Ipsy January 2015

Hi Everyone!

I'm sorry that this blog is about 7 months late. This blog is going to be talking about the beauty subscription service called Ipsy where you receive a few products mostly in small trial sizes for about $10.00 a month. I'm not sure if they have done any changes to it because after I received this January 2015 Ipsy bag I was kind of fed up and I was not very happy with the bag so I decided to unsubscribe from this service. I used to get super excited about receiving these, but then I realized that I require specialty products that are waterproof or a variety therein. I was receiving a lot of products that were normal makeup products and not ones that were tailored to what I was personally looking for. I also felt like Ipsy was not taking into consideration my beauty quiz or my reviews of products because I did not specify I wanted hair, face, or lotions, but I kept receiving at least one if not more of those products in my bag.

IPSY is...

-a beauty subscription service that costs $10.00 a month
-you receive about 4-5 products
-the products are usually travel or trial size
-there are usually a variety of products (for example hair, face, eyeshadow, lip liners, lipsticks, concealers, etc.)
-they offer a quiz that you take when you sign up that they are supposed to use as a guideline to create the bag tailored to your preferences and tastes
-you can review the products which is also supposed to help customize your bag
-you can earn Ipsy points for reviewing products, allowing Ipsy to post what you received in your bag on facebook, etc to get certain amount of points and once you reach a certain amount of points you can use those points to get an extra beauty product in your bag

Ipsy January 2015 Bag Overview:

When the bag first arrives it is in a very cute bright pink bubble envelope. When you open the envelope inside there is usually an insert card that announces the theme for that month. The January 2015 Ipsy theme was Fresh Start. On one side of the card there is a picture of four girls doing fun things with the words, "fresh start by Ipsy," in the middle of them. On the other side it says, "Let's Get Fresh," at the top of the card. Then there are two boxes on the card that are separated by a design into two squares. The first square reads, "Fresh Start. Noun. 'fresh 'start. A kickoff so clean the possibilities are endless. Get ready for a fantastic and flawless 2015." The second square underneath just talks about tagging Ipsy with hashtags for a chance to win an Ipsy subscription for a year.

The bag this month for me was quite disappointing. The bag itself I did not find to be cute. One side is dark blue, the other side is white, and the zipper is a peach color with the Ipsy name on the handle part where you grab it to unzip. I do like the zipper color and how they do that. I'm not sure if it's because I've had this bag for about 7 months or not, but it doesn't smell strongly like plastic which I really like.

I received a lot of products I did not mark on my quiz and I reviewed similar products from other bags as items I would not be interested in receiving. I received two lotions, a mineral eye shadow, an eye liner that is not waterproof, and a lip balm which is okay. I received a shimmer lotion which I did not mark on my beauty quiz that I wanted to receive any kind of lotion. I was really disappointed when I found that in my bag. I am going to try it to see if I actually like it or not since I did receive it in my bag and I don't want to waste it. I also received a facial moisturizer which I did not mark I wanted on the beauty quiz and when I reviewed similar products from past bags I said that I was not interested in receiving these types of products. The bag itself was disappointing and then to receive two products I did not request in the same bag really irked me. I know that the following disappointments are not entirely Ipsy's fault so I am not going to blame Ipsy for them, but I am disappointed because I received an eye liner that is not waterproof/semi-permanent so I can't really use it. Even if I do try the product and like the color, I would not be able to use this product on a daily basis because when it comes to eye liners and mascaras, I need them to be waterproof because otherwise the product leaks into my eyes to make them sting and water creating a huge mess. It will be fun to try, but not a product that I can actually use. I received a mineral eye shadow which I am disappointed with because I have never had good experiences with mineral products in the past. I tried the EyesLipsFace mineral eye primer and it did not work for me. I am weary about mineral products. I absolutely love the color of the eyeshadow and am excited to try it out on me, but I don't think it will turn out well because mineral eyeshadows and super oily eye lids usually do not make a good combination. I might be able to use this product over the MAC paint pot which might be doable. I am hoping or otherwise it will be another product that I will not be able to use. I received a lip balm which I am okay with and will probably use. I love lip products and will use it.

I received a lot of products in this bag that I won't or cannot use. It really was super disappointing for me. I cannot even describe how bad it was except to use the words really disappointing.

