admit my occasional disappointment (Tarte Lipsurgence and Thrive Causemetics Eyeliner, to name two) but I just ended up re-purposing those items. If you are sold from that piss poor pitch, feel free to use my referral code.

Alright, first thing's first. I hate the design of this bag. Maybe hate is too strong of a word but it just rubs me the wrong way. Clarification: I love Halloween. I love October, I love autumn. This bag feels none of that. It is just too cutesy and my first thought was "Wow, it looks so Urban Outfitters. God, I am too old for this shit" at which point I felt every minute of my 32 years, grey hairs and all. The bag is cute and all, I just don't want my Halloweens to be cute. I grew from outright hatred to tolerance when I read about the designer but it's still on my shit list for its cuteness.


I got the Trust Fund Beauty Gimme Good Face primer (price unknown). This was one of the samples that I really wanted this month so I am pretty stoked (my inner 80's/90's California child shows when I get excited). I've been wanting to try Trust Fund Beauty for quite some time now and I'm thrilled that it's a primer. What's best: it's silicone based! I've creeped (spell check tells me I just made up a word) all over their site and haven't been able to find this product anywhere so I'm assuming it's a new product they're testing out on Ipsy subscribers. I will keep you posted if I find any more details later on.

I've been wanting a brush for months now and I only have one eyeshadow brush that's falling apart (ELF from years ago) so I'm thrilled to get the Lottie London Perfectly Precise brush this month's bag. The first thing I noticed so that its smaller than the ELF Studio Eyeshadow brush. The Lottie London Australia site says the going price is $22 for this brush which is pretty effing steep, if you ask me. But it's cute, that's a plus, right?

Lottie London Brush head compared to ELF Studio Eyeshadow C Brush

I also got a trèStiQue lip pencil in the shade Belize Bordeaux ($10.67, full size is $28). Nothing against this shade but I am just not the biggest fan of lip pencils and I already have something very similar in color. Full disclosure, I'm trading this one for my coworker's Cosmoholic Liquid Lipstick in Mysterious Mocha since I got a lip product in April that looks way too similar to this one. (who am I kidding, I just really wanted the liquid lipstick since first sight). Mini Review: My coworker who got the same shade was raving about the formula, how it's hydrating without being sticky or awkward and how her hair did not stick to her lips when she was wearing it (seeing as how I have no hair, I am unfamiliar with the struggle).

Deceptive packaging of the deceptively named Belize Bordeaux

Trooper Eyeliner next to Belize Bordeaux next to Tarte Lipsurgence in Wonder

Oh. Wow. Just what I've always wanted. Another black eyeliner. It's the fifth one I've gotten since I signed up, five straight months in fact, but I cannot bring myself to complain about something I will definitely use. Especially when the alternate be is this silver clusterfuck of a liner. I'm just grateful that I got the much coveted Kat Von D Tattoo Eyeliner  ($5.71, full sized is $28) that everybody is close to stabbing one another with an eyelash curler over (don't ask me how that actually works). It's a deluxe size but I will still use the shit out of it when I manage to kill my other four.

My final item, the Pūr~Lisse Daily Lip Nourisher (image at top $6.36, full sized is $16), isn't an exciting one but it is definitely useful. It seems pretty odd that I would receive two lip products in the same month but I do suppose they are supposed to compliment each other. I still have my Hanalei Lip Treatment from my May bag and my Jersey Shore Sun lip balm from my August bag that I'm working on but but as Ned stark once said: Winter is coming. I can never have enough lip balms.

Bonus: I included the Cosmoholic Liquid Lipstick in Mysterious Mocha (swatched below) I traded my trèStiQue Lip Crayon for. It smells great and looks nice. It's more of a taupe/mauve shade on me than brown) and it is pretty sticky but it's a hell of a lot better looking than the lip pencil (though I did enjoy the creaminess and satin finish). Please excuse my swatches: it's late and I just got off work so I'm not wearing any other makeup and I'm rocking the dry-I've-been-wearing-a-mask-all-day look.

All in all I have to say it looks like a boring bag but I love everything that's in it. The overall value of my bag this month (not including the Cosmoholic liquid lipstick and the unknown cost of the Trust Fund Beauty face primer is $44.74, which is pretty high compared to the last couple of months. I always like it when the bag value is above $35 and I absolutely love that I will get use out of my items. I feel like I've failed by trading the trèStiQue lip pencil but I've been lusting after Cosmoholic since the moment I laid eyes on it (and yet I almost feel disappointed. We may need a few weeks to bond). But seriously, that primer though! I only hope the next bag is as good as this month's.