Review: Ipsy 2014-04
May. 5th, 2014 10:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mikoOh dear... sneak peeks are happening for the May bag, and here I am having not posted anything about April! Life got busy (and I wanted to get my Diablo characters maxed again...), but I did take pictures and try everything at least once, so here we go!
The bag for this month is a dark purple, slightly taller than average and a thinner outer material. Nothing terribly notable; it has a record player image on it.
dr. brandt - microdermabrasion ($10, 7.5 g)
Have you ever wanted to rub fine grit sandpaper on your face? I certainly haven't, but thanks to this product, I get to experience it anyway. Being a tad concerned (given that I don't think exfoliation should be a thing unless it's to kill plants), I did read up a little on this one before using it and followed the advice that I should use very little and be very gentle with it.
That's good advice. This is the finest grain physical exfoliator I have ever used, and even being gentle (no perpendicular pressure) I found that parts of my face quickly felt scrubbed raw. I can't really speak beyond that... exfoliation has never had a positive effect that I've noticed - if anything, it makes my skin feel marginally worse on average and either encourages small bumps to appear or just makes me more aware of them.
A tiny dab was more than enough for my face, so this tube is going to last nearly forever if I use it like this... which is decent for a skin product sample (gives enough that you can tell if it's working for you) and consistent with the last dr. brandt sample I tried.
It also smells like lemon Pledge. This is not a selling point.
Alternates:
Benefit - Lollitint
St. Tropez - Gradual Tan Plus Anti-Aging Multi-Action Face
Cover FX - Mattifying Primer with Anti-Acne Treatment
Cailyn - Tinted Lip Balm in "Apple Pink" ($19, 0.14 oz / 4.0 g)
Do you remember that Mica Beauty tinted lip balm I got another month? This is pretty similar - a matte potted product that you apply with a brush. In this case, there's a built in brush which is pleasant, but also makes the product rather more difficult to store neatly.
Colour wise, it's pink-orange tone on me, and it has the same problem as the last one that it ends up sticking in the grooves on my lips and looks weird after a while. It also shouldn't be described as a balm, really... it has the same weird "powdered lip" feeling and is overall dry.
Here's a ridiculous picture M took while I was describing it:
Alternates:
Cailyn - Tinted Lip Balm in "Acid Pink"
Mary Kay - At Play Jelly Lip Gloss in either "Teddy Bare" or "Berry Me"
Starlooks - Longwear Lip Pencil in "Naked"
Urban Decay - 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil Travel Size (est $8, no size listed)
The Ipsy community seemed really psyched about this product, but I'm not really seeing it. I'm beginning to believe I'm just terrible at eye pencils. This is a pleasantly soft one, but for me, I had a lot of difficulty getting it onto my lash line neatly - I actually had bad fallout on my cheeks because the product flecked off of my eyelashes. Maybe I just have really solid eyelashes?
In the end, I did manage to put it on my eyes fairly satisfactorily. It is meant to be smudgeable, so I basically applied it poorly and rubbed at my eyes to even it out... classy. Then I couldn't get it off, even with makeup remover, because it was so protected by my eyelashes. So... uh... if staying power is important to you, I guess that's good? I will be making more effort with it, because I suspect it really is a decent product.
I'll include the on-face picture after the next product, since I did them together... but be prepared to be underwhelmed.
Elizabeth Mott - pop! goes the shadow in "Champagne" ($13, 0.07 oz / 2 g)
This eyeshadow has taught me that my skin is apparently the colour of "Champagne". Seriously, there was a fleck of this loose that I blew onto my hand, and when smeared out, it is nothing but a glitter wash (albeit a nice consistent one) on me. It's quite creamy feeling and I didn't experience any fallout from it, so I'd say the quality of the product is good - as far as something that just makes me sparkly goes.
That said, after my newfound experiences with makeup, I'm starting to think that eyeshadow just isn't very effective on me. Unless I'm posing ridiculously, I just don't have that much visible eyelid.