My Ipsy January 2015 Bag Products:

-Manna sheer glo shimmer lotion
-Hikari eye liner in Storm
-Malin + Goetz mojito lip balm
-Pacifica mineral coconut eye shadow in Treasure
-Eco beauty good day. day moisturizer

Ipsy Pros:

-it was only $10.00
-I received 5 products
-I absolutely love the colors I received and am excited to see what they look like on me
-I have wanted to try Pacifica eye shadows and now I get a chance to
-I am excited about trying the lip balm

Ipsy Cons:

-this month's bag for me was pretty bad
-I received two lotions (one was a shimmer glo lotion and the other was a face moisturizer) I did not request to receive these products on the beauty quiz nor the product reviews from previous bags
-I cannot use an eye liner that is not waterproof because it causes eye problems for me
-I am weary about using mineral eye shadows on my super oily eye lids

Overall, I would say that over the past 4 months of receiving Ipsy bags, this was definitely the worst bag I had received. I did not expect for it to be this bad and I had to cancel my subscription. Ipsy claims that with each bag they are supposed to be creating it to somewhat customize the bag to the person, but I felt like each month Ipsy slowly going away from giving me a semi-customized bag based on my wants. The first month which I believe was October 2014 was a good bag probably because I was super excited about receiving my very first beauty subscription bag and because it was from Ipsy. The second month was okay. The third month was okay. The forth bag, this bag, left me asking, "what happened?" I don't think that is supposed to happen. I know that Ipsy can't really help that I need specialty items, but giving me products that I didn't request and/or reviewed not to receive, is pretty bad. I do give Ipsy credit about the color choices that they sent me and I am happy to try the lip balm.

Don't quote me on this because I don't know for 100% certainty, but my 100% personal opinion is that it felt like Ipsy was playing favorites and giving high end products to people who were known either through blogs or Youtube channels. They seemed to always get the product I wanted to try.

Right now I don't see myself going back to Ipsy. I do miss Lip Factory. I don't think they are in business anymore, but they were an awesome beauty subscription service. I may go back to having a Lip Monthly subscription.

Sincerely,
Marina

Update 08/17/2015

Hi!

I am so sorry for being gone for so long. I had a lot of personal things going on in my life from November through April. Then I just needed to relax a little bit from all the craziness that happened. I did not expect to be gone and definitely not for this long. Wow. It has been about 7 months.

I would like to send out my sincerest apologies for the Ipsy and Lip Monthly videos. I was planning to make actual videos of me talking about Ipsy and Lip Monthly, but I ran out of time and I didn't want to keep everyone waiting. I made quick videos showing the products I got with pictures. 

Please don't quote me on this, but I think I got a January 2015 Ipsy bag that I still need to blog about. I will have to go back over my blogs and see where I left off. I was really disappointed with the Ipsy January 2015 bag and the products that I received because even though I kept saying on the Ipsy Quiz that I did not want face or hair products, I kept receiving at least one lotion or face product or hair product, etc. I also noticed that I would never get high end products in my bag like for example Smashbox. I remember I really wanted to try a Smashbox product, but it didn't come in my bag =-( I also have specific type of products that sometimes are included, but often times not like long-lasting, waterproof, semi permanent, etc. That's not just an Ipsy problem, but a makeup subscription con. Plus we were not sure about our finances for 2015. I ended up cancelling my Ipsy subscription.

The last few months I have been trying to find Lip Factory Inc because that was by far my favorite beauty subscription "box" because I loved a lot of the products I received, they had a lot of products that were lip products and a few that were non lip, but were full size. It was really nice. I can't find them. I think I found their website, but every time I try to log in or look at their site it sends me to a page for godaddy.com saying that the domain name expired 07/20/2015. I am really sad about it. If anyone has any info on Lip Factory Inc, please let me know if they are still around or not. Thanks!

Then sometime in June my laptop computer broke. I was doing laundry and had it on the floor which is always a smart idea. Well, I stepped on it and broke the screen. I have the computer hooked up to a screen so I can still use it, but it is such a pain in the butt.

I know that I promised that I would review the makeup products I received from
a few months of Lip Monthly, Ipsy, and Lip Factory so I still plan to do that for you.

Hopefully I will be able to deliver on the promise of the January 2015 Ipsy bag and the products I received from the beauty subscription services. I am not going to promise when I will be able to do the blogs on hem, but I can promise that I will get those blogs up at some point in time.

Thank you everyone so much for all of your patience! I hope you all had a wonderful Summer =-D

Sincerely,
Marina

Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo Eyeshadow in #25 Bad to the Bronze

Hey everyone!

