Ipsy September 2014 Glam Bag Unboxing

Ipsy bag - September 2014

At first glance, it seems like Ipsy was really trying to make up this month for their blunders of last month so we got a good selection of products in decent sizes.

Hikari Lipstick in Cabernet - Value: $13 (Full size)

I was excited to see a lipstick, not that I don't own a million already, but because this is a full-sized makeup item that I'm likely to use since the color is a nice deep muted red (at least compared to some of my other reds). It's very moisturizing and somewhat sheer so you can dab it on to your lips for just a "stained" effect if you're not a full blown red lipstick kind of gal. I've never heard of this brand, but hey, that's why I'm signed up to Ipsy so I can try out new makeup.

Pacifica Waterproof Eye Pencil (Fringe) - Value: $5.50 (Deluxe sample)

Let me preface this by saying that there is no makeup that I love more than eye makeup, so if you're going to send me multiple items in a bag with an "eye" theme, I'm the happiest girl. This waterproof eyeliner from Pacifica is a maroon-brown shade (Fringe) and I really have been enjoying using it on my waterline (the waterproof claims are true!)

Crown Brush Crease and Shadow Brush - Value: $6.99 (Full size)

This brush is impressive, the bristles are soft and remind me of my Real Techniques eyeshadow brushes. There is a big difference in quality with this compared to my ELF and Costal Scents brushes. I'm very thrilled to have received this full size item.

Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair Deep Conditioning Mask - Value $5.00 (Deluxe sample)

I love receiving hair masks to try out, it's for dry and damaged hair (that's me!) and has no parabens or phthalate so I'm hoping it works!

LeeAnni  Eco 3-in-1 Revolution Light - Value $3.75 (sample)

This may be a deluxe sample but it's only 0.5oz so I'm going to call it just a regular sample. Supposedly this is a magical toner, serum and moisturizer in one. I can't make any assessment as to whether these claims are true or not since I have yet to use it but it does have a pleasant, fresh lemon verbena scent to it. This is probably the only sample I was pretty "meh" about this month.

This month's bag didn't smell like any weird chemicals, in fact it had no smell at all, and it had a cute faux leather feel and studs (yay!). I think this bag is much more fashion-forward than the 6 year old's pencil case we received last month, so that's a bonus!

Total Value of Ipsy for September 2014: $34.24

While this isn't the highest value I have received for my $10/month subscription, I do thoroughly enjoy 3 of the products in the bag so I consider it a great month.  I love trying out new hair masks and face potions as well so I'll give the other products a whirl during a pamper night in!

If you're interested in joining Ipsy, you can do so by clicking here

Hautelook Pucker Up! Review - Lip Beauty Bag Blowout

In honor of the price reduction on Hautelook for this Lip Beauty Bag from $24 each to $10 each, I'm going to upload my swatches and give you a detailed review of each product and what I think about it. I did an announcement post when it came out and you can check that out here.

The bag itself is rather uneventful but is nicely enough constructed that you can travel with it and it will hold up. I don't much care for the lipstick case because it feels cheap, like something you would find in a dollar store and the one wipe is fine for on the go.

Here are my swatches of the lip products inside the bag:

Mostly everything is red or red-leaning. You can definitely tell that the Mirenesse Glossy Kiss and the Lord & Berry Lipstick are very close in color, they are more true reds which lean slightly orange. The Lorac Lip Lustre is a true red with red glitter and the Mirenesse Lip Bomb is a deeper red. The NYX Lip Liner I received is a fuchsia-based red. The Laura Geller Lipstick is unique, I really like this color, it's very much a frosty finish (I would really only apply this in the middle of my lips to give a subtle highlight)

I have always wanted to try the Mirenesse Lip Bombs and the bonus is that you also get a Mirenesse Glossy Kiss in this set (a crayon lipstick that is twistable). The color payoff on these is absolutely phenomenal, you will never have to apply layers of these, 1 layer is full opacity! The Lip Bombs are more of a liquid lipstick than a gloss.

The quality of the Lorac lipgloss is good, the color can be semi-sheer so I have to apply about 2 layers to get the desired effect - the glitter particles do show up. The Italian Marbled lipstick, specifically in the color I received of Sugared Maple, can give a little bit of a dead-lipped appearance so I reserve usage for highlighting purposes - but otherwise it has a nice creamy consistency. It is also very frosty.

The Lord & Berry lipstick crayon is probably the item I'm most bummed about in this set. I find that the formula moves around on my lips too much, causing it to feather past my lip line throughout the day, it's for that reason that I probably wouldn't recommend these, since I doubt most people apply anti-feathering lip liners (this was still an issue for me when using regular lip liner). I was very pleasantly surprised with the NYX retractable lip liner pencil - this is a very smooth, creamy formual and it glides on without tugging. It's a very full color and makes my lipsticks last all day.

The brush is something I find a little large for a lip liner and a little hard to control in the area since it has rather long, bendy bristles. However, I have been using it to apply my inner corner highlight eyeshadow and it does do a great job at that!

Let me know what you think of this bag, did you purchase it? Are you going to? Why or why not?