Thursday, July 16, 2015

July 2015 ipsy Glam Bag!

Hello and happy almost weekend, my friends!

My July ipsy Glam Bag arrived in the mail today, so you know I was all up in it taking pictures and testing out my samples!  I'm excited to share with you the things that I received this month.  Before I zoom on into that, here's a bit about what ipsy is if you're unfamiliar.  Like Birchbox, ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription service.  You fill out a beauty survey to indicate what you're interested in, and they send you a fun makeup bag each month with 4-5 product samples for you to try out.  It's $10 (+tax) each month, and it's a fun way to learn about and test out a wide range of brands and products.  If you're interested in signing up, you can click here to check it out for yourself!

Now, enough time spent on that--let's moved on to the stuff you came here for--here are this month's products I've received to try out!

First up, here's a peek at the bag and the (as always) useless card that says the same thing and tells a bit about the theme of the month.  This month's bag is pretty cute!


Product number one:

Nicka K New York
HQ Quad Eyeshadow
Shade: NY081, Plumas
Sample is full size!
Product value - $4.99

So this brand is one I've not heard of before, and it appears to be a brand that seeks to offer high quality products at low prices.  This quad, which is a full size product available for purchase from Nicka K's website, is pretty impressive quality-wise.  The shadows are super soft, creamy, and packed with shimmer.  I'm excited to play with these colors, and I'll make sure I take pictures of any looks I create with them to include in my July wrap-up. 

Product number two:

Jor'el Parker
Eau de Parfum (Roller Ball)
Scent: Classico
Full size, $21-$55
Sample size - 8.8 ml
Sample value - $21.00

So the description on ipsy's website references the "spicy seduction of Indian Tuberose, the striking and sweet sensation of Turkish Cyclamen and the purifying calm of Spanish Mandarin," but I've got to be honest--this scent isn't really my style.  I got excited about the mandarin, but the main notes of this perfume are quite floral and heavy--they make me think of the perfume the 100-year-old librarian would wear when I was in elementary school.  I'm not sure if it's the tuberose that overwhelms the fragrance or the other floral component (Turkish Cyclamen), but it doesn't hit my nose in a way that's pleasant.  I might see if one of my friends or family members enjoys it--just because it isn't my style doesn't mean someone else won't love it.  Also, I have a hard time believing that this roller ball is worth $21.  But I'm not really big into perfume, so I don't have much of a frame of reference, I guess.

Product number three:

Jersey Shore Cosmetics
Mongongo Vanilla Coconut Cream Lip Conditioner
Sample is full size!
Product value - $10

This product might be my favorite thing from this month's bag.  It's super moisturizing, it smells great, and I've only put it on a couple of times today and my lips feel...better.  This product/brand is known for being organic and all-natural, so it makes me excited to add it to the products I carry in my purse.  Well done, ipsy.

Product number four:

Coolway
Beachy Salt Spray
Full size, $12.95
Sample size - 0.5 oz / 15 ml
Sample value - $1.96

I'm not super excited about this particular product, mostly because I've found that beachy salt products like this don't do a lot for my hair.  I'll give it a few tries and let you know more in my monthly wrap up, but I don't anticipate that this is going to do a whole lot for me.  It doesn't seem to have a strong scent--but I guess I'll know for sure once I try it out.

Product number five:

Teeez Cosmetics
Read My Lips Lipstick
Shade: Killing Me Softly
Sample is full size!
Sample value - $22

While I'm impressed to have received another full size product in this month's ipsy Glam Bag, I'm a bit disappointed in this one.  It's a pretty enough shade--I'm liking coral lips in general--but the formula is just not that great.  It's fairly creamy texture-wise, but it goes on sort of streak/patchy, and it just doesn't feel all that different from a standard lipstick (despite claims of being moisturizing, etc).  I've not been able to really test its lasting power, but I'd be skeptical that it's all that long-lasting.  I'll add it to my makeup bag, but it probably wont get much use from me.  (The packaging is super cute, though.)

That's all that I got for this month with ipsy--overall value comes to almost six times the subscription cost at $59.95, but I would personally contest the "value" of some of the items I got this month.  Regardless, I'm glad to have gotten some new goodies to play with, and I look forward to giving you all some more thoughts when I wrap up this month in my next post.

In the meantime, keep enjoying your summer, my friends, and don't forget to be awesome.

Best wishes,
Marlee

PS - New here?  Take a walk down memory lane and check out some of my other posts about ipsy, Birchbox, mini-hauls, and month-in-reviews!  Take a look to the right into my archives for those links. :)

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