It's that time of the month again and my glam bag has arrived! For those who don't know, Ipsy GlamBags is a monthly beauty box subscription program. For $10 a month (in the USA) you receive a makeup bag with 4-5 deluxe and full sized makeup and beauty products. Some are well known brands (Urban Decay, Benefit) while others are brands completely new to you (Cailyn, City Color), the fun is getting to try all these different products for such a great value!
This month's theme was Fresh Picks , and all the products reflect that. This was a makeup lite month, there seemed to be more of a focus on facial and hair products, which is great but I was bummed to not get a new look in a bag. Shipping this month seemed quicker than in April, which was greatly appreciated after how sloooooowly the bags normally arrive. Now I have to admit I wasn't thrilled with my bag this month. Part of the problem is I'm deathly allergic to coconut and the big makeup item everybody received was a Pacifica eyeshadow duo made specifically for Ipsy (more on that further down) that is infused with coconut. So that was a let down for sure, luckily everything else I received was coconut free.
Boo-Boo Cover-up is a brand I'd never heard of before, but the premise was intriguing to say the least. It contains ingredients that will help heal any boo-boo you might have, in addition to covering it up so no one sees that giant zip forming on your chin. The texture was creamy and smooth, not to thick at all. I received the shade medium and despite my fear that it wouldn't match it blended it great and I could barely tell I had any on at all. Once I topped it with my mineral powder foundation you couldn't see it or the zit at all. I used it on a few acne spots and on a nasty bug bite I received the other day, so I'll have to report back later on whether or not it speeds up healing time as it claims. This was a full sized item (score!) and is worth $19.99, basically twice the value of the bag! I think this will last me a while, but I will for sure order more when I run out.
Jersey Shore Sun is another company I hadn't heard of, and a quick peak at their website shows they not only sell sunscreen but also makeup. I received the Sans Tan Anti-Aging sunscreen in SPF 35, and I'm never going to turn down sunscreen (unless it has coconut in it. I'm looking at you Hawaiian Tropics) so this will be used for sure. There's a ton of good stuff in it, like vitamin E and D3, and none of the bad stuff a lot of sunscreens use, like parabens and oxybenzone. Plus it's biodegradable, reef safe (a super important factor for me), and cruelty free as well. I haven't gotten to try it yet, the clouds came in today after a week of 80+ degree weather, so I'll have to report back on the effectiveness and if it's greasy or super white later. I received a deluxe sample, which was 0.5 oz. A full sized is 2 oz and $40 (ouch, that's an expensive sunscreen!), so I'm placing a $10 value on my sample. Because of the price, even if I love the product I won't be purchasing more.
La Fresh is a company I'm familiar with, though I don't think I've ever used them but I could be wrong. They're best known for the wide variety of wipes they offer and have partnered up with Ipsy on several occasions. I received a travel pack of the oil free makeup removal wipes, and while I love wipes and use them frequently I wasn't excited to receive these in my bag. They're just really...meh. Not a great brand, not a terrible brand. Just kind of in the middle. And the travel pack has only 8 wipes in it, so they'll only last me barely over a week. I haven't used them yet, and I probably won't until I run out of the travel sized packs of the wipes I keep in my purse. As I said, I received the travel pack of 8, which retails for $2.49.
Pacifica is a pretty well known company, and while I've always eyeballed their products I've never bought any due to EVERYTHING having coconut in it. Seriously, who puts coconut in eyeshadow? The whole thing makes me grumpy to be truthful. I was so worried it had broken during transport and coated my whole bag in shimmery death. Luckily it arrived safe and in one piece. The duo I received was #1, which contains Celestial and Opal. The packaging is exclusive for Ipsy but if you like the colors they are available in one of the palettes Pacifica sells. Celestial is a really pretty pale pink, while Opal is kind of a light bronze. Both have some shimmer, and according to other people are pretty sheer. The packaging itself feels really cheap, so if I was going to use these I'd depot it for sure, I'm amazed it didn't break open during shipping. I'm fairly certain I could easily crush it with one hand, which is weird because Pacifica normally had nice packaging. I am inclined to call this a deluxe sample for several reasons, the colors are normally only available in a palette of 4 and the duo I received is just an ounce bigger than one of the colors in the palette (my duo is 0.07 oz while the palette is 0.25 oz. 0.25/4=0.0625, so if it had been a pot of the Opal and Celestial from the palette it would be 0.125 oz). I'm putting the value at about $4, whereas a full palette is $14 right now. I will obviously not be using this or buying more, hoping I can trade it with someone.
Eva NYC is a company I haven't heard of before, but once I saw the packaging I'm fairly I've seen the products before. I received the Therapy Session Hair Mask, which is suppose to deep condition my hair, strengthen it, and repair any damage. I have very long hair, like past the middle of my back long, so I use a lot of products to keep it looking good and staying strong. I'm excited I received this, though I won't be using it till I've finished the deep conditioners I'm using now. This contains argan oil, which is suppose to be great for skin and hair and has been showing up in just about everything. It smells pretty good too, which can be a breaking point for me (seriously Head and Shoulders, your shampoo smells awful). I received a deluxe sample size of this, but it's large enough I should get a couple of uses out of it. My size is 2.03 oz, the full sized product is 500 mL (which would make it 16.907 oz) and worth $40 so I'm pricing mine at $4.80. I don't think I'll be purchasing this because of the price and I already have a deep conditioner I LOVE for $8 a tub.
All total my bag came to a value of $41.28, so well worth the $10 I spent on it. I'm not as happy with this month's bag as I was with April's bag, but I'm not hating everything I received so it could be worst. If you want to give Ipsy a try feel free to use my referral link here, it will let you skip the wait list (which can be rather long, I sat on it for 2 months) and earn me points as well.
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