June 2018 Ipsy Review

Ipsy is a $10 a month subscription that provides members with 5 skincare, hair care or makeup samples (with the occasional fragrance). Samples range from sample sized to full sized and from drugstore quality to high end. Ipsy really is a mixed bag but the best subscription choice if you 1) like Las Vegas (or gambling in general) or 2) are trying to build up a starter makeup collection at low cost or expand your horizons a bit with minimal risk.

 

Macro shot of June's bag

Melted spots on the bag

I appreciate the pride month theme of June’s bag but holy shit, this was probably one of the least aesthetically pleasing bags I’ve ever received. Regardless of the color I received, all of the available colors for June (red, yellow and blue) just looked oddly garish. I also felt like this bag was cheaply made: I have a few spots that seem to be missing some pigment and other spots seem worn thin, almost melted . At least the contents fared better than the bag itself. 

• Luxie 245 Small Shader Eye Brush - $12.00, Cruelty Free, Vegan
• Steve Laurant Eyeshadow in Sea Green - $16 (estimated to be full sized)
• Feel Pure Anywhere Balm - $3.75
• Beauty For Real I-Line 24-7 Eyeliner in Whiskey - $9.00
• Raeka Tumeric Orange Peel-Off Mask - $1.97

 

Man, do I love a Luxie brush. The 245 Shader Eye Brush has a very small head and is flat but that certainly helps with precision. It could be used to smudge or pack on shadows in a smaller area, particularly on my hooded eyes. I will never get over the rose gold and pink color scheme either.

I love when I get a product that matches the brush I received. I got a Steve Laurant Eyeshadow in the shade Sea Green which is pretty insane looking but that’s my fault for saying I want adventurous colors in my profile. At least Ipsy followed through? The shadow itself did not have much fallout but it is a baked shadow so it isn’t the most pigment shadow I’ve ever worked with. I expected insane color payoff after my run in with the Steve Laurant blush but that did not pain out. The shade isn’t powdery, it just takes a lot of building up and honestly it applies better with a wet brush. I cannot imagine how I will ever wear this in an everyday situation but it is a very pretty shade. 

I escaped the family long enough to try my hand at blending! Here’s the finished product below. Unfortunately I did not plan my day so my brows are crazily unkempt and I had pajamas on at that point so I didn’t take my (lack of) skills out into the wild. 

 

Let's begin with the good. The Raeka Tumeric Orange Peel-Off Mask smells amazing. It has a spicy yet fresh/earthy early autumn smell, almost like the start of school back when I was in elementary school and enjoyed actually enjoyed going. Does that mean it smells like fear and anxiety of going to a new classroom? Perhaps the smell is closer to deeper autumn as the classroom approaches October and thus, Halloween. Ok, now the Bad. It wasn’t until today that I realized I have completely outgrown peel-off masks. I no longer find joy in them like a second grader playing with a palm full of Elmer’s glue. Instead I was just filed with rage and self loathing as I stood in front of a mirror trying to peel off every last shred of mask scale. There was no pain involved but the tedium was infuriating. I could have been watching Drunk History.

A balm! A balm! This month’s balm was the Pure Anywhere Balm by Feel and it’s nice. The formula is thin and not sticky and the packaging says it can be used on cheeks and lids. Firstly: no. The shade I got is Rose but let’s be honest, it’s sheer with zero pigment. The idea of a balm or petroleum based product on my face outside of my lips makes my skin crawl and this balm has a slight mintiness to it which makes me think my eyeballs will melt out of my head after I die from the discomfort of having a gloss on my eyes.

My final item was an eyeliner by the brand Beauty For Real. I’ve received quite a few eyeliners from this brand so far and I really like them, excepting the non-retractable packaging issue. Whiskey is a lighter, shimmery warm brown shade that borders on bronze. It’s a great shade for my lower lash line because of its subtlety against my skin tone and it’s incredibly soft. It allows for blending for about 30 seconds before it sets at which point it refuses to budge. Good stuff.

From left to right: Feel Anywhere Balm in Rose, Steve Laurant Eyeshadow in Sea Green, Beauty For Real Eyeliner in Whiskey

I almost called this a low value bag until I actually paid attention and calculated the values of the items I received. And really, I got a brush and full sized liner out of it so I cannot bitch at all. The total bag value was $42.97 but the personal value might be sitting at around $21 counting the items I will get the most mileage out of. I'm excited for the brush and eyeliner and the baked eyeshadow should be a good tool for learning. I need more balm like I need another hole in the head but at least I have it on hand in an emergency if I have to share with my husband or one of the kids, or if I lose another one I already have, which I do quite frequently. The only item I'm not overly thrilled about is the peel-off mask and even then, it's getting used and I only have one or two applications left. I rambled on way more than I ever intended (it's now 3AM) so let's cut it here. Decent bag, got a brush!