Ipsy Glam Bag Review: January!

January 25, 2014 ♥ Posted in: Fashion/Beauty by Kristina Horner

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Got my ipsy bag for the month! This one contained an unusual array of products; it’s probably the most diverse ipsy bag I’ve received yet. I love the design on the bag this month, but it smelled quite plastic-y when I first opened it. It may take awhile for that smell to dissipate, unfortunately.

Anyway I tried all the products between yesterday and today, so here are my thoughts!

1. Deep Conditioning Mask by Briogeo: I’m not particularly picky about hair products, so I am always down to try something new! Generally I switch between a higher end shampoo/conditioner (Joico Body Luxe) and a middle of the road set (L’Oreal Everstrong) but I’ve never tried a hair mask of any sort. I read that it’s good to leave this stuff on for 3-5 minutes once or twice a week, so I won’t know how much I really like it until I’ve used it a few times – but already I can tell my hair is pleased with the results. Especially during the dry winter months I can really see this being something I will likely add into my normal routine, since my hair has felt brittle and sad since it started getting colder. Unfortunately I have nothing to compare the brand itself to, but I at least give hair masks in general a thumbs up.

2. Tinted Lip Balm by MICA Beauty Cosmetics in “#6 Fiesta”: To start, I really love the color and feel of this lip balm. I don’t have many lip products that come in a pot like this one, and I think they’re fine for applying makeup at home, but would be terrible on the go. After applying, my finger was (naturally) covered in the residual balm and I had to hunt down a tissue to get it off. Verdict: Lovely purpley pink color but I’d take lipstick with an applicator over this any day.

3. Smooth Shadow Creamy Eye Pencil by Elizabeth Mott in “Pearl”: This isn’t the first time ipsy has sent me a product like this. It claims it’s a shadow on the packaging, but it’s so thin it has to be an eyeliner. I tried it on my bottom waterline and it’s kind of pretty, but hardly noticeable against my fair skin. Send me brighter colors, ipsy!

4. Mark Fading Pads by Proactiv: They sent me four little testers of this product, though it’s definitely one of those items you’ll want to work into your daily facial regiment to see any real results. I used to be one of those people who had an entire arsenal of acne-ridding products I cycled through each day, but the more I research acne prevention the more I’m starting to come around to the “less is more” mentality. I still have problem skin but I have been experimenting with just a gentle cleanser morning and night and exfoliating once a week or so with a sea salt scrub. It’s been working relatively well for me. This has been a long tangent basically to say I’m hesitant to try this product because I have been trying not to overdo it with my skin and if this one aggravates it, I’ll be setting myself back. So I won’t be trying this one, at least night right now.

5. Moisturizing Face Lotion by Nourish Organic in “Argan + Rosewater”: Seems to be another standard moisturizer. I tried it this morning. It smelled a little off, but felt nice enough on my skin. I use Clean and Clear Dual Action Oil Free Moisturizer (surprisingly great product) but this one seems good enough to toss into my travel bag.

It’s felt a bit, lately, like I’ve been more unhappy than excited about the contents of my ipsy bags, but I realized lately that I actually enjoy testing products regardless of whether or not they make it into my official makeup bag. I still consider myself a bit of a makeup n00b, and I’m very inexperienced with many types of products. This subscription is cheap enough that I feel like I am doing something productive by learning about products even when ultimately the verdict is “never buy lip balms that come in pots”. As long as I like 1-2 of the products in each bag (which I always do) then personally, I still consider that month a success.

If you want to subscribe to ipsy, you can use this link here, which will give me ipsy points for the referral that I can trade in for fun new products!


1 Comment

One Comment

Jenna says:

Wow Kristina we got the same exact products! I’m pretty pleased with all I got, although after last month’s amazing bag I was a little disappointed. The hair mask worked miracles on my bleached ends, so I’d have to say that as well as the lip balm (love the color) were the highlights of this bag. Everything else was just kinda, meh.

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