Here's me desperately trying to make it visible (both the eyeliner and eyeshadow are on, not that you can tell):
... and here's me making faces, which is a lot closer to reality. Demure looking-down is not really my thing, which makes me question subtle eyeshadow's value.
Alternates:
City Color Cosmetics - Shadow & Highlight Mousse in "White Gold"
Rainbow Honey Cosmetics - Nail polish in "Midnight Fountain"
Demeter - Jasmine Perfume Oil Roll On ($10, 0.29 fl oz)
This initially smells like you've stuck your face into a garden's worth of lily of the valley... and then thought "wait, isn't this poisonous" and backed away quickly. It fades to a pleasant "hey, I can smell it just fine from over here, I don't actually need flowers up my nose". I like it. Between the oil format (better than alcohol base, I think) and the fact that it smells like plants in the ground, this is the only perfume that I have ever actually considered wearing.
This was the surprise hit of this bag... I still have no idea what jasmine actually smells like, though.
Alternates:
Big Sexy Hair - Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse (travel size)
KISS - Looks So Natural Lashes in "Shy", "Pretty", "Flirty", "Sultry", or "Vamp".
St. Tropez - Gradual Tan Plus Anti-Aging Multi-Action Face
So Seductive - Such a Tease lashes
Coastal Scents - Medium Shadow Brush
Overall, I was shockingly pleased with the perfume this month, but the rest was fairly bland. I'm sure I'll use the eyeliner and eyeshadow, though, and I didn't mind trying the exfoliator... the tinted lip balm is a bit of a bust, but may have some use combining with other products.
The bloom is somewhat off the rose for receiving these bags, which is sort of what I expected... I just don't love makeup that much, and it starts to pile up quickly since I don't wear it often. I'm enjoying the excuse to get better at using it, but once I hit a comfortable level of skill, I don't see myself continuing with this. For the moment, I've updated my profile to include more things to see about some variety, and we'll see how the next month or two goes.
Date received: 2014-04-16
Cost: $14.95 + conversion
Value: $60
The bag for this month is a dark purple, slightly taller than average and a thinner outer material. Nothing terribly notable; it has a record player image on it.
dr. brandt - microdermabrasion ($10, 7.5 g)
Have you ever wanted to rub fine grit sandpaper on your face? I certainly haven't, but thanks to this product, I get to experience it anyway. Being a tad concerned (given that I don't think exfoliation should be a thing unless it's to kill plants), I did read up a little on this one before using it and followed the advice that I should use very little and be very gentle with it.
That's good advice. This is the finest grain physical exfoliator I have ever used, and even being gentle (no perpendicular pressure) I found that parts of my face quickly felt scrubbed raw. I can't really speak beyond that... exfoliation has never had a positive effect that I've noticed - if anything, it makes my skin feel marginally worse on average and either encourages small bumps to appear or just makes me more aware of them.
A tiny dab was more than enough for my face, so this tube is going to last nearly forever if I use it like this... which is decent for a skin product sample (gives enough that you can tell if it's working for you) and consistent with the last dr. brandt sample I tried.
It also smells like lemon Pledge. This is not a selling point.
Alternates:
Benefit - Lollitint
St. Tropez - Gradual Tan Plus Anti-Aging Multi-Action Face
Cover FX - Mattifying Primer with Anti-Acne Treatment
Cailyn - Tinted Lip Balm in "Apple Pink" ($19, 0.14 oz / 4.0 g)
Do you remember that Mica Beauty tinted lip balm I got another month? This is pretty similar - a matte potted product that you apply with a brush. In this case, there's a built in brush which is pleasant, but also makes the product rather more difficult to store neatly.
Colour wise, it's pink-orange tone on me, and it has the same problem as the last one that it ends up sticking in the grooves on my lips and looks weird after a while. It also shouldn't be described as a balm, really... it has the same weird "powdered lip" feeling and is overall dry.
