Being a newbie beauty blogger I stumbled upon the world of beauty subscriptions a la Ipsy &
Birchbox, etc while reading blogs and discussing it on forums. After reading lots of reviews and thoughts I decided to go with
Birchbox, but was excited when I found Ipsy... It jumped up even higher on my list when I realized there was no waiting list (like
Birchbox).
I've seen pix of Glossybox &
Birchbox packaging, and they go all out! But Ipsy takes a minimalist approach with a bright pink bubble package. It's fun and simple! When you pull out all the goodies you won't find tissue paper or anything else other than one simple card with fun graphics and a sweet saying - perfectly pretty for a cork board or picture frame. On the back it lists the discount you'll find on each brand when you log into your account on Ipsy.com.
- Pacifica Tuscan Orange Blood Body Butter - 2.5 fl oz - Retail $7
- Martini Nail Laquer in Frappe - Retail around $11-13
- Josie Maran 100% Argan Oil - .17 fl oz - worth about $4 based on Retail of .5 oz
- London SOHO Beauty crease brush - Retail $9
- Big Sexy Hair Spray & Play Volumizing Hairspray - 1.5 oz - Retail $12
- Black Ipsy makeup bag with stars on a white background - Priceless? Remember those MC commercials? Ha!
If you add all that business up, we've got an estimated value of
about $42 on the low end. That's a great bargain, if you ask me!
I was excited to see the
Pacifica body butter in Tuscan Blood Orange fall out of this glam bag. I'm a big fan of buying beauty products at Whole Foods (Whole Body), and I've seen this brand there many times. (I also adore Sephora and know they carry a few fragrances). It smells very fruity and citrus-y. I'm normally not a big fan of fruit scents in my body products but this is a sophisticated, rich smell. The shea & mango butters and chamomile help mute the sweet orange, rounding it all out & taking it from what one remembers as Lipsmackers (90's kids unite!) to L'Occitane. Of course I LOVE love LOVE that there are no parabens, no propylene glycol and no SLS. It's also made in the USA! While writing this post I started with a big dollop and still have silky hands (an hour later) without having ever felt greasy!
The nail Laquer wasn't the most exciting item, but its a good neutral. Here is a swatch with one coat - very sheer with a slight peachy undertone. After learning more about
Nailtini I started to get excited. I like to buy
Essie polishes (I mean... who doesn't?), because it does not have formaldehyde, and I was excited to learn this brand also prides it self on limiting toxic ingredients! Again, more natural and made in the USA!
Josie Maran's argan oil is actually one of my
*Beauty Library* items, so I was stoked to find a mini bottle of it I can now use for travel or to toss in my bag. It's not scented and has a slight natural smell. What's fun is the packaging says it's cold pressed to maintain nutrients
AND that the smell changes depending on the batch. So... your smell may not be my smell. :) It has many uses, but I mainly use it after I shave to prevent razor burn. I also use it in my wet hair before drying and as a facial moisturizer. I love that even the mini size has a dropper as part of the topper.
A
makeup brush! How can you go wrong with that? I'm a big fan of tools and see them as an investment. I already have a great crease brush from Merle Norman but its not as fluffy (is that a proper MUA word?) as this one. I'm curious to see how well it focuses on the crease. It almost seems big enough to be a blending brush. But it retails $9 usually, so my $10 seems like a great deal!
I've used Big Sexy Hair's root volume spray before and it was so-so, so I'm curious to see how this
hairspray works to volumize... I've never had a love affair with any hairspray. (The longest relationship I've ever had is with
Rusk W8less, and it's because it smells delightful). We just don't mesh, generally, so we shall see...
I have so many makeup bags! That's perhaps one of my least favorite things about the Ipsy Glam Bags. Maybe if it was cute I would feel differently, but it's solid black on the outside - pretty underwhelming. I read on
Sephora's Beauty Talk where someone had the idea to donate them to women's shelters with product you don't want. I just might do that!
So, what do you fellow beauty babes think about this January 2013 Ipsy versus other subscriptions you've received? What do you do with all the bags? Was it worth $10 + shipping? (I think so!...)
If you want an in detail review of one or more of these products let me know so I can write one just for you once I get to use it a good bit.
