June 2019 Birchbox Review

Birchbox is a $15 monthly beauty subscription box that offers 5-6 sample and full-sized makeup, skincare, and hair care products from brands both high end and only known within the beauty box community. The idea of tackling June’s box is a little daunting. Typically, this would be the first indication that it was a lackluster box. Being more realistic, I’m probably suffering from product overload. I received:

• Jouer Cosmetics Sheer Pigment Lip Gloss in St. Germain – $17.00, Full Sized
• Wander Beauty Baggage Claim Gold Eye Masks – $4.17
• Luxie Beauty 239 Precision Shader Rose Gold Brush – $14.00, Full Sized
• Qhmet Biologics Alma & Olive Heavy Cream – $2.36
• Winky Lux Latte Kitten Eyeshadow in Frothy – $2.78
• Coola Classic Body Lotion SPF 30 in Tropical Coconut – $2.18

 

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?

September 2018 Ipsy Review

Ipsy is a $10 monthly subscription service that provides members with 5 beauty, skincare or hair care samples that range in size from sample to full sized. I’ve been subscribed for over 2.5 years and it is still my favorite subscription box. I can tailor my bag to fit my needs by completing a profile and reviewing items I receive while maintaining that element of surprise since I am not specifically picking any item. This can lead to the occasional disappointment but that is what keeps the gamble fun. September was a pretty strong month. I received:

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. 

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

November Ipsy First Impressions

Not only am I exceedingly overdue for this post, but I only have one shitty photo of my own because a combination of holidays and traveling, life and work have teamed together to kick my ass. I have a couple of equally uninformative posts in the queue also, so let’s jump into this so I can procrastinate on something else. If stock photos and shitty swatches are your thing, feel free to use my my referral code.