Saturday, May 5, 2018

April 2018 Ipsy Review


I know in the past I’ve talked a big game about being a brood mare and being able to handle whatever life throws at me but these past several days showed me how full of crap I truly am. I’m still trying to crank out April posts but please excuse any bouts of rampant stupidity and errors that may slip past me. I genuinely tried, which may actually make it that much worse. Now on to business!



Ipsy is a $10 monthly service that sends out 5 makeup, skincare, hair care, or fragrance samples (sometimes full sized) with a makeup bag. Items range from drugstore to high end and sample to full sized. Firstly, is this not the cutest bag ever? I haven’t loved a bag this much in over a year! I’ve been hiding it from Lizzie and Liv because I really don’t want to share. Adulthood: playground rules. The bag is two sided, the front has a very cute butterfly pattern and rose gold accents at the bottom corners. The back of the bag is a solid lilac hue. The outside material is faux leather and the inside is satin in a matching lilac shade. The bag also features a rose gold zipper and rose gold pull. I really do enjoy how sturdy this bag feels compared to some of the bags I’ve received in the past.








Well this is most unfortunate. I received the coveted Marc Jacobs Beauty Shameless Youthful-Look 24H Foundation SPF 25 (exhale), my first foundation in two years of subscribing, and it is way too dark for me. I was looking forward to trying out this too, since I’ve seen people clamoring for it on swap sites online. I received the darkest shade in Y500 (I changed my profile months ago and lied to reflect an olive complexion, in case something like this happened) but here we are. It has a very thin, watery consistency and applied smoothly but it provides one hell of a dewy finish. It is oil free but somehow causes me to look like a giant grease ball. I can see this being a great fit for somebody with dry skin but I have to pass on the formula.
 

The Feel Restored Warming Clay Mask was a nice addition to the bag. It’s the oddest thing. The mask is definitely warming but only as I’m physically manipulating it and spreading it around my face. It has a very thick pasty consistency making it difficult to apply. Instructions say to “wash” one’s face with warm water first, pat dry and then apply the mask. It also never dries down, it just remains a tacky spackle on the face. Feel Restored does a great job of cleansing though. I did not see any blackheads disappear or anything but I did have a more refreshed, glowing complexion. This is a terrible product for warm weather though and it’s currently 80ºF out and humid as a wrestler’s unitard so… maybe not the wisest choice in skincare for the current conditions.



I wasn’t able to use Clark’s Botanicals until after I gave birth because of the retinol present in the cream. So after nearly a full month of eagerly staring at this little tub of cream I finally got to use it, and I must say, it was well worth the wait. It’s supposed to be applied as a moisturizer at night and rinsed off in the morning (this works best for me as it is pretty low maintenance). I love the velvety texture and how well it applies. The mild vanilla cookie scent is an added bonus. I don’t have any issues with fine lines or signs of aging yet so I cannot attest to seeing any difference but I do like to use this cream as a preventative treatment.
Edit: Holy shit, the full sized 50mL container is $98!



I love getting brushes in my bags and I really like the Ruby Eyeshadow Blending Brush, but unfortunately I could not find this on the website so the retail value is estimated. It is pretty dense while still remaining soft and I’m sure it would make a wonderful crease brush but with my eye shape, a crease brush is mostly useless to me. What I will use this brush for is smudging out liner and applying some pigment to my lower lash line. The point is fine enough that this brush is actually ideal for my lash line. Usually I just use my finger to smudge out liner because I’m all for that dirty 90s look but without the perfection of the 2010s. Clearly my time capsule is my happy place.



I received a blush by the brand Steve Laurant Beauty in the shade I’m Blushing and this thing is freaking intimidating. I didn’t so much as put my blush brush in the same room as this pan and ended up with a ridiculous amount of product. Not realizing how much product I had actually picked up, I swipped it on my cheek and ended up looking like a sexually abused clown. The color is pretty punchy but would be amazing on very dark skin tones. I can make the shade work if I can master the application. Unless I can tame my heavy hand Steve Laurant will be hanging out on my eyes and not my cheeks. I can be seen wearing this in my previous FOTD post (I accidentally stated that I was wearing a Meech and Mia eyeshadow which is my usual go-to as of late).

Left to Right: Marc Jacobs Foundation, Steve Laurant Blush, Lipstick Queen Lip Liner (from April Birchbox)

Left to Right: Marc Jacobs Foundation, Steve Laurant Blush, Lipstick Queen Lip Liner (from April Birchbox)
This is the highest retail value bag I’ve received in like, a year at $71.26. It’s been so long since I’ve had a high retail value that I thought Ipsy started capping bags at like, $38. Please don’t see this as a complaint though because I’m keenly aware that I only paid $10 for a beauty box so really, anything that breaks $10.01 is a win, no? I love that this bag was a healthy mix of skincare and makeup/tools. I think part of the reason I love receiving skincare so much is because I feel like I’m making progress with my massive stash when I manage to finish off a product. On top of all that, I will actually use everything from this month’s bag, including the bag itself. The blush might take me a while though because of its steep learning curve as a result of insane pigmentation and the foundation will have to be blended with a different shade and used with a mattifying primer but it’s getting used, damnit.
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