Beauty Sub Smackdown Month 2- July 2014 Beauty Box 5 vs. Ipsy

Alright! July is halfway done. When it comes to beauty subscriptions, this is the best time of the month! Really though, I wasn't super excited about anything in particular this month, just the subscriptions as a whole. For those of you who don't know, I am taking three months to compare my ipsy bag and my Beauty Box 5 and determine which one is better. This is my second month you can find the first one here.

Before we start I want to remind you of a few things:

1-Price. Ipsy is $10/month or $110/year. Beauty Box 5 is $12/month or $99/year. So though Ipsy is less expensive month to month, Beauty Box 5 is less expensive for a year.

2-Samples. Ipsy sends out 4-5 product samples a month ranging from deluxe to full size products, Beauty Box 5 guarantees 5 samples a month ranging from packets to full size.

3-Products. Though both boxes are beauty related, most often Beauty Box 5 seems more body and skin care where ipsy is more makeup. But both boxes tend to have a mix.

Alright, on to products!

Let's start with Ipsy shall we? The theme for this month is "Sensationally Sun kissed" Sounds cute, although it makes me think if tanning, which I don't do. There was a wide range of product variation this month but this is what I got...

Item #1- Bare Minerals 5-in-1 Advanced Performance Cream Eyeshadow Broad Spectrum SPF15: This is by far my favorite product out of my ipsy bag this month. This initially reminds me a lot of the CoverGirl Intense Shadow Blast eyeshadow in the way that it is packaged and in staying power. They were discontinued a few years back and I can remember grabbing 3 of the "beige blaze" ones that I used to use a primers back in my freshman year. However these are more of a matte finish. The color I got in this was Barely Nude. I think this makes a great base and it's definitely on my "To Buy" list. Retail Value-$6

Item #2- Clear Clinic Laboratories Vanished Clear Spot Treatment: This was super weird for me. When I saw it in my glam room I was bummed because I got it just after my acne cleared up, but when I received it I actually had a break out (just in time?). I have to admit that this smells like straight up rubbing alcohol, which I have used to clean cuts and scrapes before since I'm allergic to antibiotic ointments. Trust me this stuff hurts just as bad. But as for it doing the job? It seems to at least reduce the size. I will test this more thoroughly and try and review it later with some other skincare items. Retail Value-$9.33

Item #3- Pixi Beauty Tinted Brilliance Balm: So this was a mini this month. Which is fine. My only tiff was that it was sooo hot that it was a bit soft and the top got smashed a bit, but it's ok since it didn't break and it's still useable. As a balm this stuff works really nicely and feels pretty moisturizing. It's not flavored or anything, but the color was interesting. I received "Unique Pink" which is supposed to adjust to you lip color to give you a look unlike anyone else's. I would say that it really just enhanced my natural lip color, but it's not a color I would go out of my way to buy. However I will still use it as it feels really nice. Retail Vaule-$9

Item #4- Pur~Lisse Pur~Protect Essential Daily Moisturizer SPF 30:  Hmmm. Well, I was pleased that I didn't get any tanning oil, but I have so many moisturizers with sunscreen that I didn't need this. However it will be nice to have this out for a couple weeks instead of leaving a giant bottle of equate daily moisturizer out and not having it fit into my bag while I'm moving and packing/unpacking. So I will be using this one a lot in the next couple weeks. Retail Value-$16.17

Item #5-Models Own Nail Polish: Generally chunky glittery nail polish is NOT my thing, especially not the color they described on ipsy.com, BUT after seeing this in person I could not wait to try it. As for actually doing it? I just got gel nails. Like 3 days before my bag came. SO it took me a while to get this done. The polish itself is kind of a thick consistency, and honestly not my favorite, but it's not horrible. Retail Value-$6

If you would like to join me on  ipsy please feel free to use my referral link. (http://www.ipsy.com/r/13bs I'm super close to a bonus item and it's all from reviewing products.)

The total value for my bag this month was 46.50

So with that in mind let's take a look at Beauty Box 5, This month's theme is "Defining Moments" Which I think is fitting because I just graduated high school and am moving out in a couple weeks. So this box looked pretty exciting, and I can't say I was super let down, but I wish I would have gotten a different starlooks product since I already had this one, but it looks like a lot of people didn't get that. Anyway on to what I got!

Item #1- Revlon Bold Lacquer Mascara: Hey remember last month when I got 2 mascaras? Well look here's another one! I actually don't like black mascara and I'm buying a brown when I run out of the glam naturals sample. This one was put in a box for the girls night in party- you can find some DIYs and other fun stuff from that here! But essentially this was a new fiber mascara (also something I stay away from) that is supposed to be high shine. I didn't use it so I couldn't tell you. Retail Value-$7.99

Item #2- HASK Argan Oil Intense Deep Conditioning Hair Treatment: I'm torn on this one. One thing that I usually don't want to do is deep condition my already oily hair. But I do have a HASK Argan Oil Healing Shine Hair Treatment to keep my hair smooth and soft. Argan oil is one of the few things that I like to use, so I think I'm going to save this for the winter months when my hair gets super dry and gross. Retail Value-$2.49

Item #3- Body Drench Candylicious Lips: I was a little ehh about putting grape lollipop flavored lip products on my lips, mostly because I don't like grape lollipops, but I find that I like this more than I thought I would. It feels nice on my lips, moisturizes really well, and smells really good. I also think the flavor isn't too overdone so I think this is by far my favorite product this month. I will definitely be buying more when I run out. Retail Value-$3.99

Item #4- Anna Naturals Glowing Mama Walnut Face & Body Scrub: This is the only sample product I got, everything else was full size. But It's not a bad sample. It doesn't tell me how much is in the little jar so I estimated about 0.5 oz. As for how his works I used it shortly after I got it and I was afraid of how the walnut exfoliating pieces would feel, but it was quite gentle. It smells amazing and I will most likely be buying the full size soon. Retail Value-$1.37

Item #5-  Starlooks Obsidian Kohl Eye Pencil: Unfortunately I already owned one of these from my first ipsy bag. I reviewed it _here_ and my opinion is the same. I still love this pencil, but this particular one is being passed on via Girls Night In. Retail Value-$12

So my total for Beauty Box 5 this month? $27.84. But I'm only really excited about the lip balm and the scrub. I do want to point out that I enjoyed this months BB5 more than last months.

 The winner is....Ipsy. This month I feel like was just more useful than my BB5. Though I discovered great products in both, Ipsy got it again this month, simply because I will use everything in the bag and it was all new to me. That being said, I might go broke this month because of how many of these products I want.

That's all for this month's smackdown! I will still do an August post, but I think we know who wins overall already.

xoxo
Courtney