Lip Monthly December 2014

Hi Everyone!

 

 

 

In today's blog I am bringing to you the Lip Monthly December 2014 bag! I got my Lip Monthly a few days before Christmas so it was definitely cutting it close. That is the reason why the December Ipsy and Lip Monthly bags are being uploaded on December 30, 2014. I get really excited about Lip Monthly bags because I never know what to expect in them except I know that they will be lip products which already get me excited. Sometimes it's fun knowing and sometimes it's good to be surprised.

I will not be receiving Lip Monthly anymore because my subscription expires in December 2014 so this was my last Lip Monthly bag. As much as I got really excited about Lip Monthly, I am not sure that I would go back unless I decide to keep Ipsy. There is another lip/beauty subscription box that is called Lip Factory and that is the most excited I have been when it comes to receiving beauty boxes because it is tailored towards lip lovers, but include a few non-lip products, it includes full sized products, and they send a variety of products and brand names. The downfall is that one month's box is $22.00 which is a bit high and you would expect a lot more from them. So if I cancel Ipsy and Lip Monthly then I would replace them both with Lip Factory, but if I decide to keep Ipsy then I will probably go back to Lip Monthly.

Lip Monthly December 2014 Bag Overview:

When I first got the envelope I usually take everything out of it. I found the Lip Monthly card and bag. I was surprised to see a blue bag for December since November's bag was red. It seems like they accidentally switched up the bags and accidentally sent the red one for November and the blue one for December, but they appear to have very similar if not the same design on it.

On one side of the card it reads, "December 2014. Dear Lip Monthly Subscribers, It's finally that time of the year! Time to snuggle under reindeer decorations while heart-warming songs fill the delicious smelling room. What an exciting time! They say Christmas is a tie for giving, but who doesn't like receiving that special something (especially if that something starts with "lip" and ends with "stick"!) that we've longed for all year long? So while you share those special moments with loved ones, don't forget to bring your best lips forward with this month's items. You are receiving 4 products this month as the value of the bag is high and all the items are full-sized. We'll be trying this for the next couple of months as this will allow us to bring you higher quality items. To start off, we're bringing you two new brands that we've been obsessing over and colours that represent the festive mood all around. We wish you the very best for the holidays, and as usual, we hope to hear what you think of this December bag. Have a very Merry Christmas, Team Lip Monthly." On the other side of the card it is split up in half. The left side of the card lists the products and prices and on the right side it says ways to connect with Lip Monthly online plus special offers. Under Your Products it says Magnolia MakeUp lipstick w/ applicator $15.00, Milani Brilliant Shine Gloss $4.99, LA Girl Automatic Liner $5.00, and NYC lipstick $0.99-$2.99.

 When I unzip the bag I pulled all of the products out and they are laying out in front of me. The first thing I see is the NYC (New York Color) Lipstick which is funny because I was super excited about getting a NYC lipstick until I realized that I already not only have this lipstick, but also in this exact color. I am not sure if I like the way this color looks on me. My excitement turned quickly into disappointment. Good try Lip Monthly, but didn't quite make it. The next thing I see is the L.A. Girl Endless Semi-Permanent Auto Lip liner. I will say that I am going to miss Lip Monthly giving me waterproof lip products with the retractable packaging. They have me completely pinned at knowing the one product that I will absolutely love and be super excited about is anything that says waterproof/feather proof/semi-permanent product in twist packaging =-D The next thing I see is the Magnolia Makeup Matte Lip Color. Lip Monthly calls it a Lipstick with applicator, but I would say it is a highly pigmented lip gloss. I guess I will find out when I try it. The final product that I see is the Milani Brilliant Shine lipgloss. I have wanted to try Milani makeup products and I am super excited that my first Milani experience will be the lipgloss!

Lip Monthly December 2014 Products in My Bag:

-NYC lipstick in #304 Mocha
-L.A. (or LA) Girl endless semi-permanent lip liner in GP332 Mauvelous
-Magnolia Makeup Matte Lip Color in Matador
-Milani Brilliant Shine Lip Gloss in #03 Luminous

Pros of December 2014 Bag:

-I am super excited about trying the Milani lipgloss and in Luminous
-I am super excited about the LA Girl endless semi-permanent lip liner in the color Mauvelous
-I am excited about trying the Magnolia Makeup and in the color Matador (it's a very bright red color)
-full sized products

Cons of December 2014 Bag:

-the Lip Monthly bags always smell like toxic plastic
-I think Lip Monthly fell asleep and switched the bag colors because I feel like the blue color is cute, but for the month of December the red would have been even better
-I am not excited about the NYC lipstick in Mocha because I already have it and I'm not sure how I feel about the color itself on me
-Only received 4 products instead of 5

Sincerely,
Marina

Ipsy December 2014

Hi Everyone!

