Anyway! Today I'm finally getting around to reviewing this month's Ipsy Glam Bag. If you're not familiar with Ipsy, it's a beauty product subscription service that costs $10 per month. You get 4-5 sample and full-size products each month that are customized (more or less) to your preferences, as well as exclusive deals from all the featured brands. Here's my referral link if you'd like to sign up!
This was an OK month for me (no nail polish though). Only one total dud, I think! For $10 that's pretty good. I'll start with my favorite product!
1. NYX Butter Gloss in Apple Strudel
This is a really nice lip gloss! It feels slightly sticky but generally very smooth and luxurious. The color intensity was just right for me--not totally invisible but not horrible candy pink either. I've already used this gloss multiple times.
2. Laneige BB Cushion
This BB cream came with a lot of literature, so I'll let this sexy lady explain it to you (click for bigger). Basically it's a BB cream with SPF 50, which is obviously a very good thing. It comes in the form of a soaked sponge with a puff to use as an applicator. I guess this gives you more control over the amount you want to use. I got samples of all three shades, so I was a bit grumpy about only being able to use a third of the sample pack.
Obviously, "light" is my shade (are we surprised?? no). I wonder whether "dark" would really work with very dark skin tones, but I can't test that.
Anyway, I found the coverage of this product to be pretty typical for a BB cream, i.e. not as heavy as a foundation. It was neither matte nor shiny on me. Not too greasy. It seems to have good wear time too, which is a plus for a sunscreen product. On the negative side, I did find that it tended to accent any dry spots on my face. It's also pretty pricey: $34 for half an ounce. So probably not something I'll be buying.
3. Be a Bombshell Lash Out Mascara
This seems to be a pretty basic, no-frills mascara to me. It works OK, I didn't have a big problem with clumping, but it doesn't do anything extraordinary either. I found it to be flaky by the end of the day, and not particularly waterproof either. I'd say it's equivalent to my $5 tube of N.Y.C. mascara, but it costs three times more.
Here are the before-and-after shots:
I think my eyelashes are kind of sparse and would probably benefit more from a finer/denser mascara brush.
4. Nicka K Shimmer Eyeliner in Blue
Ahhh, eyeliner...the one eye product I just can't get right. I think this would look really cute for a bolder look, if only I could draw in a straight line. Maybe I'll try it tonight for our anniversary dinner.
5. Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray
Come on, Ipsy, I thought we'd discussed this...don't send me hair products! They don't work 99% of the time. My hair is ultra fine and pretty stubbornly straight. But I tried this stuff anyway, because I guess you never know.
So you're supposed to spray this on damp hair, scrunch it, and then either let your hair air-dry or dry it with a diffuser (which I don't have). The problem is that when my hair air-dries, it poofs out into a mane of frizz. So that's Issue #1. Issue #2 is that as soon as I brushed my hair, all the waves basically collapsed. So instead of having wavy Beach Goddess hair, I had Slept On It Funny hair. Issue #3 was the grimy residue this product left behind. Soooo yep, it's a dud. If anyone wants the rest of my bottle, I'll send it to you!
Did you get an Ipsy bag this month? Did you like it?
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