My Influenster VoxBox - YSL

Ipsy Summer Lovin

For a few Ipsy Glam Bags now I have been questioning if I want to continue to subscribe to the $10 a month beauty club.  It is not about the money, since I always feel that the products I get are well worth the $10 price tag.  The turnoff for me is the products that Ipsy tends to send.  Here is my July Glam Bag:

Summer Lovin

So at first glance the bag doesn't look bad at all.  In fact, I got a nice shade of mineral lipstick and a Tarte bronzer that I know is highly rated.  Go me!

But alas my complaint.  Ipsy has you take a survey before joining the club to know your beauty preferences.  For example, they want to know what kind of makeup you like, what types of makeup and beauty products you want, don't want, etc.  I specifically made sure to check off no bronzer / blush, lip product, or lipstick.  Additionally, one of the makeup styles you can choose is "WORLDY" which features a woman with bright eye makeup.  None of the other images on the makeup styles show anyone with bright (in my opinion ridiculous) eye makeup.  Clearly, I didn't choose to have the "WORLDLY" look.  It is not for me so what's up with neon blue eyeliner?

I find that Ipsy tends to send me products that I specifically have not asked for while generally failing to send me the products that I want.  And the 5 products you see pictures above are just 5 of the 27 products that you could potentially get.  There are other products this month that would be a much better fit.  I'm not sure how Ipsy chooses the products to send to people because my friends also feel that Ipsy does not take into consideration the quiz you take prior to joining the beauty club.  From reading Ipsy customer comments it would seem that this is a common theme.

Despite my annoyance I don't think I can part ways with Ipsy quite yet.  For $10 a month I love getting a surprise in the mail.  And every now and then I have found something that I really love.

Today is the last day you can join Ipsy without being on the waitlist.  That's huge!  Click here if you want to try Ipsy out for yourself despite my above rant.  If you do join please let me know how you like the Glam Bags and if you feel Ipsy is using your questionnaire as a guide to the products you receive.

Ipsy Match Glam Bag Review

In early March I wrote about Ipsy. At that time I was excited because I received a sneak preview of what I would receive in my March Glam Bag and I thought the color of the NYX Butter Lipstick was fabulous.  Little did I know, however, I would not receive the pink color pictured, but instead a dark purple colored lipstick called Hunk.

I'm not afraid of taking makeup risks, I think that is part of the fun of beauty, but the purple looked clownish on me.  Let's put it this way, when your husband who knows enough to tell you that a new lipstick looks, "great," even if he doesn't "really" think so, but for once says, "well..." with a long pause, you know that the color is a miss!

Lucky for me a friend of mine also receives Ipsy Glam Bags and she did not like her color either.  So we swapped and I got to try out the color I had originally wanted, Little Susie.

From left to right: the two eyeshadow swatches from Pixi by Petra in Apricot Glow and NYX Butter Lipstick in Little Susie

Little Susie is definitely Barbie pink, but I find it a much better Spring color than Hunk.  The third NYX Butter Gloss color some folks received in their Glam Bag was Pops, a nice mauve, which I would have loved, but you get what you get.  These lipsticks retails for $10.

I definitely was not crazy about this month's Glam Bag.  Frankly the only items I really liked were the:

• Coolway Glow Oil Treatment - Normally hair oils make my fine hair greasy, but this manages to tame flyaways without weighing down my hair.  And my hair never looks greasy!  I loved this product.
• Crownbrush Infinity Shadow / Crease Duet Brush - You can never go wrong with a crease brush.  The quality is good.
• The Ipsy bag, which is super cute and I love neon.  

I wasn't impressed with the:

• Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral Duo - While I like the color selection, the eyeshadow is not very good quality.  
• skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels - These did not feel like they did anything for my sensitive, under eye area.  Last month I received a sample of GlamGlow under eye mask and I would highly recommend that product instead.  
• NYX Butter Lipstick - I am undecided about this item.  I'm not the biggest lipstick fan, but the color is pigmented and it does feel somewhat moisturizing.  I found this product just OK.  

Overall I still love receiving my $10 personalized, surprise Ipsy Glam Bag and I would still recommend it.  February's bag was awesome and I hope April's bag will be even better!