Ipsy March 2014

Ipsy March 2014 Review

PSA: Throw out your lip gloss from Pop Beauty that came in the February bag.  Trust me, I know a chemical burn when I see one, and I chemical-burned the crap out of my lips.  They are still recovering.  Gross.  Just toss it if it doesn't smell like delicious vanilla cookies.  Pop Beauty claims there is a "missing flavoring ingredient" but there is clearly something fishy going on with the sample glosses.  Read about this particular issue here.

THROW THIS AWAY!

And as always, if you ever notice a weird smell or burning sensation (different from a plumping or tingling sensation), or if your skin/lips feel slimy, stretched out and tight (not just dry, but like your skin has shrunk 2 sizes), itchy, or scraped up after applying any makeup product, THROW IT AWAY.  Seriously. 

Ok.  Sorry.  Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

I remember the days where I would get Birchbox and Ipsy on the same day, usually within the first 10 days of the month.  Birchbox has since started to ship to me a few days earlier, and Ipsy has started to ship to me about a week later.  Sigh.  Can't have it all in life, I guess.

Ipsy March 2014

This month's Ipsy theme is "Destination Beauty" and features a bag designed by Klari Rice, an artist from California.

The bag itself is cute, but feels pretty thin and vinyl-ish.  It will wipe clean, at least!  The pattern, for some reason, reminds me of the minions from Despicable Me.  Maybe because the circle blobs look like eyes?  I'm not sure, but I get a definite minion vibe from this bag.

There were 4 products included in the bags this month.

Be a Bombshell Bora Bora Eyeshadow Quad

First up, I got the Be a Bombshell eyeshadow quad in Bora Bora.  There was eyeshadow dust all over the inside of the box and the outside of the compact, but it didn't seem to be from my particular quad.  Weird.  I wiped it all off for the pictures.

Bora Bora Eyeshadow Quad in the remainder of today's natural light.

The eyeshadow is more pigmented than I expected.  I like the combination of colors a lot, but I probably will still give this away as a gift.  I have too much eyeshadow!  Gah! 

Two swipes over bare skin, with a LOT of light shining in

I think Ipsy sends a Be a Bombshell product almost every month! I have lip crayons, lip gloss, felt-tip eyeliner, a one stick, now eyeshadow.... I'm going to end up with their entire product line if I continue to subscribe to Ipsy!  It totally negates the need to buy this product independently, and also makes me devalue their items.  They should probably give it a rest for a little while.

This sells for $16 on the BaB website.

Next, I got two packages of Klorane Smoothing and Relaxing eye patches.

Klorane Soothing and Relaxing Patches

I read somewhere online you could re-use these, so I'm going to try to do that.  I'd hate for these to be one-time use, but it seems like they are.  Oh well.  They felt nice on, but I will definitely take the suggestion to put them in the fridge first!  I don't think they made a noticeable difference on my undereye circles, but I wasn't puffy to begin with.

Dermstore sells a 7-pack of these for $18, making my 2 packs worth $5.14

OH hey! Nail polish! IpsyMatch really had to work hard on that one ;)

Nicole by OPI "On What Grounds?"
Different from the mystery book by the same name.

This is from the Nicole by OPI Roughles line of textured polish.  The color is "On What Grounds?" and is a robin's-egg-blue with navy and gray speckles.  It dries to a matte sandy finish and doesn't have glitter in it (like the Julep Stardust, Zoya Pixie Dust, and OPI Liquid Sand lines do).

Speckles in the bottle

When I first put this on, I didn't like it.  It looked like I had done my nails at the beach and got tons of sand stuck in the wet polish before it dried.  The dark specks don't help that at all!  Trust me- I live less than 1 mile from the ocean.  I know what sand stuck in nail polish looks like, and this is it!

"Roughles".... get it?
Stupid nubby pointer finger :( It is cracked down the middle- I need to keep it short while it grows out!

However, the longer I look at it, the more it is growing on me.  I'll see what everyone at work says tomorrow.  Two coats was plenty, and I happen to be a fan of the wide brush that NOPI polishes have.

NOPI polishes sell for about $7.99 at CVS, Target, Ulta, etc.

Last up, and my favorite thing in the bag this month, is a mini lipstick by Bare Minerals as part of their Marvelous Moxie line in Get Ready.

BareMinerals Marvelous Moxie Lipstick in Get Ready

The color is really pretty, it is a nice warm rose color that is flattering on my super-winter-ultra-pale skin.  Unlike last month, I am not having any burning feelings associated with applying this lipstick.

Face into the light.  The color of this lipstick is a little more muted in real life.

This lipstick is wonderful.  It is super creamy and richly pigmented.  There is a slight vanilla-mint scent, which I think is nice.  This is one of the best lipsticks I have gotten in a subscription box, if not *THE* best.  I love it!  I wish Ipsy had sent out full sizes, but no biggie.  I'll just buy a full one when I use this sample up.

Sample size is 0.05 oz and the full size is 0.12 oz.  The full size is $18, making the sample worth $7.50.

Ipsy March 2014

The total value of my bag this month is $36.63 (hi there, palindrome!).  I've had higher bag values, but there were some items from decent brands this month.  I am really happy with this bag, especially the lipstick!  I don't think I would have preferred any of the other variable options this month, I'm pretty satisfied.

Ipsy costs $10 per month, and will send you 4-6 sample and full-sized (mostly) beauty items in a makeup bag.  If you want to give it a try, please use my referral link here.  I'll get 250 Ipsy points.  After 1000 points, you get a bonus item.  You get 10 points for each item review you do, so it's hard to accumulate enough points for an item without referrals.  That's the only downside to Ipsy.  You also cannot skip a month, but you can cancel at any time.

No special consideration or compensation was received for this post and all thoughts and opinions are my own. All items mentioned within were paid for by me.  This post contains a referral link; see above for details.