Ipsy September 2013: A Review

I can hardly believe it is already October 9th! I am still really enjoying my Semptember subscription box items! It is such a great way to try out products. It's hard to believe but my Birchbox has shipped for October and should arrive next week. I knew I needed  to review the Ipsy products from September before my new Ipsy arrived!

September Glam Bag! 

I'm a cheater and I looked at some "sneak peaks" posted on the Ipsy website. I have to say it took a little bit of the fun and surprise out of it for me. I wasn't overly excited about this bag, but they had a tiny part of it posted online, so I already knew what to expect. I feel like that made me lose excitement over this bag. The pattern is cute and the color is nice! What do I have to complain about?! No more sneak peaks for me!


Pop Beauty
Pouty Pop Crayon
I've seen a few reviews of this product that the reviewers were not pleased with the formula. However, I happen to Love this crayon. I've been carrying it around everywhere with me since I received it. The color is very saturated. It feels much better on my lips than regular lipstick. It is a smooth texture, no stickiness, and not too heavy feeling. I'm a big fan of the Revlon ColorBurst Lip Butters. In comparison what I love about the pencil is that it doesn't feel like a lipstick, but it has more saturation of color than one of the lip butters. I would say it has a satin sheen, not matte but not shiny either. I like the color, but I feel like their could be a better one for my skin tone. When I do buy another of these pencils (which I will) there will be updates here on the colors I've tried. There are kits of 6 crayons for $25 at a variety of places including Ulta, Nordstrom, and Beauty.com. It is definitely on my short list for purchases!

Elizabeth Mott 

It's So Big Mascara
I had high hopes for this mascara, only because I had so much luck with the Birchbox mascara this month. At first sweep I felt like our relationship was headed in a good direction. It was giving my lashes some extra lenth. I went for a second sweep... clump, clump, clump, clump!!! Terrible clumping. Not impressed. The full size is 19.99 on the Elizabeth Mott website. I feel like it is pretty average, and would not pay that price. 

   

Skyn Iceland

Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels

I threw these on when I was about to take a soak in the tub I figured it would be a good time to pamper my under eye area. The gel does have a nice cool feeling on the skin, and they stay put quite well. When I went to peel them off a little bit of the gel was leftover on my skin. I think that my skin felt hydrated. This is all quite subjective, as with most beauty products, so it is hard to say whether they made a true difference in my skin. I might consider purchasing this for a gift for someone but would have a hard time splurging on for myself. I just checked on the price of these puppies. Amazon has them for 30 normally, knocked down currently to 24. For 8 pairs of gels. That's 3 dollars each. Yikes. If you want to splurge, go ahead, but I don't have real "issues" with puffy under eyes, so I probably won't purchase. I did notice that Shape magazine had a spotlight on the Skyn Iceland: Pure Pore Minimizer. It is a whopping $35 but I have pores the size of potholes, so it may be something I look into in the future. 

 

 

Nyx Eyeshadow

Golden Poppy

This is a very nice formula. Blendable and buildable. Pigmentation seems to be middle of the road to me. Gold is not a color I wear very often on my eyes, but this isn't a gawdy gold, so if you are looking for a gold makeup to add to your collection, this could easily be the one for you. These single Nyx eyeshadows retail for about 5 bucks at Ulta. Not a bad price point at all. They have a TON of different colors. I have to say I tend to reach for palettes more often than single colors which is just a personal preference. I would love to try other colors.

Starlooks Kohl Eye Pencil in Obsidian. Arg! This is just a black eyeliner. It is not extra smooth or extra creamy, or extra anything. It is simply a black eyeliner. I did find a nice video here on a look that can be achieved with this pencil. I find that while black can be used to achieve smokey looks, it can also quickly turn into garish overdone trashy looks. This liner will cost you 12 dollars. I am not an eyeliner guru and I usually use very little of it. However, I feel like if you are trying to convert people to using your brand you have to wow. No wow factor for me. I have visited their site and it is a brand you can get in a subscription box called StarBox. I do like the idea that their box is coordinate makeup for an entire look. We shall see if this brand comes by again and if they can convert me. 

I guess you could call this a "bonus" but there was a card from em Michelle Phan for Life Palettes. I got a card sample of the career life palette. I wish this brand had come up with a better way to send a sample. This is a kind of sample that should come in a beauty magazine, not in a subscription box. I am intrigued by the brand and the website, but wish for a more substantial sample to make a better decision. The palette has 4 "curated" looks including 4 cheek, 8 lip, and 24 eyeshadows. The whole card showed the entire palette but the sample was just one of the looks from the palette (but not even the whole look). I ripped the sample off of the card so I do not have a picture of the card. The price point is $75 for one of the palettes!!! I need a better sample before I drop that kind of cash. Also, I know neutral is probably the "safe" way to go when sending out samples, but it also reads middle of the road and does not impress me.

Join me on ipsy and subscribe to the Glam Bag! You get 4-5 beauty products every month delivered to your door, for just $10. Michelle Phan curates the bags! Check it out here