It's that time of the month again,
ipsy Glam Bag time!
For any new readers or those unaware, the
ipsy Glam Bag is a monthly beauty subscription service. You pay $10 a month, or $110 a year (basically you get one bag free for paying up front for a year) and once a month a package comes straight to your mailbox that contains a cute little makeup bag and five full size, or deluxe size sample beauty products. It's a great way to try out new products and build your makeup collection for a cheap price.
ipsy has a survey on their site where you can tailor your box to your likes and wants. Every month they have around 35 to 40 different items that go into the bags, and the survey helps them to customize the five items in your bag to suit you. You can further customize your future bags by reviewing your bag items on the
ipsy website. While the bag might be the same for everyone, the contents are different.
The theme the May 2016 Glam Bag, is "Destination Chic".
This month's bag is really cute. It features landmarks from all over the globe and has an envelope fold over style closure. The bag came in four different colors, and I was a tad disappointed to have not received the purple one. The lining is a water resistant type nylon that wipes clean really easily, so I think this bag will be great for holding travel brushes.
This is really just an average clay mask. It absorbs oil, removes impurities, and exfoliates the skin. It left my skin smooth, and soft, but I didn't see any signs of deep pore cleaning. I think the best thing about it is the scent. It smells AMAZING. It's a nice mask, but considering the price of the full-size product, and that its performance is average, I don't think it will be replacing my current clay mask.
Aurora Gel Effect Nail Lacquer in the color Safety Orange- full size- $12.00
This is again, just average. It goes on smoothly and is nicely opaque. Two coats give perfect coverage. I don't feel like it lasts as long as a gel polish should. I had some chipping withing 24 hours the same as I have with any regular polish. I use my hands a lot, and I'm rough on nail color. I was excited to try this since it is supposed to be comparable to a salon gel manicure. I feel kind of let down. The color is also not exactly a normal wear color. It would be good as an accent color, or to be used in nail art, but it definitely isn't a whole hand color for me.
hanalei Lip Treatment- sample size- $8.00
I am a victim of perpetual chapped lips, so this product really had me excited. It's made with kukui nut oil, which is known for its rejuvenation and moisturization of dry lips. A little of this goes a very long way. It's too greasy to use under lipstick, but it is a nice moisturizing and soothing treat to lips after removing a long wear lipstick. It doesn't last on the lips as long as I would like, which means it doesn't penetrate very deeply, but it feels nice and does moisturize well, though it is completely topical.
Smashbox X-Rated Mascara- sample size- $7.00
I'm a huge fan of this mascara. I've been using it for quite a while. It's my go to for my bottom lashes, and for days I'm not wearing falsies. Adding additional coats really amps up the drama factor with this mascara. A single coat gives you a very classic day look and adding a few coats ups the volume and length to levels I've never achieved with any other mascara. My travel makeup bag really needed this.
GlamGlow YouthMud TingleExfoliate Treatment- sample size- $20.50
First off, that name... Simmer down GlamGlow.
This was another product that performed at a lackluster lever. It's just another average mask. It did the usual mask tasks of drying up oil and removing dirt and impurities, and exfoliating away dead skin cells but beyond that, it didn't do much. I once again saw no evidence of deep pore cleaning or any advanced resurfacing. Considering this products infamy as being the "10 minute facial in a jar" I really expected to get fantastic results, and I was left wanting. I would never pay the price tag on the full-size product, it just is not worth it to me.
Usually, this product is sold in a jar, which considering it's chunky nature thanks to the green tea leaves and pumice, a jar is a great choice. Packaging the sample in a tube was a horrible choice. Even though the opening was larger than most tubes, it still isn't big enough to pass large chunks of tea leaves without problems. I thought the product was super thick when I gave it a squeeze and no product emerged, so I squeezed harder, and then harder still when it still was not coming out. That extra pressure was enough to pass the tea leaf blocking the opening, and send mask squirting every which way. Husbands are not amused if they have to clean mask off of a ceiling, and cats are not amused if they have to have mask cleaned out of their fur. 7-year-old little girls, however, find this all to be VERY amusing.
In all, this bag was really a disappointment. It has a $60.00 value, which isn't bad for the $10 bag price tag, except most of the items are quite overpriced for their average quality. The lip treatment is okay, and the mascara is awesome, but the other items are nothing special. I really do not feel like I got my $10 worth this month. Hopefully, next month brings much better things.
You can check out my
March 2016 ipsy Glam Bag Review if you missed it, or if you're looking for a truly amazing clay mask you can read my review of
Valentia Detoxifying Clay Mask or if you have brow issues can check out my review of the
Billion Dollar Brow: Brows on PointMicro Pencil.
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