IPSY 🍦APRIL 2017 🍦

IPSY

APRIL 2017

 

April's bag couldn't beat the pretiness out of March's bag but it is unique in its own way. This month the bag is in a shape of a arcade ticket in bright orange, and comes with an info card and 5 products. 

 

1. Ciaté bamboo bronzer in the shade 'Palm Island'.

Sad to say that this bronzer is too light for my face, as you can see from the colour of my hand, it will probably look slightly darker than my current powder (urban decay naked skin powder foundation in light warm) but not dark enough for a bronzer. Hence im giving it away.

2. MICA beauty cosmetics highlight in shade #03.

I have received their angled brushes before and i love their brushes. But this highlight here is much too bright gold for me and i wouldnt use it as a highlighter nor as an eyeshadow. I will probably end up giving that away too.

 

3. Hanalei Aloe soothing gel.

Finally something useful, i have red acne prone skin especially on the forehead and around the nose area, aloe vera is known for its cooling effect especially on red-itchy areas. Hence this is a useful product that might help to soothe the redness.

4. Touch in SOL, no poreblem primer.

Truth be told i am scared of primers. As much as they promise to hold your makeup until eternity, some just does the opposite effect of clogging up your pores especially when not cleanse right. I find that silicon primers sometimes can cause extra greasiness to build up along the day, so i tend to look for gel primers nowadays.

5. Em cosmetics illustrative eyeliner.

This is one of the products from the creator Michelle Phan's revamped makeup line. Its great that she includes her products too in Ipsy so we get firsthand experience with them. This liner has a really smooth precise brush stroke that mimics an illustrative brush and i like that the tip is thin and allows the user control of drawing their catlines. Its a very pigmented black, however it is not waterproof. 

Overall, 3/5 of the items are great. I didnt like the highlight powder due to the shade, and also the bronzer because the shade is too light for me. The aloe gel is good for my redness and the primer is worth trying, i love the eyeliner because of the unique brush. Looking forward to May's bag!! 🎈

IPSY GLAM BAG 🍉 MARCH 🍉

IPSY

MARCH 2017

TRES JOLIE

 

March's Ipsy glam bag may be the prettiest bag so far, pink blush is on trend at the moment and looks really chic asf, am curently using them as a makeup bag for work. Not to mention the inspiring pass it on card with a beautiful message as well. With that said, March bag comes with 5 items as pretty as the bag itself.

 

1. Chella highlighter pencil in 'Ivory'.

This is a creamy pencil highlighter that doubles as a concealer too if you're pale enough. I use this as a eyebrow highlighter to clean the edges of the brow and prep the arch for my eyeshadows. Creamy texture blends well hence there is no weird lines. Colour suits well as a highlighter too for a fair-medium asian skintone as its not too white.

2. INT cosmetics eyeshadow in shade 'Goddess Gold'.

A reaaaaaly pretty rose gold shade that suits the theme of the bag well. Swatches smoothly without tugging and one swipe is quite pigmented too. Ive never heard of INT cosmetics but it reminds me alot of Nyx. A good item introduction tho.

3. Tarteist lip paint in the shade 'Rosé'.

This is definitely something familiar and knowing that (its not cheap) it adds more value to the bag. From my experience with Tarte lip paints, the dark shades don't work well for me as they emphasize on every fine line. But the lighter shades on the other hand are such a blessing for when you want a natural look, shades like this and Tbt 👌🏾🔥

 

4. Dr Brandt microdermabrasion exfoliator.

I use this after removing all my makeup off with an oil base remover, once a week. The texture is gritty but the particles are not big and rough at all, they are actually pretty smooth and calming to scrub and exfoliate with. Altho the particles are small but it is enough to remove dead skin around the nose area which is the problem area for me. It looks and feels alot like icing and i like that its not an aggressive product.

 

5. Skone blending brush.

The name reminds me of scones. Black handle and rose gold ferrule fitting nicely into the bag theme again. The #skoneGirl promises to never ever test products on animals so this is made of nylon bristles with a fluffy rounded head. The shape is just nice to blend the crease on the lid, altho for my eye shape i always have to go for a smaller brush size because my lids are not that wide and spacey to begin with. But i secretly use this as a cheekbone highlighting brush 🌝

Aaaaaand thats it for March's Ipsy glam bag, i really love this month as everything fits really well together and the colour theme is just so cute too. April has lots to do to top this month. 🌟

LIP MONTHLY 🍪 APRIL 2017 🍪

APRIL 2017

LIP MONTHLY BAG

 

April's bag comes with 4 lip products and they are all full sized packagings. Im glad that this month the brands i received are new and not repeats of what i got previously. I realize that i did not receive an info card this month. Here's a close up of the lippies received:

 

 

1. Estate pout stick in the shade 'Damn'.

On the stick the shade is a dark burgundy red, when swatched it turned out to look red-brown. The finish is somewhat not so creamy yet its not matte. So this is definitely something that im okay with wearing out. 

2. So susan liquid matte lipstick in the shade 'Pumpkin'.

Ive heard good things about this brand so its about time i give it a try, and lucky me this came in a very wearable shade that suits my skintone(asian) quite well as a mlbb shade.

 

3. Be a bombshell lipgloss in the shade 'poker face'.

This is a bright red in the tube, turns out slightly sheer when swatched but can be layered. I like that its red so that i can experiment for work when im in the store the whole day cause im not that comfortable in gloss. Its slightly sticky when swatched tho. 