 

 

 

In today's blog I am bringing to you the Ipsy December 2014 bag! I cheat and I look at My Glam Room as soon as they go live and you get Ipsy points for doing it so I can't really help myself, lol. I get to see what I am looking forward to and I get points. When I open the big bright pink envelope I pull out the Ipsy card, a Bumble and Bumble hair product that is attached to a card with information about the product, and a small black and pink bag. When I unzipped the bag I was super excited to see a NYX lip butter product because I have wanted to try those for a while and a Tarte mascara which I have wanted to try Tarte products for a while. I got a total of five products in my bag and I am only really excited about two of them. The other ones I'm either neutral or not excited.

Ipsy Bag Overview

This month Ipsy has the theme of Thinking of You. It is cute and simple. When I first reached into the envelope I pulled out the Bumble and Bumble blow dry product which I am not very excited about, then the Ipsy card.

The Ipsy card on one side says, "You are a talented being," and on the other side it says, "Our thoughts are filled with you this month. Thank you for a 2014 filled with beauty, laughter, and inspiration. You've given us so many reasons to smile, and we look forward to an awesome 2015. XOXO, Ipsy."

The Bumble and Bumble on the front where the product is attached reads, "Bumble and Bumble, Prepare to be Blown Away," then has the product attached, and then says, "Straight Blow Dry for coarse, curly, or frizzy hair." On the back of the card it advertises the Bumble and Bumble hair salons.

That brings us to this month's Ipsy bag. I am not sure what to think about this month's bag. In some ways I think it's cute and in other ways I'm like, "what the heck where they thinking?" This bag does not remind me of December or their theme Thinking of you. The bag is on the smaller side than I have received previously which I am okay with, but the color is throwing me off. A black bag for the month of December and the them of Thinking of You does not seem to fit well. I would love to have gotten Christmas colored bag of red and/or green. That would have been cute. I am not a fan of the bag this month. In the bag itself I did not get very many products that I am super excited about which is also disappointing. I am super excited about the NYX Butter Lip Balm and the Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara except I didn't see anything about it being waterproof which I need to have for my watery eyes otherwise the mascara gets inside of them which makes them water even more and creates a huge mess. I was excited about trying a Tarte product, but I don't think I am going to be raving about this specific one. I have gotten so many brushes lately that I am just not that excited about them. I guess I could always use another eye shadow brush. At first I thought I got nail polish which I was actually kind of excited about, but then I figured out that the packaging of he product looks like a nail polish bottle. The bottle calls it an eye polish. I am not exactly sure what eye polish is, but I am willing to try it. It looks like loose mineral eye shadow. If that is the case I might not be able to use it.

I have been with Ipsy since October 2014 and so far I feel like I keep getting misses. Ipsy keeps sending me products that I did not mark on my beauty quiz as I want and it seems like they only send the big brand names to Youtube celebrities who have large followings as kind of false advertising. It is super disappointed. My first bag from Ipsy which was the October 2014 bag is the one that I was most excited about and I was looking forward to 4 out of the 5 products. With my November 2014 bag I was excited about 3 out of 5 products. And now in my December 2014 bag I am only excited about 2 products and the Tarte mascara one I can't even rave about because it is more than likely not waterproof. My experience with Ipsy started out good, but as you can see has over the last few months rapidly declined to not so good... after the January 2015 bag I am seriously considering dropping Ipsy.

Ipsy December 2014 Products in My Bag:

-Bumble and Bumble Straight Blow Dry hair product
-NYX Butter Lip Balm in BLB02 Ladyfingers
-Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara in black color
-CAILYN Just Mineral Eye Polish in #5 Orchid
-Crown Brush in C476 Crease/Shadow Brush

Pros of December 2014 Bag:

-I am super excited about the NYX Butter Lip Balm and a lot of NYX products smell super good so I cannot wait to smell the Ladyfingers
-I am excited about trying a Tarte product even though I can't use it because it is not waterproof, but I can finally say I tried Tarte
-I love the CAILYN mineral eye polish color

Cons of December 2014 Bag:

-the bag is black which doesn't remind me of Christmas or the theme of Thinking of You
-I did not mark on my beauty quiz that I wanted any hair products and in the last two bags I have gotten a hair product after reviewing that I don't want hair products
-I am not excited about the eye shadow brush, but I will find a use for it
-this month has a lot of products I don't like or can't use so that is super disappointing

Sincerely,
Marina

Lip Monthly November 2014

Hi everyone!

