This coming Friday I’ll be heading up to Ottawa for the capital city’s Race Weekend. Last year, after hearing about my first race experience during Toronto’s Pride Week (the Pride and Remembrance Run, which I’ll be doing again this year), my dad decided he wanted us to run a race together and he picked the 5K during this event. Despite having grown up in Ottawa, I had never, ever heard of this event!
Anyway, the point of this is… I’m only in Ottawa for less than 48 hours, so I don’t really need a whole lot of makeup. Regardless, I’m bringing some, so here’s what I decided to pack.
Urban Decay Anti-Aging Primer Potion and Benefit They’re Real mascara
The necessary basics – mascara and primer. I’m a little bit nervous to only be bringing one eye primer, but since I’m stuffing everything into a smaller bag than normal, I’m only bringing this trial size of Urban Decay‘s Anti-Aging Primer Potion (which is something I’ve also never tried). Also along for the ride is a trial size of Benefit‘s They’re Real mascara.
Murad Oil-Control Mattifier and yaby foundation in Buff
I have no idea if I’ll even want to wear foundation on the weekend at any point, but I’m bringing a small tube of yaby‘s foundation in Buff and a MuradOil-Control Mattifierprimarily just to use it up.
Bobbi Brown blush in Apricot and NYX Love In Rio trio in Segredos de Giselle
My only blush for the weekend is Bobbi Brown‘s Apricot – it’s beyond gorgeous. And since I’m bringing a fairly neutral eye palette, NYX‘s trio in Segredos de Giselle, I’ll need that brightness from the blush to liven up my face.
Physicians Formula Shimmer Strip in Sunset Strip and Hard Candy bronzer in Hula Hula
Looking at these side-by-side and I’m wondering why the heck I’m bringing both of them… Regardless, they’re both in the bag! Physicians Formula‘s Shimmer Strip in Sunset Strip needs some love, so in it goes. Hard Candy‘s Hula Hula bronzer is a fantastic shimmery bronzer that I’m going to use to fake like I’ve got some semblance of a tan. 😉
Nivea – A Kiss of Berry Swirl, Revlon Snow Peach and Urban Decay gloss in Naked
And once again I’m bringing far more lip products than I’ll ever actually use. The Nivea lip balm is a necessity, but the others are completely superfluous. RevlonSnow Peach is there in case I feel the need to wear a bright colour and the Urban Decay mini gloss inNaked is there if I’m feeling lazy as hell.
All jammed in
And since this month’s Ipsy bag was so darn cute and tiny, I put all my products in there. Now… fingers crossed that we have wonderful weather for the race on Saturday!
Another month, another Ipsy bag! I really like the bag this month – I’m a sucker for anything green and leafy. It’s also a cloth bag this time so that’s… moderately interesting? (Honestly I really have no idea what to do with all of these bags.)
Let’s dive right in.
Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive (full size)
This was definitely the most exciting thing in my bag. The chubby stick lip craze that seems to have swept the beauty world for the last year or two was just something I never really got into. My first exposure was the Revlon Balm Stains and I was not a fan of those. Those ones fade really funny, slide around on my lips and they feel really waxy/hard to apply.
That being said, everyone keept going on about the matte balms, but I held off on buying them because I didn’t need/want anymore. So I was definitely happy to get this for “free” in my bag. The colour is a bit tame, but obviously this makes it easier to please everyone who may get this colour.
And I have to say… this is awesome. Revlon‘s matte balm in Elusive is a damn showstopper. It goes on smooth, dries down to an almost transferproof finish (not right away though, you may want to blot a little to get it that way) and it stays PUT. I tried this without a primer because I was feeling lazy and it definitely lasted several hours. It even lasted through a semi-greasy lunch until I swiped at my mouth with a napkin to tidy up and it all came off then. The other side of this is now I want EVERY SHADE.
Hang Ten Classic Sport – SPF 50 (trial size)
I don’t really have much to say about Hang Ten‘s Classic Sport since it’s a sunscreen and I haven’t had the opportunity to use it yet, but unlike a lot of people who got this in their bag, I’m more than happy to test this out. I usually stick to SPF 30 but I’ll try this out when I play soccer throughout the summer and see how it holds up compared to my usualCoppertone Sport sunscreen. I also like that it comes with a safety seal on the tube and that it’s not even remotely close to expiring which I know has been a concern with beauty box samples before.
