November Ipsy First Impressions

Not only am I exceedingly overdue for this post, but I only have one shitty photo of my own because a combination of holidays and traveling, life and work have teamed together to kick my ass. I have a couple of equally uninformative posts in the queue also, so let’s jump into this so I can procrastinate on something else. If stock photos and shitty swatches are your thing, feel free to use my my referral code.

November breakdown:

Bonvivant SheetMasks $3 for 3

ElizabethMott Color is Bae Lip Lacquer in Red Chili $12 for 3g

Luxie Rose Gold Small Duofiber Brush $18 (vegan + cruelty free)

Nuxe Nuxellence $25 for .5 oz

theBalm MadLash Mascara $5.63 for 2.5 mL (cruelty free)

Bag total: $63.63

I am never, ever excited about sheet masks. I can pretend I'm having a spa day but I don't believe in any magical healing properties of sheet masks. I would much rather use a peel off or brightening mask I can feel working. That being said, I will use these. My mother in law expressed interest in using a sheet mask so we may have a sheet mask spa day at her place. It sounds fun except for the hanging out part when I could possibly play video games instead with what is essentially a slimy baby wipe on my face.

Nuxe-is it a lotion? Is it a serum? I don't know, but I do always appreciate skincare in a bag. Now if I can wrangle up a mud mask one month I'll be set. It's a fair sized sample at 15ml, pretty light weight on skin and smells slightly perfumed which doesn't bother me but might bother others. 

I'm pretty thrilled for a new brush even though I have no idea how to use it since I'm having an affair with my blending sponge from August. It's crazy cute though and I don't own any stippling brushes. It's not as dense as I expected but at least that makes it more difficult to over apply. 

I got theBalm Mad Lash mascara. No complaints here. I was torn between wanting to try the much hyped Better Than Sex mascara and wanting theBalm which I've been eyeballing for years. I love the packaging on theBalm products. It's just too cute and I love the anachronistic pulp comic look. This mascara packaging is nothing special though, just a basic black tube. It applies a little spidery but I’m still ok with the look. A bit of a throwback to the late 90's I guess. Either way I finally had to retire my Smashbox X-rated mascara and I've been living off of the more subtle Tarte one. UPDATE: So this weekend before taking family pictures, my sister-in-law asked me if she could borrow my mascara. After the initial indignation of "why the fuck are you failing so hard at adulting right now? They cost like, $2 in a store" I bit my tongue and gave her my mascara  (because you're gross!). That being said, I had to dip into this mascara far sooner than I had anticipated.

Rounding out the bag is the Elizabeth Mott Color is Bae Lip Lacquer. What a strange name but whatever. Alright, I'll bite. I was not immediately impressed with my revealed color and online swatches, but I must say, the Red Chili product reveal on Ipsy's site was the only "rockstar" item provided this month besides the eyeshadows that I am still bemoaning not receiving. I'm glad I got one bright holiday colored item this month though. I still think I prefer the shade of my Tarte liquid lipstick better since it is bluer in hue, but this is workable. I'm also on the fence about the formula. It's sticky and quite drying but it doesn't travel like Tarte does. I'm also glad this is a satin finish since I have pink and mauve super high gloss covered.

I did redeem two additional items this month. I redeemed points for the Make Beauty Skin Illuminator in Llos and a Smidgeworks lip balm that claims that it will begin to melt around temperatures of 75º. The Make highlighter is pretty fucking tiny but it will suffice. I did not want to mark in my profile that I want highlighters and then end up getting something I potentially won’t enjoy for the next 8 months straight so I thought “why not ‘buy’ this?” The Smidgeworks lip balm was because I’ve been looking for an almost oily texture in a lip balm. This shitty little guy lied so hard to me that I had to give it to my husband. He loves the Burt’s Bees formula of straight parafilm wax that I cannot stand. Conversely, he’s completely turned off by a more oily lip balm texture, just to give you an idea of what I was working with here.

Was I excited about the bag? No, not overly. I think I was most thrilled about the brush. I love getting mascara but it is hard to get overly excited about something that I already have and am satisfied with. I like trying new things. I might have been excited about a lip product if it was a different color, but seriously, if it’s a choice between red and 80s day-glow pink I will take red any day of the week. My dry, old lady face is always welcoming of new moisturizers though so hopefully Nuxe and I will get along. Now, maybe one month I can score a hand cream because I’m blasting through Bath and Body Works lotion and their traditional lotions are very fragrant yet useless for hydration. That much said, I’m already waiting for the December bag. Yes. I am greedy. I’ve accepted it.

Swatched below: Make Beauty highlighter (swatched left andabove), Elizabeth Mott liquid lipstick (center) and Tarte Tarteist liquid lipstick (right) for color comparison. 

Shitity swatches