August 2014 Ipsy Bag Review

The end of the month has come upon us, so that means its time for my Ipsy review. I always seem to be one of the last people to get it every month, I'm getting a little frustrated by that to be truthful. Anywho, for those who don't know Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription box. For $10 a month (In the US) you get a new makeup bag and 4-5 deluxe sample or full sized beauty products. They can be makeup, skincare, or hair care products, just depending on the month and your personalized beauty profile. Sometimes you get a great bag and other times you get a really terrible bag, but the price is great and it lets you try brands you might never have tried otherwise.

My August Ipsy Bag

Each Month has a theme and for August the theme was "Beauty Schooled", which was fitting with people getting ready to go back to school. I received 5 items this month, 2 full sized and 3 deluxe samples. The breakdown was 4 makeup and 1 hair care this month, which was pretty exciting. I'm actually really happy with my bag this month, I'll be using everything for once and won't be swapping a thing.

The bag this month, how cute!

Let's start with the bag, which always tries to reflect the theme of the month. This month it was a cute white with orange polka dotted pencil case. While it's not long enough for brand new pencils, it was just the right length for all of the pens I keep on my desk and is roomy enough you could keep a lot of pens and whatnot in it. The only issue I had with the bag is the smell. Apparently Ipsy bags have a reputation for reeking so strongly of plastic fumes that many people just throw the bags away. I've been lucky enough that this was the first bag that smelled like plastic and it honestly wasn't that bad. You know when you get a new kiddie blow up pool and it has that smell? That's what the bag smelled like. After sitting out for a few days it really only smells if you put your nose to it. But it's plastic, so of course it will smell like plastic.

Primer! Love me some primer!

The first item I received was the Dr Brandt Pores No More pore refiner primer. I'm a big fan of primers and how nice they make my skin look under my foundation, so I was pretty excited to get this in my bag. According to the back, this will instantly mattify your skin and help refine your pores.

Swatch of Pores No More

Now the thing that surprised me the most with this primer was that it wasn't clear. I've never used a non-clear primer before, so we'll see how this goes. It is pretty close to my skin tone so I'm not worried about how it will look, but if you are super pale or super dark you might want to try a sample before you commit to buying it. The deluxe sample is 0.25 fl oz, a full size is 1 fl oz and has a price tag of $45 so I'm giving my sample a value of $11.25. That makes it worth the value of the bag, so even if I hated everything else I'd be happy. Now I have a primer open already so I will be saving this till I've finished what I have open.

Klorane Dry Shampoo

The next item was one of the ones I was most excited to try, the Klorane Extra-Gentle Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk. I use dry shampoo on a pretty regular basis and I'm on a quest to find the best one out there so I'm more than pleased to get to try a high end brand. I haven't tried it yet, I'm testing a different dry shampoo right now and don't want to skew the results. I am a little bummed at how small the sample is though, it's like half the size of my travel size can of Pssst Dry Shampoo. I get that it needs to be small enough to fit in the bag, but this just seemed extra small. The deluxe sample I received is 1.06 oz, while a full sized is 3.2 oz and has a price of $19.50, making my sample $6.45. This is an expensive dry shampoo, so I hope it lives up to the hype I've heard.

Lip balm, it went straight into my pocket

Next we have the Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo Nutrient Dense Anti-aging Lip Conditioner. I received some sunscreen from this company in my May bag, so I was already familiar with this company. I have a confession, I'm a lip balm addict. I have like 5 of them open right now, and that's me being controlled. So I was super happy to get this one. It has all natural ingredients and smells/tastes great. I didn't know I needed an anti-aging product for my lips, but it leaves them so soft that I'm going to roll with it. It is Mandarin Green Orange and Ginger flavored, and you can really taste it. It smells like summer to me, bright and citrus, I love it. This was a full sized product at 0.15 oz with a price of $5.50.

So much prettier in real life

The item I was least excited for was the J.Cat Flying Solo eyeshadow in Half Naked. The picture preview that Ipsy had was kind of a muddy tan color, not one I thought I'd use at all. So I was very surprised to see that the color was this gorgeous golden tan color. I really like the color and the shadow itself applied nice and smooth with no chalkiness.

Secret compartment!

A neat thing about this shadow is the bottom opens up to reveal a secret compartment with a mirror and a little sponge applicator. I only use brushes so the sponge isn't a huge plus but I love the hidden mirror and the thinking behind the compartment

Swatch of Half Naked

Isn't this a lovely color? Really made my eyes look bright, I love it. And I heard a great suggestion to use it as a highlighter, which I'll have to try for sure. The only thing I didn't like was how hard the container was to open. I felt like I was going to break it because I was pulling so hard every time. This was a full sized item as has a value of $2.99, so very affordable. It comes in 48 colors total, so I may need to pick up a few later down the road.

And now the item I was most excited about, the brand new Urban Decay Perversion Mascara. Like if Ipsy didn't send this to me I would have cancelled I wanted this that bad. Mascara is one of those things I typically leave my house without, and after all the hype about this I knew I had to try it. And I have to say, I love it. My lashes were so think and long and soooo black after using this, I swear I showed everybody I could find how amazing my lashes looked. The formula is a little on the wetter side, which I like, so it gives you more time to smooth it out from base to tip.

The brush was very bristly, which helped to separate out all of my lashes and evenly coat it. I actually think the bristles face slightly different directions which would help keep your lashes looking full and thick. They also released a lash primer called Subversion (love the names they picked, wickedly fun), and I can't imagine how long that would make my lashes look.

I really loved this mascara, I may have to pick up a full sized at some point. I received a deluxe mini that was 0.1 fl oz, a full sized one is 0.4 fl oz and is $22, making my sample worth $5.50.

All total my bag came to $31.69! That's more than triple what the actual bag cost me, I'm very pleased. I'll be keeping my Ipsy subscription for at least another month, hoping that next month will be just as awesome as this month was. If you received an Ipsy bag this month, were you happy with it?