September 2017 Ipsy Review

Ipsy is a $10 a month subscription service that provides subscribers with 5 sample, deluxe and sometimes full sized items as well as an exclusive-to-that-month cosmetic bag. Brands represented range from drugstore and indie to high-end and it's a great way to build up a makeup collection or experiment with new-to-you brands on the cheap. Ipsy has also recently provided an option for subscribers to skip a month. (Referral Link enclosed). The bag itself was really nice this month. It has a blue inner lining (that I forgot to photograph), a classy gold zipper and the outer portion of the bag is a pretty minimalist studded black faux leather design. It reminds me of the evening version of the January Glam Bag somehow.

• NEOGEN Dermalogy Real Flower Cleansing Water-Calendula - $1.47, CF
• Luxie Beauty Rose Gold Medium Angled Shading Eye Brush 207 - $12.00 CF, V, Full Sized
• MAC Strobe Cream in Pinklite - $2.40
• Elizabeth Mott Pop! Goes the Shadow in Toasted - $4.55, CF
• Dirty Little Secrets Cosmetics Lip Gloss in Nude Beach - $14.00 Full Sized

Like my baby blanket background?

Between all of my boxes this month I'm just swimming in micellar water and toners. NEOGEN Calendula Cleansing Water did not disappoint. It has a very mild floral scent similar to chamomile. I used this micellar water as a follow-up to cleansing with a foaming cleanser to remove any excess face makeup. Interestingly enough, I could not figure out what the product is on my own (I know I'm dumb, thanks) but decided to use it as a micellar water cleanser. It wasn't until I reviewed it on my Ipsy profile that I realized it was indeed a micellar water. I love that the sample is cruelty free and though the product comes in at a whopping $22 it is also about 10oz, which is a really good value, I think.

Sorry it's dirty. It took too long to get a photo and I HAD to use it to do a writeup

I love getting brushes. I don't know if I've stressed this point enough in the past but I absolutely love my brushes, thanks Ipsy! This month was the Rose Gold Medium Angled Shading Brush 207, my first non-face brush from Luxie. This brush isn't very dense which actually makes it easier for me to apply certain shadows (loose powders for example) without overdoing it. The bristles are vegan and cruelty free and incredibly soft while the brush itself (like all Luxie brushes I've encountered so far) is gorgeous. Don't laugh but I love that it matches at least 2 of my other brushes. Having mismatched brushes really angers my OCD. Fun fact of the day! I've got the most useless kind of OCD, the useless kind that causes me to see an overwhelming problem, throw my metaphorical stack of file folders in the air and walk away from the problem instead of trying to tackle and organize it.

I should preface by stating that I am not the biggest MAC fan. No particular reason, the brand just doesn't really appeal to me. They're not cruelty free, the counters themselves repel me more than attract, I don't agree with the cost of items, the quality isn't bad but the cost is too high for what I'm willing to pay (there's always NYX) and I'm neither a makeup artist nor a model so most of the colors and formulas just do not appeal to me in the slightest. That said I was surprised by the MAC Strobe Cream in Pinklite. My initial concern was that the shade would not work on my skin tone at all. This product is actually a moisturizer (according to the MAC website) and a primer (according to Ipsy) but I also think it can work as a highlighter. It's extremely subtle so if you blend it out too much you risk it being blended out of existence. I find it is a very light moisturizer, which I love. I love a moisturizer that does not feel like it clogs up my pores at all. I have yet to use this product as a primer though but I suspect it won't add much radiance under my liquid foundations since it does blend away so easily.
 

Same bronze shadow I've seen a dozen times over now

This might be the first Elizabeth Mott product that I've actually enjoyed. Pop! Goes the Shadow in Toasted is a buttery pressed powder shadow what is a nice bronze shade with some silver shimmer to it. It came off as more of a bronzy/taupe shade to me and appears a bit cool toned on my skin but it's not a horrible look. I want to say it's a pan in the same shade of two shadow sticks I've received in previous boxes/bags this year. Interestingly enough my Luxie brush did not have much trouble picking up pigment from this eyeshadow pan.

The sleeper hit of this month's bag was the Dirty Little Secrets Lip Gloss in Nude Beach. When I first saw how soft pink swatches for this product were I had immediately checked out believing it would be too pink for my skin tone. Once I opened the packaging though, oh my god. What did not come off in online swatches was the beautiful gold shimmer in the gloss itself. It's a very subtle but healthily glowy shimmer that compliments my darker warm complexion and the gloss itself is very sheer so I do not end up with vibrant Nikki Minaj lips after application. My chief complaint about this lip gloss is that I found it to be quite drying. As flattering as the shade is, my lips frequently look like a platypus's chapped ass after several hours of wear. Another huge detriment is how sticky this gloss is. Both Ipsy's website and the DLS product page promise that this gloss will not be sticky but 1) I'm pretty positive Ipsy mostly paraphrases their brand partners' websites instead of doing the research themselves before writing up descriptions and 2) it's still a goddamned lie and my lips just collect ambient dust in the room when I'm wearing this gloss. This wouldn't/shouldn't be a huge issue but again, somebody somewhere lied.

Left to right in Natural light: DLS Nude Beach, Elizabeth Mott Toasted, MAC Pinklite blended, MAC Pinklite

Left to right with flash: DLS Nude Beach, Elizabeth Mott Toasted, MAC Pinklite blended, MAC Pinklite

My bag is valued at about $34.42 this month which I used to think was on the low side but looking back at recent months I'm realizing this is the new norm. I went from near-disappointment this month to a genuine excitement. I love that I got a cleanser, a cosmetic moisturizer, a brush (yay!), and why the hell not, two makeup items, both of which match my skin tone. As many of you know I've recently hit a bit of a rut with my bags. I'm usually most satisfied with a bag when it is skincare heavy but at the same time those bags tend to be less exciting than one that has the gamble of a makeup shade or type that I am highly unlikely to use. Honestly this might be the first sign that I need to pare down my subscriptions a bit.