In today's blog I am going to be reviewing the Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo Eyeshadow in #25 Bad to the Bronze. Some time early last year I was watching Youtube videos and at that time a lot of people were raving about the Maybelline 24 Hr Color Tattoo eyeshadows and even went as far as to compare them to the MAC paint pots. I was super excited because I would rather pay $5.00-$9.00 for a paint pot alternative than the MAC paint pots which are $15.00 plus. So I took the little money we had which was about $20.00 and I went to my local Walmart to buy a couple. I ended up buying 2 Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo Eyeshadow one is Metal eyeshadow and the other one is a regular one and I also wanted to try the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow so I bought one of those.

I will be honest that I was completely disappointed with the Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo eyeshadows. I would say that they really tried to make a product to compete with the MAC paint pots, but in my opinion and for what I need, they failed. The MAC paint pots on me last well over 4 hours especially on a good day with low humidity or physical activity. Not only the paint pot itself lasts, but it also helps my eyeshadow last. The Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoos started melting on my oily eye lids within 2 hours by just sitting. I will admit that I did not use eye primer underneath the Maybelline Tattoo eyeshadows, but I don't use eye lid primer under the paint pots because they can be used as eye lid primer. My line of thought is if I have to use an eye lid primer under the Maybelline Tattoo eyeshadows, then why wouldn't I just pay a few dollars extra for the MAC paint pots because I am going to end up spending about the same amount of money anyway. If eye lid primer does make the Maybelline Tattoo eyeshadows last longer then you can't really compare them to the MAC paint pots and I would not recommend this product for those people like me who have oily eye lids. Many people recommended this product for people with super oily eye lids, but I would not agree with that.

Rating:

Price: 9/10
Packaging: 10/10
Amount of product: 10/10
Longevity: 6/10
Pigment on fingers: 10/10
Pigment on eye lids: 7/10
Application: 8/10
Blendability: 7/10
On normal/oily/dry lids: 6/10
Compared to MAC paint pots: 5/10
Overall rating: 7/10
Would I repurchase: 8/10
Total rating: 93/120= 77.5%=C

My personal rating: 7/10=70%=C

Comments:
I honestly do not remember how much I exactly paid for this product, but according to Walmart.com they are selling these for $5.94 each. Last year they priced these depending on the color, but they seem to have a flat rate for all of them now. They used to be between $4.97 and $5.97 each. I think $6.00 for these are a bit pricey, but it's not bad. I think the packaging is super cute. It is a small round glass jar with a black lid and a see through bottom. I like the way they decided to design it because you can see the color inside and it is labeled on top of the lid too. I feel that you do get a decent amount of product for the price. I personally feel that it should be illegal for companies to advertise by over-exaggerating like that. It definitely does not last 24Hrs because it barely lasts 2-3 hours on me, although this one lasts a bit longer on me because it seems to be more pigmented, but that claim is beyond exaggerated. This product probably works well with normal to dry eye lids, but oily/super oily eye lids should use this product with caution. The pigment of the eye shadow comes off better on the fingers really well and lighter once applied to the eye lid. It is a bit buildable so you can get some more pigment out of it, but then it won't last as long. The application of the eyeshadow itself is a bit stiff, it doesn't glide on smoothly and evenly and you do have to work fast because you have about 60 seconds to get it in place before it starts drying and doesn't move and then with some time some of it will move, especially if you have oily to super oily eye lids. It can become patchy. If you work quickly it is able to be blended, but if you don't work quickly then it doesn't blend as well. It just depends on how quickly you are able to work with it. As I have said throughout the blog and the review, I would not recommend this product for oily to super oily eye lids. I think this product seems to be geared towards normal eye lids and I think it would work super well. I would also be cautious when using this product on dry eye lids because it will dry them out even more. Normal eye lids= higher chances of success with this product. Dry, oily, and super oily=use caution when using this product. I can kind of see why people were quick to compare these to the MAC paint pots, but I don't think the quality of it compares. Overall, this product did not work for me and I would rather pay a bit higher and use the MAC paint pots. I would repurchase because I think the idea is cute and the colors are pretty, but I wouldn't use them for anything other than running quick errands and not for special occasions when I need products that don't fail. I'm also not sure what the difference between the Color Tattoo and the Color Tattoo Metal eyeshadows, except that this one seems to give more pigment and does come off very shimmery. I absolutely love the color of this color tattoo, but I wish it worked better.

Sincerely,
Marina

Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo Metal Eyeshadow in #70 Barely Branded

Hey everyone!