 

 

In today's blog I am bringing to you the Lip Monthly November 2014 bag. It was sent last Friday and I finally got it today, Thursday, November 20, 2014. As soon as I saw that the package was delivered through the USPS tracking system, I ran to my mailbox to get it. I had to open it. I was expecting the same bag as we received last month with the orange bag with the purple designs, which would have been fine because I thought it was super cute! But it was a very nice surprise that the bag was different. It is a red color dark red color with a white makeup design towards the bottom and it says LIP in pink and MONTHLY in white. I think it is a very cute bag! I was disappointed that we got another brush as one of the items in the bag. It seems like I have been getting a lot of brushes, although, I suppose I can use this brush with my Ipsy J Cat Wonder Lip Paint.

Lip Monthly Bag Overview:

I was super surprised that Lip Monthly gave us a different bag for the month of November. I will say that the bag color seems a bit misplaced because I don't think of red in November, but I do think of red for December. For next month that would have been super cute! I do like the bag though.

When I open the bag I see all of the different products. It took me a little bit to find the card, but I did. On one side of the card it says, "LIP MONTHLY Everything Lips. Every Month. NOVEMBER 2014." It has a black and white stripped design. On the other side it says, "REMEMBER TO STOCK UP." That side is divided into two small sides where it has a message from Lip Monthly and on the other divide it lists the products with the prices. One the first divide it reads, "Dear Lip Monthly Subscriber, November is already here, which means that we're very close to the holiday season. That's why we decided to send you same great dark colors to pair with those glam parties you'll be soon attending. You'll love the richness of these Autumn shades, which have been highly requested. Every girl needs a great lip brush for flawless application and Lip Monthly has you covered this month! As most of you know every month we include a Lip Monthly mixup (MMU) product, which is a great non lip product that we feel you'll love. This month's is amazing! Keep us posted with how you use everything in this November 2014 bag, we love getting your feedback. XOXO Team Lip Monthly." On the other side of divide it says, "1. Ofra Lipliner Full Size $13.00, 2. Hikari Lipstick Full Size $13.00, 3. NYC Expert Last Lipstick Full Size $1.99, 4. Crown Lip Brush Full Size $3.00, and 5. MMU City Color Cosmetics White Gold Shadow and Highlighter Mousse Full Size $4.00. TOTAL RETAIL VALUE $34.99."

Then there is another small card that looks like a business card that says, "$5.00 OFF." It is an advertisement to get your friends to sign up and then you receive $5.00 off.

As I go through my bag the first thing I pulled out was the Crown lip brush. I will be honest and say that I am not really excited about this product because I feel like I have gotten a lot of brushes lately. It seems like all of my beauty subscription services included a brush so they can say they gave me 5 products. But as I mentioned in my intro I am kind of excited about getting it because it goes perfect for my Ipsy bag lip paint that I got. I am not excited about the brush, but it ended up being useful.

I got a Hikari lipstick. I will be honest and say that I have never heard of Hikari cosmetics. but I am excited to try it. I am always looking for new lip products to try. I am happy with this. I can't wait to try it.

I got a City Color mousse which I will be honest and say that I have heard of City Color before, but I am not entirely sure what a mousse is. When I think of mousse I think of the foundation mousse that I have heard from like Revlon and Maybelline. I'm not entirely sure what I am going to use this for, but I am looking forward to discovering what this product is and how well it works. I'm always up for trying something new. It says it can be used as an eye shadow or a highlighter. I will it try it both ways to see if I like it and which way I like it better.

I got the Ofra lip liner. I have heard of Ofra before and I think I got an Ofra product when I got my September 2014 Lip Factory box. I think I got a lipgloss or lipstick. I haven't tried it yet, but I am excited to. The two things I don't like about this lip liner and this is totally a personal like/dislike thing, but it is a pencil that needs to be sharpened and it doesn't claim to be feather/waterproof. I prefer my lip liners and eye liners to be waterproof and in a twist packaging. That is just my personal preference. It has nothing against Lip Monthly or the brand.

I got the NYC (New York Color) Expert Last lipstick. I have recently reviewed NYC lipsticks and I really like them, especially for the price. I saw these on the official NYC website and I really wanted to try them. I am super excited that I got one to play around with. It's exciting to see a product on a website, wanting to try it, and then being able to actually do it. I'm not sure about the color, but I am still happy.