Here's a ridiculous picture M took while I was describing it:
Alternates:
Cailyn - Tinted Lip Balm in "Acid Pink"
Mary Kay - At Play Jelly Lip Gloss in either "Teddy Bare" or "Berry Me"
Starlooks - Longwear Lip Pencil in "Naked"
Urban Decay - 24/7 Velvet Glide-On Eye Pencil Travel Size (est $8, no size listed)
The Ipsy community seemed really psyched about this product, but I'm not really seeing it. I'm beginning to believe I'm just terrible at eye pencils. This is a pleasantly soft one, but for me, I had a lot of difficulty getting it onto my lash line neatly - I actually had bad fallout on my cheeks because the product flecked off of my eyelashes. Maybe I just have really solid eyelashes?
In the end, I did manage to put it on my eyes fairly satisfactorily. It is meant to be smudgeable, so I basically applied it poorly and rubbed at my eyes to even it out... classy. Then I couldn't get it off, even with makeup remover, because it was so protected by my eyelashes. So... uh... if staying power is important to you, I guess that's good? I will be making more effort with it, because I suspect it really is a decent product.
I'll include the on-face picture after the next product, since I did them together... but be prepared to be underwhelmed.
Elizabeth Mott - pop! goes the shadow in "Champagne" ($13, 0.07 oz / 2 g)
This eyeshadow has taught me that my skin is apparently the colour of "Champagne". Seriously, there was a fleck of this loose that I blew onto my hand, and when smeared out, it is nothing but a glitter wash (albeit a nice consistent one) on me. It's quite creamy feeling and I didn't experience any fallout from it, so I'd say the quality of the product is good - as far as something that just makes me sparkly goes.
That said, after my newfound experiences with makeup, I'm starting to think that eyeshadow just isn't very effective on me. Unless I'm posing ridiculously, I just don't have that much visible eyelid.
Here's me desperately trying to make it visible (both the eyeliner and eyeshadow are on, not that you can tell):
... and here's me making faces, which is a lot closer to reality. Demure looking-down is not really my thing, which makes me question subtle eyeshadow's value.
Alternates:
City Color Cosmetics - Shadow & Highlight Mousse in "White Gold"
Rainbow Honey Cosmetics - Nail polish in "Midnight Fountain"
Demeter - Jasmine Perfume Oil Roll On ($10, 0.29 fl oz)
This initially smells like you've stuck your face into a garden's worth of lily of the valley... and then thought "wait, isn't this poisonous" and backed away quickly. It fades to a pleasant "hey, I can smell it just fine from over here, I don't actually need flowers up my nose". I like it. Between the oil format (better than alcohol base, I think) and the fact that it smells like plants in the ground, this is the only perfume that I have ever actually considered wearing.
This was the surprise hit of this bag... I still have no idea what jasmine actually smells like, though.
Alternates:
Big Sexy Hair - Root Pump Volumizing Spray Mousse (travel size)
KISS - Looks So Natural Lashes in "Shy", "Pretty", "Flirty", "Sultry", or "Vamp".
St. Tropez - Gradual Tan Plus Anti-Aging Multi-Action Face
So Seductive - Such a Tease lashes
Coastal Scents - Medium Shadow Brush
Overall, I was shockingly pleased with the perfume this month, but the rest was fairly bland. I'm sure I'll use the eyeliner and eyeshadow, though, and I didn't mind trying the exfoliator... the tinted lip balm is a bit of a bust, but may have some use combining with other products.
The bloom is somewhat off the rose for receiving these bags, which is sort of what I expected... I just don't love makeup that much, and it starts to pile up quickly since I don't wear it often. I'm enjoying the excuse to get better at using it, but once I hit a comfortable level of skill, I don't see myself continuing with this. For the moment, I've updated my profile to include more things to see about some variety, and we'll see how the next month or two goes.
Date received: 2014-04-16
Cost: $14.95 + conversion
Value: $60