Eva NYC – Therapy Session Hair Mask (trial size)
Eva NYC is a brand I’m completely unfamiliar with. The instructions for their Therapy Session Hair Mask say that it can either be used as a deep conditioning mask, or an every day conditioner. Now, I’m not really sure what the heck the difference is since I leave conditioner in my hair for about five minutes every time I shower anyway. It left my hair feeling no different than any other conditioner so I didn’t feel like it was particularly special.
Pacifica – Duo #2 Eyeshadows
I’ve known of the brand Pacifica for years, but had never tried their products. As far as I’m aware, they’re well known for their lotions and butters, so I didn’t really know what to expect from this eyeshadow duo. It doesn’t help that they don’t seem to sell single or duo eyeshadows on their site – they’re all in palettes.
Anyway, this duo (#2?) turned out to be a dud in my opinion.
Pacifica Eyeshadow Duo Swatches & Look
The white-gold shade is really patchy and chunky. The purple takes a lot of swipes and packing in order to get any kind of decent colour pay-off. In the end, the pictures really look better than I felt it looked in person, but by the end of the day the whole thing had faded and I didn’t even think it was that pigmented to begin with. So I basically went from a soft smudged out look (unintentionally, I just could not get enough colour to come off on my lids) and ended up with a faded out muddle of a look by the end of the day. Boo.
derma e – Microdermabrasion Scrub (trial size)
I was a bit surprised to get another microdermabrasion scrub in my bag since I got one just last month (however, I was so pleased with my previous sample that I sure wasn’t going to turn my nose up at this one!). I didn’t have anything in particular to use this derma e on so I just used it on my upper arms in the shower since I have a few random dry spots there. It felt exactly the same as the Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion scrub, although this one smelled rather lime-y (a positive for me!).
Ipsy’s May 2014 Glam Bag
Ipsy May 2014 Breakdown
(all prices in USD)
Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in Elusive ($8.99, full size)
Eva NYC Therapy Sessions Hair Mask (60 ml @ $4.80, full size is $40 for 500 ml)
Pacifica Natural Beauty Duo #2 (they don’t sell single or even duo eyeshadows on their web site, so I’m taking a complete price guess here based on their palette price ~$10)
Hang Ten Classic Sport SPF50 (30 ml @ $2.20, full size is $12.99 for 177 ml)
derma e Microdermabrasion Scrub (28g @ $16.25, full size is $32.50 for 56g)
BAG TOTAL = $42.24
My Thoughts
I’m a little indifferent to this bag. I’ll certainly use the hair conditioner, sunscreen and microdermabrasion scrub up, but they’re not really things I would get super excited about. The eyeshadow is something I’m really happy to try out, it’s just a shame that the pigmentation is a bit of a dud.
The Revlon matte balm is an amazing product though – I’m really happy that was included in this bag because my disappointment with their balm stains had turned me off chubby lip pens entirely.
Another month, another bag of Ipsy goodies. This month’s theme was “Beauty Rocks” or something to that extent. Aside from the record on the front of the bag (an object I’m not sure the generation after me has even had physical contact with) the theme is slightly debatable.
Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-on eye pencil in Black Velvet (travel size)
First up, and the item everyone got in their bag, is Urban Decay‘s new 24/7 eye liner pencil in Black Velvet. I’m one of few people who doesn’t actually own an UD liner so I was really happy to receive this. Urban Decay says this is “an ultra velvety, plush version” of their usual liners and this can create “perfectly blended-out or rich, precise lines that are blacker-than-black”. This is a hefty size sample – in fact it’s only 0.01 oz smaller than a full size product!
Testing out Black Velvet
Judging by the picture on the diagram that came with the liner, I assumed I could blur this out to a really smudgy, smoky look. Well… that didn’t actually work out. The pencil is certainly very black, but blending this sucker out was difficult – too difficult. I ended up using UD‘s Blackout eyeshadow to blend out the pencil liner in an attempt to make it smudgy. As you can see, I didn’t really succeed, but I ran out of time that morning and finished it off as quickly as I could. Despite the pencil not actually smudging like I thought it would (or like they implied), I really do like this liner. It’s super black, and it’s wonderfully smudge resistant (hah). It sets really, REALLY quickly, hence why I had problems smudging it out. The liner didn’t transfer to my upper lid throughout the work day. It also claims to be waterproof, but I didn’t test that bit out. Definitely love this one.
