April Ipsy Review: Beautifully Bohemian

This month's theme was "Beautifully Bohemian", a theme right in line with festival season being in full swing. 

Overall Rating: 3.8 stars. Not bad, but not great either. 

Best Product: Hands down, Jor'el Parker Femina perfume. 

Worst Product: Starlooks lip gloss in "Cuddle". 

Most Expensive Product: Hikari Cosmetics blush in "Tango". 

Glam Bag Total Value: ~$42

Hey Honey "Good Morning: Honey Silk Facial Serum"

Hey Honey's "Good Morning: Honey Silk Facial Serum" is a nice way to prep your skin for the day, if you can afford it. A full-size bottle of this goes for $41, although a little does go a long way. This product is great for brightening and smoothing your skin, and is a good base for makeup application. There are a lot of other products you could use for this purpose, but this is still a nice one. Since it uses honey as an ingredient, you cannot use it if you have a honey allergy. I give this product 3 stars, and my Ipsy sample was worth $11.58. 

The Balm Nude Dude eyeshadow in "Fit"

I've heard a lot about the Balm from my favorite beauty blogger, Vampy Varnish, so when I saw I would be getting a sample from their Nude Dude palette, I was pretty excited. I got the color "Fit", and the product did not disappoint! Even at sample size, the packaging was cute, and the shadow itself has great color payoff and consistency. It reminded me of my favorite Urban Decay eyeshadow, "Trick", so I swatched a few shadows side by side for comparison:

Top to Bottom: the Balm Nude Dude in "Fit", Urban Decay Naked 2's "Chopper", Urban Decay Naked 3's "Trick". 

The full-sized palette goes for $36, so my single shadow was worth $3. 5 stars. 

I have received Hikari products in previous glam bags. This blush is actually really great. The color, "Tango", is very complimentary to my skin tone, and it is HIGHLY pigmented. You definitely have to use a light hand when applying this product, but that's good, since you won't go through the product as fast. It's a great color for spring. This sample was full sized, and retails for $15. 4 stars. 

This was my least favorite of the bunch. I can't exactly put my finger on why; the color is nice, it looks good over other colors, and has a subtle shimmer to it. Aside from the fact it's a bit tacky on the lips, I don't have a good reason for not digging it. I just don't. It feels like a cheap product to me and overall there was nothing exciting about it. My sample size was worth $3.27, and I give it 2 stars. 

This was the gold star product of this month's glam bag. I had just recently spent two hours in Ulta looking for a new fragrance to no avail, when a couple weeks after I saw I was getting this in my glam bag. I rolled it on my wrists, and loved it. I would have never discovered it if it weren't for Ipsy. The fragrance notes include fruits and florals (my favorite combo), like lemon, grapefruit, forsythia, and plumeria, with Tahitian vanilla and musk. I was super happy to have this new fragrance to wear this upcoming summer. A full size bottle goes for $55, but my sample was worth $9.68. 5 stars!

Overall, my April Glam Bag didn't knock my socks off in the excitement department, but it did have a few outstanding products. I'll be using the blush and the perfume well into the summer! 

Did you get a glam bag this month? Were you happy with what you got?

Still out of the Ipsy loop? Sign up using the link below for new beauty products delivered to your door for just $10 a month! 

http://www.ipsy.com/r/c16l?sid=ipsypoints&cid=email

January Ipsy Review: Fresh Start

For the New Year, Ipsy decided to kick off the January bag with the theme "Fresh Start", which is also exactly what I'm giving my Glam Bag reviews. From now on, Ipsy reviews will have a "bottom line" summary at the top with more detailed product reviews below. That way, people who like to get in and get out with whether the bag was worth it can do just that, and those who want more detail can keep on reading :) 

January: "Fresh Start"

Overall rating: 3.5 stars 

Best product: Benefit Fake-Up Concealer in the shade "Light" was by far the best product I have received from Ipsy, possibly ever. More on that below. 

Worst product: Hikari Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner in the shade "Storm". 

Most expensive product: Velvet 59 Velvet Rose Lipgloss in shade "Noisette" retails $19. 

Glam Bag total value (estimate): $53.85

And now for the breakdown...

Pacifica Natural Mineral Coconut Eyeshadow in "Ethereal" 

This month, all ipsters received one of two shades of this eye shadow. I got "Ethereal ", which is a pretty shimmery champagne color. The pigmentation on it isn't fantastic, but it provides a nice subtle shimmer. I actually haven't used it as an eyeshadow yet, but it makes a pretty beautiful highlighter, which is great because I really needed one. Overall, I give the product 4 stars, mainly because I was so excited to have a nice powder highlighter. 

Elizabeth Mott All Over Shadow Brush

I'm always pleased to get a new makeup brush, and Elizabeth Mott's did not disappoint. The brush is cute, has super soft bristles, but is still sturdy enough to really grab onto shadows (that means less fallout for you!). I wish it had been a tapered blending brush instead, since I already have a brush like this, but I like to try out new brush brands. Overall I give it 4 stars. 

(Malin + Goetz) Mojito Lip Balm

I'll be honest: lip balms usually don't have me giddy with excitement. With that being said, my lips get ludicrously dry in the winter, and this couldn't have been more needed. While I think they are being a bit bougie with the scent "Mojito" - it smells like any other mint lip balm - the formula is fantastic. It's thick and hydrating but not overly sticky. It is also super glossy for something marketed as a balm, so if you're looking for something to hydrate and shine, this is a nice option. 3 stars for this product. 

Hikari Cosmetics Mechanical Eye Liner in "Storm"

I only used this eyeliner once so far, but I'm not impressed. Granted, I used it on my waterline, but I found the color payout was weak and the formula not all that fantastic. It swatched okay on my hand, but I had to go back and forth pretty vigorously for the color to really show up. This one gets 2 stars. 

Velvet 59 Velvet Rose Lipgloss in "Noisette"

Initially, I wasn't overly excited about the shade of this lip gloss, but it's really very nice alone or over another lip color. And, as a fun little surprise, it is rose scented, too! The formula is thick but not sticky. I gave this product 3 stars. 

Benefit Fake-Up Concealer in "Light" 

The gold star product in my Glam Bag this month was this concealer from Benefit by a landslide. The funny thing about that is this wasn't a product that was included in the January bag; I spent 500 of my accumulated Ipsy points to get it, and it came along with this month's bag. I couldn't be more satisfied with this product. The concealer itself is nestled in a little hydrating ring. It glides on super smooth, blends beautifully, hydrates, and completely covers my under eye circles as well as my blemishes. Check it out:

Without concealer

With concealer

I fully intend on making this product a part of my makeup regimine once the sample is gone. 5 stars!! 

Overall, this was definitely not the most exciting Glam Bag I've ever received, but I did get a few useful products out of it. I'm looking forward to see what products they pick for Valentine's Day next month!

Are you an Ipsy subscriber? Which products did you get this month? Which did you love and which did you hate? Were you inspired by any of my reviews to try a new product? Comment below!