In today's blog I am going to be reviewing the Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo Metal Eyeshadow in #70 Barely Branded. Some time early last year I was watching Youtube videos and at that time a lot of people were raving about the Maybelline 24 Hr Color Tattoo eyeshadows and even went as far as to compare them to the MAC paint pots. I was super excited because I would rather pay $5.00-$9.00 for a paint pot alternative than the MAC paint pots which are $15.00 plus. So I took the little money we had which was about $20.00 and I went to my local Walmart to buy a couple. I ended up buying 2 Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo Eyeshadow one is Metal eyeshadow and the other one is a regular one and I also wanted to try the L'Oreal Infallible eyeshadow so I bought one of those.

I will be honest that I was completely disappointed with the Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoo eyeshadows. I would say that they really tried to make a product to compete with the MAC paint pots, but in my opinion and for what I need, they failed. The MAC paint pots on me last well over 4 hours especially on a good day with low humidity or physical activity. Not only the paint pot itself lasts, but it also helps my eyeshadow last. The Maybelline 24Hr Color Tattoos started melting on my oily eye lids within 2 hours by just sitting. I will admit that I did not use eye primer underneath the Maybelline Tattoo eyeshadows, but I don't use eye lid primer under the paint pots because they can be used as eye lid primer. My line of thought is if I have to use an eye lid primer under the Maybelline Tattoo eyeshadows, then why wouldn't I just pay a few dollars extra for the MAC paint pots because I am going to end up spending about the same amount of money anyway. If eye lid primer does make the Maybelline Tattoo eyeshadows last longer then you can't really compare them to the MAC paint pots and I would not recommend this product for those people like me who have oily eye lids. Many people recommended this product for people with super oily eye lids, but I would not agree with that.

Rating:

Price: 9/10
Packaging: 10/10
Amount of product: 10/10
Longevity: 5/10
Pigment on fingers: 8/10
Pigment on eye lids: 6/10
Application: 10/10
Blendability: 8/10
On normal/oily/dry lids: 6/10
Compared to MAC paint pots: 5/10
Overall rating: 7/10
Would I repurchase: 6/10
Total rating: 90/120= 75%=C

My personal rating: 6/10=60%=D

Comments:
I honestly do not remember how much I exactly paid for this product, but according to Walmart.com they are selling these for $5.94 each. Last year they priced these depending on the color, but they seem to have a flat rate for all of them now. They used to be between $4.97 and $5.97 each. I think $6.00 for these are a bit pricey, but it's not bad. I think the packaging is super cute. It is a small round glass jar with a black lid and a see through bottom. I like the way they decided to design it because you can see the color inside and it is labeled on top of the lid too. I feel that you do get a decent amount of product for the price. I personally feel that it should be illegal for companies to advertise by over-exaggerating like that. It definitely does not last 24Hrs because it barely lasts 2-3 hours on me. That claim is beyond exaggerated. This product probably works well with normal to dry eye lids, but oily/super oily eye lids should use this product with caution. The pigment of the eye shadow comes off better on the fingers and lighter once applied to the eye lid. It is a bit buildable so you can get some more pigment out of it, but then it won't last as long. The application of the eyeshadow itself is smooth and creamy, but you do have to work fast because you have about 60 seconds to get it in place before it starts drying and doesn't move and then with some time some of it will move, especially if you have oily to super oily eye lids. It can become patchy. But the application itself is smooth and fairly even. If you work quickly it is able to be blended, but if you don't work quickly then it doesn't blend as well. It just depends on how quickly you are able to work with it. As I have said throughout the blog and the review, I would not recommend this product for oily to super oily eye lids. I think this product seems to be geared towards normal eye lids and I think it would work super well. I would also be cautious when using this product on dry eye lids because it will dry them out even more. Normal eye lids= higher chances of success with this product. Dry, oily, and super oily=use caution when using this product. I can kind of see why people were quick to compare these to the MAC paint pots, but I don't think the quality of it compares. Overall, this product did not work for me and I would rather pay a bit higher and use the MAC paint pots. I would repurchase because I think the idea is cute and the colors are pretty, but I wouldn't use them for anything other than running quick errands and not for special occasions when I need products that don't fail quickly. I'm also not sure what the difference between the Color Tattoo and the Color Tattoo Metal eyeshadows, except that this Metal does come off very shimmery. I would compare this color to the MAC paint pot in Bare Study because they are both super light colors with a lot of shimmer.

Sincerely,
Marina

Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Bronze Shimmer

Hello!

Happy New Year! I hope you had wonderful holidays!