Big Sexy Hair – Root Pump (travel size)
I was excited to try this out as I definitely feel like I need some lift in the roots of my hair and this product looked interesting. Big Sexy Hair‘s Root Pump is a white mousse that dries clear. The instructions indicate to apply it to the roots of your hair while your hair is damp and blow dry your roots away from your scalp. Did that and I think it worked – I certainly seem to have more lift to my hair through the scalp… but now my hair feels like CHALK! Like chalk that’s been smashed into powder, had water added to it and then rubbed into the roots of my hair. I constantly run my fingers through my hair throughout the day and the texture this created in my hair to give it the extra OOMPH just totally freaked me out. (It feels similar to those powder-shaker root lifts, another product I can’t stand.) So while this product DOES work, the texture is so awful to me that there’s no way I’ll use it.
Elizabeth Mott – Pop! goes the shadow in Champagne (full size)
A lot of people are going to love this colour I’m sure, but I’m only so-so on it. Elizabeth Mott‘s Champagne eye shadow is a barely there shade that adds a little bit of shine on my lids, but not a whole lot of colour payoff. It swatches okay, but the end result on the lids isn’t spectacular even with a primer. ( In the shot above, the shadow was applied all over my lid right up to my brows.) I was happy to try it out though, and I’ll give it a shot as a cheek highlighter as well.
Starlooks Luscious Longwear Lip Pencil in Naked (full size)
Since I discovered MAC‘s Prep + Prime for lips I don’t have a massive need for lip liners (as a result, I only have two!). As a result, this item was actually pretty welcome in my bag as I didn’t have a colour like it for the times where I do want to add some extra wear time to my lip colour or even just to wear a liner under some gloss. Starlooks Naked lip liner is a peachy-pink colour that slid onto my lips without any tugging (which isn’t something I can say about MAC‘s pencils… those suckers tug at my lips!). It does have a bit of a plastic taste to it which is a bit meh, but not enough to prevent me from wearing it.
Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant (trial size)
I had to look up what the heck microdermabrasion was in comparison to a regular exfoliator and it turns out microdermabrasion utilizes smaller beads and is stronger than a regular exfoliator.Dr. Brandt‘s microdermabrasion feels really lovely on the skin and I can definitely feel the granular difference between this and the cheapo exfoliators I buy at the drug store. It also, incredibly, smells just like Sabon‘s Lemon Mint body scrub which makes this an absolute PLEASURE to use.
The full price of this product, however, is a whopping $78 USD. I love trying out this luxury brand, but let’s get real – this is a sample in a $10 a month beauty bag – most of us are not looking to spend nearly $80 on one skincare item. So it seems out of line with the clientele, but what do I know?
I used this once on my face and it felt wonderful, but I’m going to restrict the use of this to a pesky milia pearl I’ve got on one of my lower lids and see if this will work to get rid of it with prolonged use.
Ipsy April 2014 Breakdown
(all prices in USD)
Urban Decay 24/7 Velvet Glide-on eye pencil in Black Velvet (0.03 oz @ $15, full size is $20 for 0.04 oz)
Big Sexy Hair Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse (50 ml @ $3, full size is $17.95 for 300 ml)
Elizabeth Mott Pop! goes the shadow – Champagne ($12.99 USD, full size)
Starlooks Luscious Longwear Lip Pencil in Naked ($14, full size)
Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion skin exfoliant (7.5 g @ $9.75, full size is $78 for 60 g)
BAG TOTAL = $54.74
My Thoughts
Yet another good bag put together by Ipsy! I loved trying everything out even if some of them didn’t work out for me (I’m looking at you specifically Root Pump). Double pencils (eye and lip) was a bit of a let down at first but once I used them I was really happy with them. The Urban Decay one definitely lived up to the brand’s reputation and I love the microdermabrasion product – I just wish the full size wasn’t so expensive because I could never bring myself to spend that much on an exfoliator. Definitely staying subbed!
Ipsy‘s March bag was an absolute slam dunk. There is nothing in here I didn’t like! At first I was disappointed because there were only four products but they really outdid themselves on this one.
Let’s take a look at what came for me this month.