Lip Monthly November 2014 Products in My Bag:

Crown Lip Brush
Hikari Lipstick in Cabernet
City Color White Gold Mousse
Ofra Lip Liner in Orchid
NYC Expert Last Lipstick in #443 Purple Crush

Pros of this Month's Bag:

-You get full sized products
-NYC Expert Last Lipstick I am super excited about trying because I saw it on the NYC website and was going to buy some
-I am excited to try Hikari lipstick
-I am looking forward to trying the City Color mousse stuff

Cons of this Month's Bag:

 -the bags always have a very strong plastic toxic smell to them which I don't like very much
-I am not excited about the lip brush because I got a lip brush from all of the beauty subscriptions I had and it doesn't include a lip liner brush
-I am not excited about the Ofra lip liner because it is not feather/waterproof and it is not a twist packaging. I am not a fan of pencil sharpening. I'm not sure if I like the color or not.
-I think the bag would have been super cute for December instead of November because it is red and white

Overall, I think the bag is cute, but would have worked better for December. I am super excited about trying the NYC expert last lipstick because I wanted to and I was going to buy some to try. Now I can see if I really like it before I buy it! I have never heard of Hikari and I have heard of City Color, but I am looking forward to seeing what they have to offer. I was disappointed about the lip brush, but then I figured out how I could make it work so I am neutral on it, but I would have preferred something else.

Sincerely,
Marina

Ipsy November 2014

Hello everyone!

 

 

Today I am bringing to you my Ipsy November 2014 bag. I usually cheat and look in my glam room to see what products I am getting, although, I did get a different color lip paint than what I saw in the picture. I wasn't very excited about the color in the picture, but I was super excited when I saw the color I did get! When I first opened my envelope I got excited because I thought I got a bonus product, but it turns out it was the IT Cosmetics under eye concealer. I think they didn't put it int he bag because they didn't want it to get squished or it didn't fit in there. I got a total of five products in my bag and they seem to be trial sized.

Bag Overview:

This month's Ipsy theme is Girl Meets Glitter. When I first opened the pink envelope I saw a product. It was the IT Cosmetics under eye cream, then I saw the bag which is a silver glittery small bag, and then I found this month's card.

This month's card on the front has a picture of three of the Ipsy spokes people with the tag line, "Girl Meets Glitter," and on the back it It says, "Life is short. Wear Glitter." And it has a bunch of ways to connect with Ipsy online. The car is cute.

The IT Cosmetics under eye concealer comes attached with a card that says, "Bye Bye Under Eye," and has a bunch of things listed about the product. On the back of the card it shows before and after pictures and directions for how to use the product.

When I open the bag I find the other four products inside. I will list all of the products in a little bit.

My first impression of the Ipsy bag this month is that it is super cute! I love the silver color and the glitter. I did find it a bit odd that the theme for November is glitter because I would think that would be better for like January theme and I also found it odd that none of the products inside were even related to glitter. I was expecting some glitter, but my bag did not come with any glitter. I guess the one glitter product that I can say I got was the highlighter. That appears to have some glitter in it. I am super excited because I have always wanted to try IT Cosmetics, but found it to be a bit out of my price range so I am excited to try the under eye concealer. I've heard of Be A Bombshell cosmetics, but that wasn't until recently so I am excited to see what they are all about. I have tried other J Cat products from other beauty subscription services, but I got a lip paint from Ipsy. I will admit I have never heard of lip paint, but I am excited to try it and see what it's all about. I have never heard of Temptu and I don't usually use highlighters, but I am willing to give this product a try. The last product I got was the Marc Anthony Morocco Oil Hairspray and I did not mark on my beauty quiz that I wanted hair products so I was very surprised in a disappointing way that I got hairspray. This is my most unfavored product in my bag this month. I guess it's better than last month's where I got hand cream, but this is along the same lines of me not liking it.

Ipsy November 2014 Products in My Bag:

IT Cosmetics under eye concealer in Neutral Medium
Be a Bombshell Eye Base (I assume an eye primer) in Submissive
Temptu S/B Highlighter in Pink Pearl
J Cat Wonder Lip Paint in Red Potion
Marc Anthony Morocco Oil Hairspray

Pros of this Month's Bag:

-I am super excited about trying IT Cosmetics product
-I am excited about trying the Be A Bombshell product
-I am good with the J Cat product, even though I'm not exactly sure how to use it
-I am neutral about the highlighter, I'm willing to give it a shot

Cons of this Month's Bag:

-this month's theme was glitter, but I only got two things that can be classified as glittery and that is the bag and the highlighter
-the theme does not seem to match the month, the glitter theme seems better suited for January than November
-I got hairspray as one of the products even though on my beauty quiz I did not mark I wanted any hair products at all. I'm not sure why they sent it to me, but it was a bit disappointing.

Overall, I am looking forward to trying out four of the five products. I am not sure what I am going to do with the hairspray yet, but I am trying to think of something. I know I am definitely not going to use it so I would rather find someone who will get some use out of it rather than throwing it away. I was thinking about doing a giveaway for it. Who ever wants it can comment in the comments section saying that they want it and I will do it old school style of putting names into a hat and pick a name. I will have to think about that. I will have more details in a separate blog and definitely video if I am going to do something like that.

Sincerely,
Marina