Saturday, October 10, 2015

October ipsy Glambag!

Welcome back, friends!

I was going to merge together my sample review with this post, but I realized after looking over the samples I received last month, I really don't have a ton to share.  September has been crazy busy, and I think for now, I'll just move on to October's ipsy Glam bag.  I'll do a favorites post at some point in the next month or so and let you know what products I'm loving to make up for no sample redux post this month. Deal? Cool! Let's move onward!

This month's ipsy Glam bag is themed "alter ego." I decided there's no real point in my sharing the card with you guys, since it offers no valuable information on the products, so let's take a peek at the bag itself!


This month's bag has 2 sides--a nod to the alter ego theme, I believe.  One side is a metallic gold and the other is a shiny patent-looking black vinyl.  It's a bit on the small side for it to be of much use, but I may pass it along to a little girl I hold quite dear to my heart and let her play with it. :)

Before we get into this month's samples--and they're pretty rad--I want to share with you my first ever points purchase from ipsy.  I had been saving up my points because there wasn't anything being offered for points that was of much interest to me, but then I saw a really nice eye shadow brush so I scooped it up.  Check it out below!



Luxie Beauty
Rose Gold Tapered Blending Eye Brush
#205
Value: $12.00

This shadow brush is really soft and fluffy, and will help me step up my shadow application game.  It was a great points redemption option and it'll be a great addition to my growing makeup brush collection!

Onward to this month's samples!  Ironically enough, here's product number one.


Royal & Langnickel Moda
Standard Eyeshadow Shader Brush
(Medium Eye Shader)
Product is full size
Product value: ~$9.00

I would finally get a brush as a product the same month I've cashed in my points on...a brush.  I'm glad it's a different kind of brush, at least.  This pretty little pink brush will be great for packing shadow onto the lid and for placing shadow into the crease of my eye.  Another addition to my makeup brush collection that I'm happy to have!

Product number two:


Balanced Guru
Scrub Me Body Scrub
Full size, $22.99
Sample Size, 1 oz
Sample value, $2.87

This body scrub is a dry scrub that you mix with water, and it's even safe for your face if used gently.  It's got ingredients like raw sugar, organic coffee, coconut oil, babassu oil, cocoa butter, and also has a bit of spearmint and ginger for an invigorating scent.  I'm excited to try it out--it's totally different from any other product I own.  

Product number three:

Nourish Organic
Pur Hydrating Argan Face Serum
Full size, $23.99 (on sale for $17.99 @ Nourish Organic's website)
Sample size, 0.5 fl oz
Sample value, $17.14 

Serums are something I don't have a ton of experience with, but I'm always happy to try them out.  They are so good for your skin, and going into the colder seasons, it's extra important to keep skin healthy and hydrated.  This serum is super thin--the full size actually comes with a spray top.  I'm sort of surprised that this sample doesn't come with the same kind of dispenser, but it's still a great size for a product of this type.  It smells of apricots and I'm assuming I'll pick up on the rose scent when I use it on my face.  I'll get back to you about how this product works for me!

Product number four:

theBalm Cosmetics
Meet Matt(e) Hughes Long-Lasting Liquid Lipstick
Shade: Committed
Full size, $17.00
Sample size, 0.04 fl oz
Sample value, $3.11

Liquid Lipsticks have taken over the makeup world as the new way to wear color on your lips.  I've purchased about 4 different matte lipstick products, some of which have been liquid, and I've heard of this product, but I haven't tried it before.  I like theBalm a lot--I actually managed to nab their Mary Lou-manizer at half price on Haute Look last month.  This shade is a very pretty pinky nude shade that's nice and natural looking.  I'll definitely wear this shade, and just from swatching it, I can tell it goes on and stays put pretty well.  We'll see how it holds up during a day of wear!

Product number five:

MICA Beauty
ipsy Exclusive Cream Eyeshadow in Bronze
Full size: ? Not currently available
Sample size, .14 oz
Sample value, unknown

Cream eyeshadows are always great, especially as a base to make other shadows stand out and last longer.  This shade is super pigmented, and after I swatched it, I noticed it took quite a bit of effort with a makeup wipe to come off.  That makes me hopeful that it'll be long lasting on the lid, too.  I'm excited to play with it in the future, even though I'm bummed that I couldn't find a price for the full-size yet.  Apparently, MICA is giving ipsters (I didn't come up with it, Shannon, I promise) the chance to try out their cream shadows before everyone else.  Their regular shadows run about $15 each for a .1 oz product, so I would imagine the cream shadows would probably run slightly more expensive, but I'm not sure.  

All in all, this month was a pretty solid showing for ipsy.  I've gotten 5 products that I'm excited to use, and I've used some points to get a beauty tool that I know I'm going to get use out of.  The value of this month's bag is a little tough to calculate, mostly because I don't know what value to give the cream eye shadow.  Even without being able to include that price, the value of the bag rings in around $32, which is still 3 times the price of the subscription.  I'll take that value!

That's it for now--I'll see you lovely people again sometime next week when my Birchbox arrives!  Until then, don't forget to be awesome.

Best wishes,
Marlee