January 2019 Ipsy Review

Ipsy is a $10 a month subscription that offers a makeup bag and 5 makeup, beauty, skincare or hair care items. Items vary from sample to full sized and the brands can be drug store, indie label or masstige. What I love about Ipsy is it's a great way to build up a beginner makeup collection without investing too much money, the bags are perhaps the most personalized of any subscription service I've seen, and the sample sizes are great: I've never received a foil packet in the 3 years that I've been subscribed!

I got some serious Judy Garland vibes from January's bag. It's made of a very folksy blue pinstripe patterned fabric-yeah, I know Dorothy wore gingham, not pinstripes. It is far from my favorite with it's down home country feel but somebody out there has to love it, right?

• Ciaté London Wonderwand Mascara in Black Magic - $4.61, Vegan, Cruelty Free
• Yensa Pumpkin Turmeric 2-in-1 Radiance Polishing Mask - $9.64
• Kasca Nail Polish in Velvet Black Matte - $8.53, Full Sized
• Luxie Beauty 1010 Small Countour Brush - $36 based on similar brushes,  Full Sized, Cruelty Free
• Fluide Lip Gloss in Elsewhere - $7.50, Full Sized

Ciaté London Wonderwand Mascara in Black Magic 
I feel like an asshole saying this but I did not get around to trying out this mascara. The wand is promising but I have way too many mascaras open and in use right now where I don't want to waste this one. I was hoping I would have been further along with the ones I do have open at the moment. I can say the Benefit Roller Lash I received a few months back is on its last legs as it's starting to dry out, but there are the 3 or 4 others I am working on right now that are stopping me. I really wish I received this product back when I was suffering through the great mascara drought of 2018-2019. I was actually eyeballing this specific mascara for months hoping it would show up in a bag one month. I promise I will do a follow-up review of this mascara.

Yensa Pumpkin Turmeric 2-in-1 Radiance Polishing Mask
Oh my god, I've never wanted to eat a mask as much as I want to eat this one. I'm not going to lie, some may have gotten in my mouth (boy, what an awkward sounding word) and you know what? It tasted pretty delicious and not overly artificial. This mask is can be a little oily and is seriously hydrating so works best when I use it following a mask. The mask is a little bit difficult to work with because it's hydrophobic and therefore difficult to wash off. I find it works best in the shower because that's the easiest way to ensure I've washed it off entirely. Did I mention it smells like a Yankee Candle in early to mid-fall?

Day 1 nails

Kasca Nail Polish in Velvet Black Matte 
I love this nail polish. Prior to this I have not owned a matte nail polish for some years. Don't laugh at me but I did not know nail polish could come in a matte formula outside of a clear top coat.  I just assumed that any nail polish labeled "matte" was just deceitfully marketed. Well, I'm totally prepared to grab a knife and fork and eat my words on that one.

When I first pulled this out of my bag I was a bit disappointed: I'm damn near 35. Why in actual Hell would I want a black nail polish at this stage in my life? Ready for that second course of crow, please. I fell in love with every aspect of this nail polish. The formula is opaque in one coat. The brush is large and provides the perfect coverage for application. I didn't experience any streakiness because I have to go over my nails about a bathousand times just to get a full coat. The nail polish actually dries matte! How awesome is that? It took about five days for it to start chipping without a base coat or top coat. I want to say that's pretty amazing considering I have a job were I wear nitrile gloves and have to wash my hands frequently. I do genuinely love when a product I'm completely prepared to be disappointed in surprises and pleases me.

Luxie Beauty 1010 Small Countour Brush

I tried contouring with this brush exactly one time. It served its purpose. I love the handle on this brush; it's quite ergonomic. The bristles are soft, fluffy, and not too dense so I did not have the problem of over applying powder and trying to correct. The brush is large enough that it can effectively cover a decent contour area without creating either too harsh of a streak or too broad of a stroke that I end up looking insane. Contour powder was still an issue for me but that's just because I am entirely unfamiliar with the technique so I neither know what angle to place it at nor how to properly blend it. I'm also just not a fan of the contoured look on myself. It always looks and feels too obvious if I can see what I've done and I feel like it's a waste of time if I cannot see what I've done. That said, this brush makes me want to try to learn. I've received multiple contour brushes over the years and so far this seems like the best of the two or three I have for the aforementioned reasons.

Fluide Lip Gloss in Elsewhere
This is a neat little nothing lip gloss. It's basically clear so my natural lip color and texture does shine through but it has an ever so slight blue tint in sunlight that gives my lips an almost berry natural look. In short, it makes my lips look slightly more pigmented than they really are and it packs some serious shine. In other words, it's a great lip topper. It's a bit sticky though so that is something to keep in mind.

Underwhelming swatch of a clear lip gloss under indirect natural light.

I was surprised by how much I loved this bag. I received 3 full sized items and the price was solid coming in at $66.28. The bag itself pretty much missed the aesthetic mark but I can see how someone would love it. I'm just not very into the home and country look. Aside from the mascara that I must exclude from final assessment because I haven't tried it, product-wise this was a very strong bag, perhaps the strongest in months. Not only will I get use out of everything but I love everything and I was actually flipped by a couple of the items.