Pixi – Flawless Beauty Primer (12 ml for $8.80, full size is 30 ml for $22)
I’m not really sold on primers to be honest. I’ve gone through a few sample sizes of various brands and none of them really did anything for me (positive or negative). That being said, Pixi‘s Flawless Beauty Primer actually *did* do something.
When I first squeezed a drop out of the tube I was a little skeptical. The product isn’t clear, it’s actually quite pink with a sheen to it. So I’m thinking “well this is going to end in tears…” as I was blending it into my skin. It definitely tinted my skin and I looked like I had a bit of a pinky tan. I blended some foundation over top of it and it seemed to add a healthy glow even through the matte foundation (MUA matte). As a note, less is more with this product. I used too much and it balled up a little in certain areas – user error though, I don’t think it was the fault of the product.
bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie in Get Ready (No size anywhere, best guess it’s 1/4 the size of a normal lipstick, so… $4.50, full size is $18)
I don’t own anything from bareMinerals so I was really happy to get this lipstick. It’s a really tiny tube, maybe 1/4 the size of a full size of lipstick and the colour is beautiful.Get Ready is a pretty generic medium pink – which makes it easy to market to a lot of people. It has quite a bit of slip to it on the lips, so you may find it slides around a lot. I wore it with a lip primer and found it wore off within two hours or so, but it’s such an easy shade to wear and re-apply that you won’t find yourself with really awkward fade marks as the product wears away from your lips.
NYX Love In Rio – Segredos de Giselle ($6 USD, full size)
NYX changed up their eyeshadow trios relatively recently (I’ve seen them being phased out of Rexall over the last year or so) but I’ve never gotten around to trying out the old ones or the new ones. This trio, Segredos de Giselle, is a pretty failsafe colour combination (reminds me of Wet n Wild‘s Walking On Eggshells).
NYX Love In Rio – Segredos de Giselle
The swatches look rather sheer, but they apply really nicely on the lids. NYX having quality products is shocking to no one as they’ve proven themselves multiple times over the years with their products. One things that especially pleased me is how similar the beige shade is to Urban Decay‘s Virgin (closer than MAC‘s Shroom, in my opinion) and the brown is pretty close to Urban Decay‘s Smog.
Chella – Indigo eyeliner ($24 USD, full size)
The final item in my bag was this Indigo liner from Chella. I was expecting this to be a pencil liner (boo) so I was extremely pleased when I found out it was actually a liquid liner (yay!). The colour is absolutely beautiful and incredibly vibrant. It doesn’t apply quite as easily to the eyelid as it does to the hand – getting the product to flow right out of the very tip can be a bit annoying. Although it can be a bit of a nuisance with application, it does stay on all day and didn’t smudge or move around at all. I also really love that this liner is completely matte. Definite winner.
Eye look using NYX trio and the Chella linerIpsy’s March 2014 Glam Bag
Ipsy March 2014 Breakdown
Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer (12 ml @ $8.80 USD, full size is 30 ml for $22 USD)
bareMinerals Marvelous Moxie in Get Ready (no size anywhere – best guess it’s 1/4 the size of a normal lipstick, so about $4.50 USD, full size is $18 USD)
NYX Love In Rio – Segredos de Giselle ($6 USD, full size)
Chella Indigo liner ($24 USD, full size)
BAG TOTAL: $~43.30 USD
My Thoughts
I said it right at the top of this post – I loved this month! I’ll use every item and that’s really exciting! The colours are on the safe side (pinks, beige, brown, etc.) because I think that for the most part people who subscribe to Ipsy are looking for something that’s pretty generic… which is why the indigo liner was such a surprise. It’s beautifully vibrant and while it’s not an easy safe colour like black or brown, it’s still useable by loads of people.
Time for Ipsy‘s February glam bag! Gotta say, not keen on the super pink (and rather bland, I might add) bag, but to each their own. As a new subscriber though, I have to wonder what the heck does one do with all of the bags that you end up accumulating every month?
J. Cat Beauty Eyelashes ($3.99 USD)
I haven’t tried these J. Cat eyelashes yet because I really only wear false lashes maybe once a month. They do, however, look very similar to the Ardell102 Demis that I wear so I’ll be happy to try these out.
J. Cat Beauty Eyelashes – EL13
They look a tad bit thiner than the Ardells, but that’s fine by me as I’m not overly fussy in the fake eyelashes department.