In today's blog I am bringing to you the Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in Bronze Shimmer. I am pretty sure that the first reason why I bought this was because my local Walgreens was having a sale on Revlon lip products plus a Walgreens coupon plus I had a $2.00 off Revlon lip product manufacturer's coupon. I unfortunately did not keep the receipt so I do not remember officially what happened, but I am going to try to recollect my memory. In my local Walgreens weekly AD this Revlon lip product was advertised for $6.99 which was a sale price because these lipglosses are usually at least $8.00 and above. In that same AD with the advertised price they were also advertising their register rewards so if you just came in and bought the Revlon lipgloss you would pay $6.99 plus get register reward that can be used on anything in the store except Revlon lip products. I believe the register reward was worth about $3.00. Plus the Walgreens store coupon booklet had a $1.00 off coupon and Revlon was offering a manufacturer coupon online for $2.00 off. I wanted to try Revlon lipglosses, but always found them to be a bit on the expensive side so when I saw this I got super excited and decided to try it.

Walgreens Revlon Lipgloss sale was $6.99 plus a $3.00 RR
-I used the Walgreens booklet coupon (which is also known as an in store coupon) -$1.00
-I used a Revlon lip product manufacturer's coupon for -$2.00
$6.99-$1.00=$5.99-$2.00=$3.99
I spent $3.99 plus tax out of pocket which ended up being a little over $4.00 plus I got a $2.00-$3.00 RR that I could use for anything in the store except of course Revlon lip products because they have that thing where you can't use the RR for the same company that you got it from. I'm honestly unsure why it works that way.

Realistically I spent $3.99 plus tax out of pocket, but in theory since I did get a $3.00 RR I could say that the Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss only cost me $0.99 plus tax which would be just over a $1.00. I don't feel right saying that because I can't use the RR in the same transaction so I did pay $4.00+ in cash and then got the RR that I could use in a future purchase. The $3.00 RR in my mind is cancelled out by the $3.00 I paid in cash. I see it as I gave Walgreens $3.00 to hold on to and they printed me a piece of paper that says I paid them $3.00. Almost like a savings bond, but without accruing interest.

Anyway, enough of that. Now on to the review.

Rating:

Price: 9/10
Packaging: 10/10
Amount of product: 10/10
Pigment: 7/10
Longevity: 10/10
Application: 10/10
Smell: 8/10
Taste: 8/10
Texture: 10/10
Normal/Dry Lips: 10/10
Overall rating: 9/10
Would I repurchase: 10/10
Total rating: 111/120=92.5%=A

My personal rating: 9/10=90%=A

Comments:
I think the original price of $8.00 plus is a bit expensive for a lip gloss so I took a point off for that, but I got it for half the price so I think that is good. I would definitely pay $4.00 for this lipgloss.
The packaging is simple, but cute. It is a square long clear tube with a square black cap. I have not had any problems with the packaging leaking or anything which is always exciting!
I feel that you do get a decent amount of product even for the price.
This lipgloss is called colorburst so I was definitely expecting it to have color, but they do call it bronze shimmer which means it has some pigment, but not a ton. I was a bit disappointed by that. This lipgloss is more glossy/shimmery than pigment.
This lipgloss lasts as long as normal lipglosses. It also depends on how often you lick your lips or if you are eating/drinking. If you don't do a lot with your lips then it lasts, but if you do a lot of things with your lips then it does wear out quicker.
The application of this lipgloss is smooth and even. I like the doe foot applicator they have in the cap to apply the product. It is the perfect size for my lips.
This lipgloss has a slight scent to it, but it's more chemical like than a good smell. It's not overpowering. I do prefer my lipglosses to have a super strong sweet scents so I'm not a big fan of neutral/slight chemical smells.
The aftertaste is not bad for this lipgloss, but once again it does have a bit of a chemical aftertaste. I definitely prefer my lipglosses to have a sweet aftertaste instead of a slight chemical aftertaste. It's not horrible like some lipglosses, but it is there.
The texture of this lipgloss is that it is not thick or sticky feeling.
I would recommend this product for dry lips because it does go over dry lips well to even and smooth them out, especially in this color. This lipgloss color gives a very nude look to the lip.
Overall, I am a fan of this lipgloss. I think I'm a huge fan because of the pigment of it. It seems like whenever I try to buy nude/brownish tints in NYX lipglosses, at least on me, they always seem to come off very orange which I don't like. The NYX lipgloss I have in Natural comes off very orange like for me. With the Revlon lipgloss I feel like it better represents the nude pigment. I love the shimmery color and it is definitely what I am looking for when I need a cute nude shimmery lipgloss. I just wish that they smelled and tasted better.

Sincerely,
Marina