Each month, subscribers will receive a beautiful Glam Bag with deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products. Members can watch and play along with the stylists with the same products that they are using. All for only $10 a month.
When you sign up, you take a "beauty quiz" to let them know what you like. I guess Ipsy is kind of a social network-type beauty website, but I don't do all of that. There's also some sort of points system that I haven't quite figured out. You get 10 points for each review, but you usually need 1000 points to get some kind of bonus product, of which they only have 3 to choose from at a time. There are points for referrals too, but I don't badger my friends into signing up. If you would like to sign up, please consider using my referral link: http://www.ipsy.com/r/4q7r
This month's theme: Pretty In Paradise
This is the first bag I've gotten that I felt completely disappointed. None of these items match for me. I did change some things in my profile and I guess that was a horrible idea. I tried to go back and change things back to what I thought I had before so hopefully July will be better. If it isn't, I may have to cancel my subscription. I've started to really like Ipsy too. This was also the first bag that I've received a damaged item. The sea salt spray leaked and the bottle stuck to the card that came with. There was also a slight white residue (I'm guessing the "salt" in the sea salt spray) on the inside of my bag, which was really disappointing because it's such a cute bag. I did email ipsycare, twice, about the leaky spray and about the mascara: if you read anything about the June bags... you probably read about the horrible smelling mascara. It is a huge debate just like the Pop! Lip Gloss in the February (?I believe) bags where Ipsy says it's perfectly safe, the company just left out some ingredient but people where having adverse reactions using the product. I simply said in my email "I understand that you've said this product is safe, but there is no way I'm putting something that smells like motor oil near my eyes. Can I please have a different sample as a replacement?" And after about a week of waiting (they usually say about 48 hours), I finally received a reply. I don't want to bore you with the whole story, but I want to say that at first the rep seemed very dismissive and just wanted to move on... after replying back and forth I finally am being sent a new bag, a different Be A Bombshell product, and a different sample to replace my leaky sea salt spray. On to the reviews of my products. Even though I felt like nothing would work for me, I still gave each of them a chance. That's what these bags are for. Guess what? I was right :(
Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray: You can see in this picture how the bottle was stuck to the card and I had to peel it away. I have very short - as in the longest part of my hair is about 5 inches - very fine, and very straight hair but I guess it's also supposed to just create texture so I gave it a try. It did absolutely nothing. It smells really good though! I tried to clean the bottle so I can give it to a friend, because it does still work. I'm glad I was able to get a different sample though. After I complained about the leaking, I asked if I could get a different sample since I can't even use this type of spray and it would just be a waste for them and me. They shouldn't have even sent it to me in the first place. Nothing on my profile indicates that I could use a product like this :(
Be A Bombshell Lash Out Mascara: This is the mascara. I like to look at Ipsy's Facebook page to see what others are getting before I get my bag. I never peek to see what I'm getting because I like the surprise. So I had already read people complaining about a bad smell with the mascara. When I saw that I got it, I opened it and smelled it before I did anything else. It smells like motor oil. Or burnt plastic. Or something similar. BaB claims that it is safe and they chose to leave out a fragrance to mask that odor because some people are very sensitive to fragrances. Lots of people have complained about itchy, burning eyes after using this. Other people have said that it's just fine, even though it smells. I wouldn't know. Makeup should not smell that bad, missing ingredient or not. Especially something that's going near my eyes. It went right back in the box and in a drawer (I hate throwing stuff out).
Nyx Butter Gloss in Creme Brulee: I like the texture. I like the smell. But the color is awful. It makes my lips completely disappear! I don't know who picks their colors because I received the same pale color from Ipsy in March from BareMinerals. Same color. Same horrible finish. It kind of works if I have a stain underneath and I put just a dab and spread it around for just a tiny hint of gloss. I wish I would've gotten a brighter color. I went to my profile and told them I didn't want any more gloss. I feel like this color would work on darker skin tones, so I have no idea why they would send it to someone with light skin.
Realtree for Her: This smells very cheap. It doesn't smell bad, but it smells like something I would've gotten from my mom when I was really little and just wanted to play with makeup. That's about all I have to say... smells cheap.
OFRA Universal Eyebrow Pencil in Brown: Of all the liners they had available this month... how did I get *drops voice, no inflection or emotion*... brown? I have started actually doing something with my eyebrows but I do not use a pencil. It doesn't work for me. That's why I have tinted brow gel. I did try this. It's too soft for an eyebrow pencil. It doesn't stay sharp enough. It is also way too warm of a brown for my eyebrows. They are a very dark ashy brown. I've never wanted to use a brown eyeliner, but I guess I have this if I ever feel the need...
Other offers this month were a DD cream, Shimmer liquid eyeliner in blue and some other color I can't remember, green maybe? Anti-frizz styling cream, a charcoal exfoliant (which I would've loved), an oil treatment for hair, Jesse's Girl Waterproof eyeliner (though I did hear about problems with this exploding while opening), a BB cushion that seems awesome, sunscreen, makeup wipes, and Olive and Enzyme cleanser. I would've preferred pretty much any one of those over what I got.
*Update*
I emailed Ipsycare, like I said, and I finally got my replacement products. There was some confusion between the 2 emails I sent and ended up getting 3 products and 2 extra bags. I'm happy about that because the bag they originally sent me was made very poorly compared to my replacements. Plus I loved this month's bag. It's perfect as a clutch (which I've done already) and as organizers in my purse.
So in place of my horrible mascara, I received this Be A Bombshell lip gloss in Last Call Girl. It's VERY BRIGHT pink. It scared me a little when I took it out of the box. But I tried it and I think it's fun. A little out of my comfort zone but I wore it to the beach that day. It's a little sticky, like all glosses, but that seemed to go away after a bit and the color lasted pretty well. I didn't really pay attention since I was at the beach and didn't really care.
Next they sent me the sample I got to choose instead of the sea salt spray: The DERMAdoctor DD Cream. This is how it arrived. The cap was a little loose and you can see in the bottom right picture that after I cleaned it up, it did have the foil over the tip but it wasn't secured on one side and I could easily squeeze some out. I'm not only upset because the product leaked, but it wasted at least 3 uses.
After I got over all this, I finally tried it. The cream only comes in one color and it supposed to self-adjust. It seems a little dark and maybe still is once it adjusted on my face, but more like making me look tan. It is a little sticky feeling and hard to blend on your face though. Which is sad because I ended up really liking it. Even boyfriend told me when he got home "your face looks really good today" (because we talk about breakouts and things like that.) I would consider buying the full size but it's $38 at Ulta and didn't work as well on my oily skin as my other $38 BB cream I bought at the beginning of the summer. Great sample though. Wish they could do better in packing :(
Then I was sent this Laura Mercier Caviar Eyeshadow Stick as a replacement for my first email. I wasn't expecting a product this nice! This is the full size and they are $24 each at Sephora. I wish they would've sent a more universal shade than this deep Plum, but it seems to blend out pretty well. I also tried it as an eyeliner and it didn't irritate my eyes (Success!!! I'm allergic to purple eyeliners, but since this is a shadow, it didn't seem to be any problem) so that's probably more what I'll use it for. I may go out and spend the money on one of the lighter shades because this is very creamy and so easy to use.
