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