Monday, March 20, 2017

March 2017 Ipsy First Imperssions

Both of my subs came in the same day this month (best day ever?) Let's start with the easy one. Ipsy is always pretty easy, low maintenance, a cheap date. Works for me though.

Ipsy is a subscription box that sends a (sometimes cute) bag and five beauty products a month. Ipsy usually ranges the gamut from sample, deluxe to full sized. I don't recall ever receiving any single use foil packets in my (holy shit!) 12 bags from them and the value is usually at least double the bag (referral link here)
Full shot of bag
Folded over





















This month I received:
Per usual, CF=Cruelty Free, V=Vegan.

Eyeko and Tarte

I was a little hesitant when I received my Eyeko London Fat Eye Stick. The shade is Satin and it's a very nice, taupe/silvery shade. I don't have much experience with cream eyeshadows but this one (so far) isn't that bad. It's almost golden/brown in shade but it has a pretty strong silver undertone so I can see this working for many different skin types. It appears pretty similar to shades I already have when applied but at least it is a different medium. It also blends out pretty nicely to allow for a one product look on the eyes. The glitter is a bit... much. Very shimmery, especially when sheered out but I don't have issues like lines or wrinkles on my eyelids yet so I can work with it. Eyeko seems to be a really popular brand in subscription boxes for some reason and unfortunately their focus is mostly eyeliner so this is one of about three shades available on their site.
Naked face with Eyeko all over and mascara

Whoo, another teensy Tarte sample. The Tarteist Lip Paint is a quick dry matte formula and the shade I got was Vibin'. I wasn't overly excited to see this because it's another red and I already own a red Tarte liquid lipstick but after trying it on and comparing the two, I think I almost really like this guy. The  full sized lipstick I already own is a cream matte in the shade Bae and holy shit if it doesn't smear everywhere. Vibin' is a different formula that doesn't smear or transfer. At all. I spent about 2 days, several hand washes, a shower and some Vaseline trying to get this off of my hand. I even fell asleep with the swatch on my hand and managed to not wake up with a giant red gash smeared across my cheek or forehead. The formula can be a bit drying, especially compared to the cream matte version, but if you want your lips to be essentially tattooed then this is the way to go.

Elizabeth Mott has not treated me well in the past so I'm hoping the brand can redeem itself with their Blending Brush. So far... it's a brush. It's plastic handled and the bristles are a bit too dense and stiff to act as a blending brush so I guess it's more of a crease brush? If i tried to use it as a blending brush I would end up looking like Divine (Pink Flamingos, anyone?). That being said, I think I like the sea foam green/rose gold mid-century aesthetic the brush has going on.


Elizabeth Mott and Curl Keeper
Finally, a hair product I might be able to use. Curl Keeper showed up in both my Ipsy and Birchbox subscriptions this month. With Ipsy it was in the form of a leave-in conditioner. I have not had a chance to use this yet (my hair is in a state of distressed between a kid with an outpatient surgery and stitches for a birthmark removal and a mother-in-law with some pretty serious orthodontia going on resulting in a lack of childcare) but it smelled nice. I'm pretty sure the Natural Hair Police might pull me aside and give me a stern talking-to, while caning me and ultimately shave my head so I stop shaming anybody who puts a fair amount of effort into their locks. Sorry about the direct sunlight shot but it gives a better idea of what the lipstick looks like. The indirect sunlight was just before application and right after eating so there was just the slightest bit of fading in the center of the lips. That shot was more to show the shadow.



Tarteist Vibin
Vibin' hours later with shredded toilet paper, wipes and Vaseline and it still looks like a bruise


I think I like my Cake Desserted Island Supreme Body Mousse. It smells freaking fantastic and it's a pretty hefty 1oz sample so it's perfectly purse sized. Stitch has a fascination with lotion for the past 6 months or so so I've been actively hiding this one from her. Hers is the Bath & Body Works Oahu scented lotion that I've had for like 2 years now. I love how it doesn't feel greasy and it smells like birthday cake flavored frozen yogurt.

Chubby girl loves birthday cake!

My co-worker gave me her Tarteist Lip Paint in the shade Delish' saying it was too dark for her as well as her Neogen Coconut Milk Pure Mild Cleanser because she hates coconut. In my defense: I know I seem like (see: am) a greedy ho, but exchanges actually happen so it's not entirely one sided. Just mostly. The cleanser cleanses but I love it because my primary cleanser I've been using and desperately trying to kill off (purchased in bulk, sadly) is the Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and I'm pretty sure I've expounded on how much I hate this product in the past. Because that's what I've been using as my baseline, anytime a cleanser lathers it instantly becomes the greatest thing since sliced bread. The Tarte lippie (god I hate that word) on the other hand is quite similar in shade to previous shades I've acquired here, here, and here. So I guess what I'm saying is that any repeat colors are in no way the fault of my subscription lacking any color variety.
Seeing how long it took me to get the other swatch off, it was a horrible idea to swatch Delish' this broadly...


The total value of this month's bag is $35.32. Pretty decent. I will definitely use everything from this month and probably see if I can get some different looks going. I also like the little extras that were passed on to me considering my love for cleansers and non-smeary liquid lipsticks. I think I love my boring, perfectly-fits-my-profile bags? I say it questioningly because my bread and butter in life is complaining and Ipsy hasn't really given me much opportunity to complain lately. My only complaints would be more about the quality of a product or brand sampled, not the choice of products themselves. I've been thinking of mixing it up so I could get more adventurous products but I'm also rather hesitant to pull the trigger on that because I suspect I would only be doing it to fulfill my compulsive need to complain.

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