Ipsy October 2013 Review

If you were to gauge my excitement during the sneak peeks and when my glam room went live this month, you would definitely find that I was more excited before I knew what I was getting. By no means would I say that my bag was bad, but I didn't really want what I got.  The value of my bag this month was a lot less than what it was last month. I did get some pretty great products, I'm just not sure I will use them.

The Bag: Ok the bag was pretty darn cute. It felt like it was a little bit better quality to me than last months but that could have just been my imagination. I though it was going to be more red but it is actually a really pretty dark pinkish color. I'm a little nervous it will get gross if I use it too much, but I think it's nice overall.

Zoya Nail Polish: I was really excited to see that this would be sent out to everyone. The three colors the sent out are from their new fall cashmeres and satins collection. I got Neve. It's a super gorgeous blue color. I'm kind of waiting to use it until I get some nail polish remover so I can't really tell you how this works, but I have seen some awesome results online. One of these costs $8. Edit: I tried this out last night. It dries in a reasonable amount of time and I have yet to see a chip. So I suppose I will give it a while longer.

LA Fresh Eco Beauty Oil Free Face Cleanser Wipes: These were just ok for me. I hate the smell. It's gross and for $5 I can buy ones I actually like the smell of. These do work fairly well and were relatively gentle but I don't think I will buy the full size. This sample size costs about $4.50

Coastal Scents Medium Shadow Brush: This was the one product that really surprised me. I didn't think I would like it all that much but once I actually used it I loved it. It's crazy soft and not too flimsy. For the price I will probably buy more coastal scents brushes. I used it with my eye shadow this morning and it went on very nicely. Definitely worth buying more, especially at $2.95 a brush.

Wet 'n' Wild Photo Op Eye Shadow: This pallet if one of a few from Wet 'n' Wild's Fergie line. I find that the shadows from this line behave exactly like the color icon shadows from wet 'n' wild. They went on smooth and have decent staying power and awesome color pay off. Unfortunately I never use those kinds of orange-y red colors and I have colors that look just like the other three, which is why I passed this product up when I walked past it in Kmart--several times. So this pallet went to my mom who does like it a lot. Retail is about $5

Sexy Hair Blow Dry Gel: I was super excited when I saw that everyone was getting a sexy hair, I haven't used this either...I just plain don't blow dry my hair. Like ever. So I probably wont use this for like another 6 months. Retail is about $5 Edit: I tried this on my hair the night before my giant Halloween party. My hair was a disgusting mess after this. So this is just not made for my hair type. I'm going to let a friend borrow it and she can tell me how it works for her. I'll get back to you on this..

Honestly this month was a bit of a disappointment. I didn't get a whole lot that I will use but I can't say it was terrible. I'm really looking forward to next month's bag. The total value of my bag this month is about $25.45. Ipsy is a beauty subscription service that is $10 a month with free shipping in the US. In Canada it costs $5 to ship per month. The annual subscription is $110. It really is a great subscription service and totally worth it. It's a great way to try new things and find out what you do and don't like. If you want to subscribe feel free to use my referral link!  http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-hjt2e2dwt4og14qn .
xoxo
Courtney

Online Makeup Shopping Haul (Nyx, Urban Decay, Benefit)

As lame as it sounds I have never tried a lot of products that so many people talk about in tutorials. I do in fact have a reason though- I don't have very easy access to those brands from stores. I don't have any sephoras, ultas, or even a wallgreens anywhere near me. So it basically boils down to me finally breaking down and buying makeup online. I actually had never tried anything from these brands except a Nyx eye shadow I got in my September ipsy bag (review coming soon). I have been crazy excited every time I get a new package in the mail because I want to see everything and start using all the new pretty makeup. I decided I wanted to share my excitement with you and do a haul post and mini review on each item.

Urban Decay:

24/7 Vintage Eyeliner- I bought two of these on sale for $6 each in Deviant (bright blue) and Graffiti (bright green). I think these are some super fun colors and I think this was the product I was most excited about. They definitely have some serious staying power. The only complaint I have was after a while under my eye started to turn the color of the liner but I was able to fix that with a tiny bit of water and just wiping it away. At first this concerned me but I washed my face before removing my eye makeup and it still stayed put so I am very happy with this purchase.