Pop Beauty – Plump Pout in Fuchsia Freesia (4g for $7.50, full size is $16 for 8.5g)
There’s no doubt this is a beautiful colour. Pop Beauty‘s Fuchsia Freesia is a very vibrant fuchsia (duh) that goes on the lips fairly opaque. Unfortunately the lasting powder is on parr with other lipglosses and for that reason I’m just not that drawn to it. I haven’t got the patience to be fiddling around with my gloss every damn hour during the workday.
Pop Beauty – Plump Pout in Fuchsia Freesia
As you can see from the shot, it really is gorgeous. I just wish it stayed that way! The top right shot is right after I’d applied it. The bottom right is after an hour of wear time. It’s almost completely rubbed off and I wasn’t even eating or drinking anything! Way too high maintenance for me. I’ll end up bringing it to work and leaving it there for those days where I forget to pack a lipstick or something. It does have a weird burnt cinnamon/plastic taste and smell to it too, but not as bad as some things I’ve worn.
Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One in Violette $18
I didn’t have much hopes for a cream shadow that I had to apply with a wand applicator, but this one surprised me. Tini Beauty is a company I’m completely unfamiliar with, so $18 for a cream shadow seems kind of steep. It is, however, quite beautiful on the eyes.
Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One in Violette
The product does indicate that it has a built in primer, but since I always wear primer I can’t let you know how this holds up by itself. Shot on the left is the Eyetini alone over NARS‘ primer. And the shot on the right has MAC‘s Blackberry blended into the crease with nothing over the Eyetini itself. The texture of this product is very smooth on application (I even used the built in applicator and didn’t bother with another brush!), but it does dry to a very paper-like texture. It’s not necessarily bad, it’s just a bit odd. It feels a bit similar to a Maybelline Color Tattoo in that sense. When I wore this eye look, I didn’t put anything over the Eyetini and it wore for a solid 14 hours. I experienced minor creasing and a very slight bit of bunching/flaking. Overall though, two thumbs up on this product!
Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask ($~6)
Face masks don’t really make my heart go pitter-patter, but it was in the bag (and apparently I’d filled out my profile to indicate I wanted masks… go figure) so I may as well give it a shot.Skyn Iceland‘s Fresh Start Mask did… nothing. Sure, it made my skin really uncomfortably hot in an oh-my-god-I-want-to-scratch-it-off kind of way, but did it actually really DO anything for me? Not that I can see.
Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask
I used it once a week as the instructions indicated (I got two uses out of the foil packets), and mixed them how they said to (“blue” clay first, then the gooey gel one on top”). And uh yeah. I did a face mask. It didn’t make my skin worse, or better. /shrug
Zoya Dot Nail Polish ($9)
I was eager to try Zoya for the first time! I have a friend who swears by them but I’d never owned a bottle before. Zoya describes Dot as a full coverage pink-petal cream.
Well.
No.
No, it is not full coverage. Or opaque. Have a look:
Zoya Dot Nail Polish
Aside from my painted cuticles and the random cat hair, you can see that it took four coats before I got opaque, streak-free colour. That’s without a base coat or top coat too. I don’t know about you, but if I have to apply six coats of nail polish to my nails, that stuff is never going to dry and it ends up going all mushy. Definitely not pleased with this one. For those people it does work for, this is at least part of Zoya‘s Spring 2014 collection so it’s a very recently released shade.
Ipsy February 2014 Breakdown
J. Cat Beauty Eyelashes – $3.99 USD (full size)
Pop Beauty Plump Pout in Fuchsia Freesia – 4g for $7.50 (full size is $16 for 8.5g)
Tini Beauty Eyetini Cordial Cream Shadow + Base In One in Violette – $18 (full size)
Skyn Iceland Fresh Start Mask – $6.50 (full size is 6 masks for $39 USD)
Zoya Dot Nail Polish – $9 (full size)
BOX TOTAL: $44.99
My Thoughts
It’s funny… while writing and editing this review, I can see that I was pretty displeased with a lot of these products. However, my lasting impression from the bag isn’t a bad one. I was happy to try out the stuff that was new to me, and even though it didn’t work out, or I didn’t notice much of a difference in my skin (looking at you Fresh Start Mask), I was still happy to give these products a shot.
The only real hit for me out of this bag was the cream shadow (love it) and I hope to like the eyelashes when I get around to trying them out.
