Skin & Tonics : Skincare Guides & Product Reviews

It’s Ipsy time again, which seems to translate into “endless complaining time” for me lately. This bag arrives in my mailbox later and later each month! Obviously this is not the end of the world, but these new arrival times do feel like a decline in service. Anyway, my hope was that the bag itself would be so great that I’d forget all about the shipping details once it arrived. July is my birthday month after all, so I have been anticipating the arrival of this bag with a little extra enthusiasm.

The July Ipsy Glam Bag was fun to open, and the products in it looked so exciting – at first. But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s start with  a rundown of what was in this month’s bag:

• Full size Pop Beauty Pouty Pop Crayon ($4)
• 3-color BH Cosmetics California Collection Eye Palette ($3)
• Travel Size Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof Humidity Resistant Spray ($6)
• Travel Size Coola Mineral Face SPF 20 Rose Essence Tinted Moisturizer ($4)
• Full Size Demeter Perfume Oil Roll On in Salt Air ($10)

Total Value: $27

The bag itself isn’t very exciting this month. It arrived crinkled in a way that would require a lot of work to get it back into its intended shape, but even if it hadn’t crinkled, it’s really not my style. It’s plastic, it’s hot pink, and it’s see-through. This month’s Ipsy theme is “Beach Beauty,” and I’m assuming that this bag is supposed to look like a beachy thing. This is my problem with the beach – aside from the jellyfish, sand, and UV rays – beach fashion is Trés Uggo. What is it about the ocean in the summertime that makes people want to wear loud, neon prints and carry cheap plastic bags everywhere? It’s not for me, obviously, though I’m willing to accept the fact that maybe I’m just a curmudgeon. I blame the heat & humidity.

Anyway, onward to products! First up, we have a Pouty Pop Crayon by Pop Beauty. I was excited to see this in my bag because I love lip products, and I specifically love a crayon lipstick format. The color looked promising too,even in the swatch, but all my hopes were dashed the moment I tried it on. Though the color is called “Fuchsia Flirt,” and the crayon itself does, in fact, look fuchsia in the packaging, it actually goes on as a warm, frosty pink. It’s not at all flattering with my skin tone, and actually, I’m not sure what skin tone this color would compliment. There’s just something a little too Nicki Minaj about it to be wearable.

Additionally, I had a really hard time getting this product off my lips. It sunk down into my lip creases and stuck there so stubbornly, I had to use a peeling lip scrub just to remove it all. A friend pointed out that this could be considered a plus – at least it inspired me to do a lip treatment. It inspired that same friend to wax her lip, so maybe this product’s true purpose is not as a lip color, but rather, to be that extra push we need to perform dead skin and unwanted hair removal.

Next up is the BH Cosmetics California Collection Eye Palette. Again, I was very excited to see this in my bag – I own a couple of BH Cosmetics Eyeshadow palettes and they are great budget shadows. The shadows swatched well – very pigmented and not crumbly or patchy. However, when it came time to create a look with this palette, I realized it was nearly impossible to create anything wearable with these colors. Everything I tried came off as what I’m now calling “Clown Chic,” which, in case you were wondering, is not chic at all.

Then we have the Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof Humidity Resistant Spray. This is a decent hairspray, and as promised, it holds up well in the humid, North Carolina air. I don’t buy a lot of hair products, so I’m always happy to get them in these bags. Beyond that, I don’t have much more to say about this product.

You would think the biggest disaster in the bag would be the hideous Pop Beauty Crayon, wouldn’t you? I thought so too, until I tried on the Coola Tinted Moisturizer. The ingredients in it were really appealing, but the product itself only comes in one color, and that color is a hot, shiny, two-shades-too-dark, orangey mess. Additionally, for something that touts itself as a sunscreen, SPF 20 is a very low amount of sun protection as far as I’m concerned. I don’t even get out of bed for less than SPF 30. SPF 20? I might as well slather my face in butter and go for a stroll along the equator.

If you need proof of how atrocious these makeup products were, here are some pictures of the best look I could manage with the contents of this bag.

Bear in mind that these were the most flattering photos I could get, yet I still look like a child The Joker gave birth to on a Mardi Gras float.

Lastly, we have this Ipsy bag’s saving grace – a perfume oil roll-on by Demeter in “Salt Air.” This fresh, aquatic fragrance really is lovely. It manages to be tropical without being sweet or fruity – it actually reminds me a bit of Armani’s Acqua di Gioia. I’ve been wearing it a lot at night after I get out of the shower, and I find the fragrance to be soft and relaxing.

Overall, the July Ipsy Bag was a disappointment for me, in case you haven’t guessed. Here’s hoping that August’s bag will be better! If you’d like to get your own Ipsy subscription, you can sign up on the Ipsy website. You’ll receive 4-5 products in your mailbox every month for $10.

Pros:
+ Big Sexy Hair Weather Proof Humidity Resistant Spray Performs as advertised
+ The Demeter Perfume Oil Roll-on smells lovely.

Cons:
– Ugly bag that also arrived misshapen
– Awful lip color that was difficult to remove
– Tinted moisturizer that was dark, orange, and shiny.
– Eyeshadow palette colors are not appropriate for anyone who is not actively getting paid to entertain children at birthday parties.

Skin & Tonics Rating:

Performance: 2/5 – Only two of these products performed well.

Quality: 2/5 – I’m pretty sure that bag would be worth more as raw material.

Value: 3/5 – In addition to not being wowed by the products, $27 is a low bag value for Ipsy. That being said, the perfume roll-on alone retails for $10, so that alone covered the cost of this bag.

Overall: 2.4/5

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