Thursday, January 4, 2018

Ipsy Review November 2017


I got ahead of myself a bit. I was just about to hit publish on a post and realized it was for my December Ipsy bag, having totally ignored my November bag. Oops. Ipsy is a beauty subscription service that sends subscribers 5 beauty, hair care, skincare and fragrance samples and a makeup bag for $10 a month. Samples vary in size from sample sized to full sized items and it's ideal for people who aren't brand conscious and don't mind potentially receiving indie, up and coming and drugstore brands.


Here’s some of the stuff I received in November:




Nomad brow duo in fading natural light without flash
NOMAD COSMETICS Brow Powder in Brunetta Brillante was probably the biggest disappointment of the entire November bag. In what possible way does this look like a brow powder? Not only is it too light to function as a brunette shade but both shades in this duo are shimmery. I thought “Hey Self, maybe I can use this as a neutral lid shade instead” but it was just a little too ashy and patchy to be effective as an eyeshadow. The brow duo is not sold alone on their website but it is sold as part of a palette (found here) for $47.


The second disappointment of the month is the SKYN ICELAND Berry Lip Fix with Wintered Red Algae. Perhaps disappointment is too strong of a word but it was definitely underwhelming. The balm had a distinct berry scent which warred with the with the actual mint flavor of the balm. The texture was oddly gritty and felt more drying over time than anything, but I’m not sure if that was due to the change in the season at the time. I’ve started wearing it again just trying to kill it off and I’m still finding it to be very unhelpful in the hydration department. It’s like a drying, mint flavored Crunchberry.


On to something I actually did enjoy! I did not known what to expect from TARTE Deluxe Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush but I was impressed. I got the shade Feisty which is a deeper nude rose blush that works amazingly well on my skin tone. The blush is quite pigmented and buttery so it blends out quite easily for a natural flush, which is great since I tend to be heavy handed with my blush application at times. The lasting power is there too. I don’t usually apply throughout the day: what I walk out of the house in is it for the day. I wouldn’t say 12 hours but I will say that this blush lasted long enough throughout a work day that I did not look crazy by the time I got back home.


Being an fan of the brand ColourPop I was excited to get a chance to try out their Ultra Satin Lip in the shade Baracuda. I love the formula. It is reminiscent of the Tarte Creamy Matte liquid lipstick but a little less messy and a bit longer lasting. The Ultra Satin Lip cannot hold up to meals well without reapplying and I did notice some smudging throughout the day at the corners of my mouth and my lip line but the formula is definitely workable without bring hideous. The berry shade isn’t my favorite though as I have many shade so similar to it and I don’t find berry or mauve shades to be the most flattering on me. If this was more of a brown-ish shade I would be all over it.


The hero of this bag was hands down the NAKED COSMETICS eyeshadow in Mother Nature #06. The shade is beautiful, basically a loose powder form of a teal and brick red duo chrome shadow. I typically hate loose powder shadows because of the mess they create but the medium works out in my favor in this case. It makes it so much easier to pick up an ideal amount of product on a shader brush and distribute it in an even, non-patchy manner. It also made blending out the shadow much easier and it’s simple to create a one shadow look since it is a duochrome.

Right to left in natural light: Nomad brow duo, Tarte blush, Nomad eyeshadow, ColourPop lippie

Everything washed out with flash
Flash: Wearing both Nomad shades as eyeshadow, Tarte blush, ColourPop lippie, and Skyn Iceland lip balm

Natural light

In November I paid $10.00 for $39.59 worth of product. I won’t even bitch about the low value of my bag because I got to try a couple of new items and formulae and I also scored what is my absolutely favorite eyeshadow in my collection right now. Not to mention the valid of the eyeshadow exceeds the cost of the subscription. In the time since I received my bag I’ve only gotten any real use out of the eyeshadow and blush with an occasional appearance from the not too great lip balm. Still worth it.
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