Eye Primer Potion- I ended up getting two free samples of this and I don't think I need to go into much detail about this product. I'm pretty sure most people know how this works. I'm totally thrilled with it. My eye makeup has never lasted longer with any other primer. I will definitely repurchase.

Deluxe Shadow Box- I got this on sale for $10 and it comes with one of the tiny samples of primer potion. I think this is a super fun pallet with a great mixture of bright colors and more neutral ones. I don't think I would have paid full price for this but at the sale price I think it's a great buy.

NYX:

Concealer Jar- On the cap for the jar it says "Above and beyond FULL Coverage Concealer" I have to say it just didn't work well for me at all. I was really hoping this would work well to cover my recent breakouts. It doesn't do anything for that. I bought this in both the green and the porcelain. The green looked way too crazy and I couldn't work with it because every time I tried to blend it so it would work it would just come right off. The porcelain one I think may work for the more red areas of my skin but I definitely won't use it to cover acne. So I don't think I will be repurchasing this one.

Eye Shadow Base- I tried this with a long-wearing eye shadow from Sonia Kashuck (Review in Shopping spree haul post). As a primer type product it's ok. After wearing it for about 6 hours I'm noticing some fading and it isn't as bright as before. That being said my eye shadow hasn't moved but I can't be sure if it's the eye shadow staying power or the primer. With a regular eye shadow I found that it was kind of iffy. My shadow was definitely on longer than it would have been if I hadn't used a primer, however after a few hours it was almost gone.

Wicked Dreams Collection- As a whole I love this eye shadow pallet. It has 24 shadows in all different colors. 12 are matte and 12 are shimmer. I was super happy with some of he fun matte colors like the dark blue and a pinkish tone. I was hoping that the pallet would be a bit bigger and there would be more of the individual eye shadows, especially for $15. This isn't my favorite pallet but I'm glad I have it in my collection because the colors are all super pretty and nicely pigmented.

Nude Matte Shadow- I have been super obsessed with matte shadows lately and I say that nyx had some so I snapped up a pretty taupe-y pink color called "Leather and Lace"  with an ipsy coupon code.I love the color and like the pallet I mentioned above the shadow is nicely pigmented. I think I will wear this one pretty darn often.

NR EPDM Sponge- I got this as a set of two as a free gift and I can't even find it on their website. To be completely honest, I hate them. I just don't like the texture and I'm pretty set in they ways that I do my face makeup. So I think these will probably be going to a friend.

Benefit:

Poisetint- I totally love this product. It's such a gorgeous color and it does stain incredibly well. I wish that that deluxe sample size was a little bit bigger for as much as this costs on it's own. That being said I love this product and I have intentions of purchasing this and cha cha tint, either this week or next week after I get my new car.

Girl Meets Pearl- I love the way this looks for like a dance or a night out. It has a great effect but it's not something I will wear a lot. I don't think I will buy the full size until I run out of the sample, which will probably take a while. It didn't seem to clog any of my pores it just has this really glistening effect.

That Gal- Ok this stuff really worked for me. I got my benefit package in the mail after getting home from school and I could not wait to try this on. It looks great on top of makeup as well as with your foundation. I think I like it more as a touch up product though. I might buy the full size of this but I haven't decided yet.

Creasless Cream Eyeshadow- Alrighty...So this product is pretty darn interesting. I feel like the sample size is freaking huge. I think this would make a good base for a softer look. It goes on pretty sheer, which surprised me. I was surprised at how glittery it looks. After having it on for almost 6 hours it looks about the same just slightly more faded. I think this is a pretty awesome product, would I pay $20 for a full size? Probably not. The only color the sample comes in is a soft brown color called "No Pressure". I don't think I would use it in any other color and I think this sample will last me for quite a while. The color options for the full size are pretty nice but I just don't think I need to pay $20 for an eyeshadow.

So basically everything I got from benefit was a deluxe sample because I am so nervous to spend that much on products I'm not sure I will like. I have a cart of stuff on my account set up for if I do like what I get that will be purchased if I like them. The first three items were part of the "Goodtime Gals" set for $15 so I couldn't pass that up. I also got a couple packettes but I think it can be difficult to base a decision off of trying a product once.

I hope you found this helpful or at least enjoyable. I have a few projects i'm working on so I hope I will have those up soon.
xoxo
Courtney