 

4. Chapstick day & night. 

I saw that some people got a different variation of the bag and they got the highlighter concealer instead. But im glad that i received this as my air conditioned working environment plus lipstick on the whole day tends to make my lips dry. Plus this has got both day and night which im excited to see whats the difference between both of them, also i keep losing my lipbalms so its handy to have more. 

Overall April's bag was definitely worth the $12.95, as the value was way more and i love all the 4 items this time round. Hopefully May bag will be as good if not better! 

IPSY GLAM BAG 🌈 FEBRUARY 2017 🌈

IPSY

FEBRUARY 2017

 

This month's bag came with 6 products, a brush soap cleanser, luxie brush, liquid liner, marsk shadow, 2 facial masks. This month's bag is quite generous with 6 items and i like that there is a mixture of skincare and makeup products. 

1. Marsk mineral eyeshadow : You're toast

 

I have had lots of mineral eyeshadow samples before, but i must admit that I've never used one or tested one out before. Mainly because application is somewhat messy in the tiny container with mini holes to get the shadows out. I never understood how im supposed to apply them without messing up my clothes with shadow dust. This is in a golden bronze shade, that would make a nice bronze eye look. You can use it both ways wet and dry. The swatch above is in the dry form. It is definitely a powdery texture and I like the colour, but im afraid I won't be reaching out for it much because I'm not a fan of using it from the container. 

2. Japonesque : solid brush cleanser

This is very very handy! I am always busy with work and never have the time to properly clean my makeup brushes. So this is very handy for me to wash the few brushes that i mainly use, like my flat foundation brush and my eyeshadow brushes. The soap is in the container and all you need to do is wet it and swirl your brushes on the soap itself, this will apparently wash away the products stuck in between the bristles. 

3. Purifying black charcoal mask & Soo ae green tea mask. 

Here's a silly face of me in the charcoal mask!! LOL

>The texture of the mask is slightly different than the usual sheet masks, this is pure black and is slightly more textured than the usual plain sheet. I enjoy trying the black mask as charcoal has good cleansing and detoxing properties, so this gave me a fresh feel after using.

>The green tea mask is like the usual plain white sheet mask.

4. Luxie Rose Gold Face Brush : Blush 514

 

 

This blush brush is made of premium soft, synthetic bristles and retails for $18usd. Its mid sized, hence the size is just right for application on the cheeks. Its always fun to receive brushes especially cause you know its full sized and the value is already more than the box cost. 

5. Absolute New York : Nano Liner Ultra Fine Precision Liquid Liner in Black.

 

<photo creds to absolutenewyork.com>

This is the most easiest to use eyeliner pen even for beginners, the precision sharp brush tip helps create a straight sharp line for cat eye lovers. And this is oil proof and sweat proof too. This lasted the whole day when i wear this for work and im working in a full air conditioned environment, it did not fade throughout the day either. Retails for $9.99usd.

February's box did not dissapoint me with the 6 products valued definitely way above $10usd. I love the luxie full size brush, the eyeliner was handy as i ran out just in time to try it, and the masks were enjoyable for a weekly treat, ive also been meaning to try a brush cleanser and japonesque is a good brand to try. I like the colour of the marsk shadow but i dont like that its a loose powder form. I hear March's bag is gonna be a treat too from the sneak previews. Come back for next month! 

LIP MONTHLY 🍬 MARCH 2017 🍬

MARCH 2017

LIP MONTHLY BAG

 

March's bag comes in a green cloth bag, with a description card that reminds me of watermelons 🍉.

This month there's 3 lip products and a face mask. Total retail value of $56.95. As much as i love receiving mostly lip products hence thats why i subscribed for this, i find that the product brands are mostly repeated (looking at you hikari) and that i wish we had more bag variety. As of now there is the option to choose the colour preference based on what's available the next month. 

 

> Laritzy liquid lipstick in 'Lola' is in a watermelon shade. Dries down matte but tends to be a bit flakey after a while of wear. 

> Coastal scents 2 lipstick. I did not like this one bit 😕 Firstly this finish is really sheer, i had to swipe multiple times to build it up. Secondly im not too keen on the colour i received, its much too barbie pink for me. And thirdly its too shimmy, im fine if its creamy but would prefer it semi-matte to matte.

> Evelyn Iona 'Lise' lip gloss. The texture of this gloss reminds me of cosmoholic's gloss. However this is less pigmented in the colour and this has slight gold glitter ✨ but its not too obvious in the swatch. 

 

As you can see from the lip swatches above, i can def pull off the matte but all the shimmy glossy type doesnt suit my skintone and preference cause it doesnt make it look better. 

Next up the Caribbean coconut calming mask:

 

This is absolutely lovely! I love how thin but juicy this mask is, it is a bit different and unique than any masks ive tried. This needs to be peeled off on one side first then apply the peeled off side to your face and them remove the other layer on the outer side. It is so thin that it becomes almost clear on your face. It also calms and moisturizes leaving yoir face refreshed! 

March's bag isnt totally perfect, i liked 2/4 of the items. Which makes the value seem lesser since i know for sure i wont be wearing the other 2 lipstick and gloss. I love the matte liquid lipstick and also the mask. Lip monthly seems to be slipping as the months go by. Hopefully next months bag is better. ✨