Review: April Ipsy Glam Bag

Well, I'm finally getting around to reviewing my Ipsy Glam Bag from last month! It took me forever to try out all the products! If you're not familiar with Ipsy, it's a beauty subscription service that sends you 4-5 sample or full-size products each month. Bags are somewhat customizable according to your preferences and reviews. Ipsy costs $10 per month; if you'd like to try it out, here's my referral link! (If you use my link, I get points to spend on free stuff!)

This month's bag was a little disappointing for me. There were a couple products I won't use, plus there were a few others in the monthly collection that I really wanted but didn't get (including nail polish!). I'm hoping that my reviews of this month's bag will help me get better stuff next time!

1. Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion

This is a good physical exfoliator, although I have to say it's the most painful one I've tried. It does get the job done though, and my face felt really smooth after use. It smells kind of like lemon drop candies. Given how expensive the full size tube is, I think I'll just use up this sample and then go back to my old exfoliator (Dermadoctor Physical Chemistry, which is both a physical and chemical exfoliator!).

2. Cailyn Tinted Lip Balm in Apple Pink

It took me a little while to figure out what was going on with this funky container, but then I realized that there's a brush in the cap! Unfortunately the brush is so tiny that it takes forever to get my lips covered evenly. This lip balm definitely doesn't feel very balm-y; it's pretty dry and matte. It contains only synthetic moisturizers, no oils or butters that we might look for in a lip balm. It does have nice pigmentation and seems to be fairly durable. This one gets a "meh" from me.

3. Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse

I let out a sigh when I saw this stuff in my bag. My hair is ultra ultra fine ("like baby's hair", a hairdresser once told me) and basically every leave-in product just weighs it down and makes it grimy. But for the sake of my gentle readers I tried this mousse anyway. You're supposed to work it into your roots and a few inches down from the roots when your hair is damp, then blow-dry.

My first hint that things were not going well was that I had a hard time brushing my hair as I blow-dried it. Sure enough, my roots were sticky and had a visible residue. I did notice a slight increase in volume below the roots (where I put less of the product), but the volume was mainly horizontal and not vertical. My roots themselves remained flat. Oh well!

4. City Color White Gold Shadow & Highlight Mousse

This eyeshadow mousse is a bright, sparkly light gold. It has really nice pigmentation--probably a little too bright for my taste actually. Unfortunately I found it to be a bit sticky and hard to spread, so it wasn't easy to get it diffuse enough for a more casual everyday look. I'm not sure if you could really use this as a highlighter in areas besides the eye because of how pigmented it is.

5. Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-on Eye Pencil in Black Velvet

If only I used eyeliner, this would be the star of my bag! Unfortunately, as I've said before, I'm hopeless with eyeliner because I flinch so much. But I might keep trying with this pencil! It has a really soft, almost liquid-feeling application, and the color payoff was very nice. As you can see, it doesn't make an ultra-sharp line, as it's intended especially for blended-out looks. I think eyeliner fans would really like this product!



So there you have it. Only two, maybe three products that I'll probably keep using. It is a nice consolation that I only spent $10 for all this, and Ipsy is still the best subscription service I've tried, so I'm not going to quit yet!

Did you like last month's Ipsy bag?