Ipsy Glam Bag: November 2014

I’ve been avoiding writing about my November Ipsy Glam Bag for awhile because quite frankly, it annoyed me this month. For weeks, they were touting spoilers that contained big name brands like it Cosmentics, Laura Mercier, tarte, temptu, and Glam Glow. I would have been happy with something from ANY of those brands, really. It seemed like an amazing deal. Read on to discover why that was not the case.

Each month, Ipsy sends a cosmetic bag containing 4-5 products/samples. For $10/month, sometimes this can be a great deal and sometimes you might as well throw $10 in the trash, which really is the case for any subscription box.

Ipsy bucks the trend and actually does NOT insert a card that describes all of the items. This is annoying also, but this is par for the course as far as ipsy is concerned. They only include a card that describes their “themes” which are tenuous at best. This month, Girl meets Glitter was the theme and they included a glitter bag but… that’s the end of the glitter theme.

So now for the disappointment. I was actually really hoping for this Bye Bye Under Eye concealer from it Cosmetics so I was excited to receive it. Unfortunately, ipsy sent everyone the same color. You know what doesn’t work for everyone? The same color of face makeup. This is too dark for me. I can’t use it at all. When we subscribe to ipsy, we fill out a questionnaire of coloring questions and what we use and don’t use so it seems awfully lazy to send everyone the same shade and just hope it works. The quality of it is super nice and I hate that it’s going to waste but I’m mad at it cosmetics also because they had to have known this would happen. It seems lazy on the part of the brand and ipsy and I’m annoyed about it. They could have sent me something from the other high end lines that is more universal so I could have used something but they didn’t so I’m sad.

The other products in the bag are OK, but nothing really special.

• SeaRX Micro-Dermabrasion Face & Body Scrub: This is a very tiny sample for something that is marketed as a face and body scrub. Perhaps I could use it on part of my arm.
• StarLooks Lipgloss: This is a basic, mauve-y rosy pink gloss but the formula is a little gloopy and doesn’t look great on me.
• Be a Bombshell Cosmetics Eye Base in Submissive: This is the only product in my bag that I somewhat like. It gives eyelids a nice sheen in a light brownish neutral. I see myself using this with a bit of light liner and mascara and a darker red or berry lipstick. My verdict is still out on my opinion on Be a Bombshell Cosmetics but I will keep you posted after I have more experience with the brand.
• Marc Anthony Oil of Morocco Argan Oil Volume Shine Hairspray: All of these words together don’t make sense to me. Usually the words “oil” and “volume” don’t go together. “Shine” and “volume” don’t go together. You can usually have one with the sacrifice of the other. I try so hard to have any volume at all with my hair so I am afraid to use this as a hairspray where I have tried to give my poor hair some volume.

I’m rating November’s ipsy glam bag a D. There’s one product I can use and I’m not sure it’s worth $10. I’m glad I got to at least see what the formula of the it Cosmetics concealer was but I could do that at any Sephora or Ulta if I really wanted to. I think it’s extremely lazy that ipsy and it didn’t try to create a sample that everyone could use and be excited about.

I haven’t been too thrilled with ipsy lately and I’m thinking about cancelling my subscription. I am going to see what they send out for December and then I’ll make my decision. Every month I see bags that I like better than the ones that I have been receiving so I keep rating the products I receive low on their site in hopes they will send me something better the next time. So far, this strategy does not seem to be working.

If you are interested in learning more about the Ipsy Glam Bag, click here! Maybe you’ll be happier with the products than I have been!