Guys.. I did a thing. I signed up for Ipsy and decided to give it a try this year, you know, since it’s the beginning of the year and all. I have been a fan of monthly subscription boxes for a while now and decided to delve into a full-on beauty box. It was a toss up between getting Ipsy or Birchbox, and Ipsy won for now.
So, here we are Jan. 2016 and this month’s box just came in. The theme for this month’s box is “All Eyes on You” and came in this awesome Warhol style bag. Totes awesome in my book! I am such a sucker for artsy, brightly-colored things.
Inside the bag, there were five items:
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A Pixi by Petra Eyeshadow Duo in Lavender Bloom
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Burts Bees Cleansing Oil
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Skone Brushes Smudger Brush
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The Balm’s Mr. Wright in Scott
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Hanalei Sugar Lip Scrub
Ready? Alrighty, let’s dive in!
First up is the Pixi by Petra Eyeshadow Duo in Lavender Bloom: it’s a pretty duo-chrome lavender and medium brown duo. The brown is super pigmented but the lavender color isn’t as much, but it does have a pretty sheen. Here’s the look I came up with using the eyeshadow duo, liner, and smudger brush.
The colors go well together for a subtle daytime look. I went out on a limb and scraped a bit of the shadows off onto a palette and mixed them with MUFE’s mixing medium and both colors increased in opacity for the color payoff.
Burt’s Bees Cleansing Oil… I nopped this item right on out. I’m not particularly fond of cleansing oils and add to the fact that this stuff comes with an overpowering floral smell. Nope. No thanks. I had it opened for not even 3 minutes and it triggered a migraine. This is the first Burts Bees product that I’ve tried that I didn’t like. Oh well, I guess I can’t like everything… now, pass me my lip balm. MUWAH HA HA HA!
Skone Brushes Smudger Brush: I’m a sucker for brushes and when I saw that they included a brush in my bag I was excited. You can never have too many small brushes, but like every brush on the market, they are not made equally. While the tip of this brush looks nice, the quality of the hair is very coarse. When I tried to use it on my lower lash line to smudge everything out, it felt scratchy and irritated my skin because it was so rough. I’m going to wash and condition the brush to try and make it a little less scratchy.
I have never tried anything from The Balm Cosmetics, mind you I’ve had my eyes set on the Mary Luminizer Trio for months now, so when I saw this in the bag, I was excited. The color is lovely and will work great as an eyebrow pencil with some of my dark wine colored wigs. I haven’t had the best of luck with twist-up pencils, mostly because they tend to dry out quickly. I tried to use this eyeliner, and it wouldn’t work for me. It was hard to apply and if I needed to go over the line to build up the pigmentation, it pilled-up and crumbled. Has this happened to you guys too? Let me know in the comments…
I saved the best for last, Hanalei Sugar Lip Polish / Scrub: I like this scrub. I’ve made lip scrubs in the past and even have a couple that I’ve either purchased or received as samples. I really like the consistency of this lip scrub. The grains of sugar aren’t so big as to assault your lips while still being big enough to get the job done. It’s super easy to use, just use a little bit, apply and scrub with your finger and then wipe away the excess. It left my lips very smooth. I like to follow up after a lip scrub with a nourishing lip balm or lip mask.
So far I’m on the fence about the IPSY bag, but it is my first month. If you would like to sign up for Ipsy and experience it for yourself, it would be awesome if you used my referral code: https://www.ipsy.com/new?refer=wqpvq It would help me out a lot.
If you are already subscribed to Ipsy, let me know what you got in your glam bag in the comments below! Did you like this month’s bag as a whole or was it kind of “meh” like mine was? Oh, and if you’re a member of another beauty subscription box, let me know which one and why you like it in the comments below. H’okay? Awesome!
