Thinking of You: Ipsy, December 2014.

 Oh hello Ipsy.

This bag came about a week ago, but between the dealing with children right before the holidays, at school, and planning a wedding in March, I've just been so busy, that I barely have time to check my mail. I haven't even opened half the Christmas Cards I've gotten so far. So I do apologize for the delay. 

Anyhow, Ipsy costs ten dollars a month, and for that ten dollars, you get a makeup bag full of samples and full-size products every month. Your bag will almost always be worth more than you paid for it, and at the same time, you get to try out all sorts of products.

This months theme was "Thinking of You", which I suppose seems appropriate with it being December and holidays and such.

I will say, I did like the bag this month, it's black and simple. 

First up, a precision beauty eyelash curler, worth $5.00.

Verdict: Curious

I've always seen eyelash curlers as some sort of Medieval torture device, so I've never actually owned one. They terrify me. But now that I have one, I'm sort of curious about it and want to try to use it without worrying about pulling all my eyelashes out. I'll let you all know how that goes.

This was what was in the bag.

Beauty Without Cruelty, facial cleanser, worth approximately $3.00.

Verdict: Indifferent

I don't mind facial cleansers. I'm always looking for stuff that can help me face and my skin. So I don't really feel happy or upset about getting a product like this. I would've preferred makeup, but it's not an unwelcome product.

Nyx butter lip balm, in marshmallow, worth $4.00, full-size.

Verdict: Like

Who doesn't want chapstick in the winter?

It's a nice nude color, so it doesn't really give my lips any color, and it smells really good. It smells like Marshmallows.

Lights, Camera, Lashes Mascara, worth about $10.00.

[it's about half the size of a full-size product, which is worth $20.00]

Verdict:  LOVE

I love mascara samples. Thanks to Ipsy, I don't think I've bought mascara in over a year because I'm constantly getting samples of it :)

Pixi Fairy Dust, worth $10.00, full-size.

Verdict: Okay

 The color is so nude that you can barely see it on my skin, at all. 

If I had a choice, I would've chosen a different color because there's not much I can do with this color, and some of the other colors on the website like gold, snow, and copper appear to me more.

It's not a bad product, I used to buy stuff like this all the time, only my choices were more bright and glittery colors, I'm just not a fan of the color that I got sent.

[they used to sell these at Claire's, they were these stackable glitter pots and they were awesome! This product sort of reminds me of those, just less glittery and shimmery.]

So....

The grand total of this month's bag is: $32.00

More than three times what I paid for it.

I didn't hate this month's bag. It was much better than some of the recent bags I've gotten from them in the past few months. 

So if Ipsy appeals to you, by all means, check them out.

And:

 to all, who celebrate....

As for me, I'll be on a plane heading to NJ tomorrow to spend a week wedding planning!

See you next year ;)

 

Julep: December 2014, The Countdown Collection

 I would like to point out that I got this about two weeks ago.  I've just been too busy to post about it with it being the end of the first semester at school, holidays, and field trips, etc. I've also been hanging out with friends a lot more at work and working out almost every day, so by the time I actually get home and collect the mail, I'm beat. 

I haven't even opened the  December Ipsy bag yet and I got that last week.

However, I'm very happy to say that my box from Julep got her on time, with no issues with delivery, my address didn't get cut off this month, the package didn't have to be sent back to sender, so it's all good.

Julep is a monthly subscription box that specializes in nail polish, but also, especially within the last year, they've started making a lot of beauty products.  They have some pretty nifty nail polish colors, and I tend to like their eye makeup like eyeliner and such. 

Well that's a nice surprise. Apparently Julep upgraded my entire box for free. Sweet. Happy December to me?

December was the countdown collection... Makes sense with New Year's Eve and such.

from l to r: Rochelle, Aurora, Sharma.

Rochelle is a pretty cranberry shimmer color. 

Aurora is a bright silver creme. 

Sharma is a bronze glitter.

Those are all the IT GIRL colors. I really like Rochelle a lot, it's a color that I don't think I have much like. Aurora is meh, I feel like I have too many silver colors just like it. Sharma is a bronze glitter, no opinion either for or against. 

from l to r: Sienna and Ilga.

Sienna strikes me as the perfect holiday color. It's a gold creme, which I like because I don't have any gold color like that. Most of my gold colors are glitter and can't be used as a solid base coat, but Sienna is a gold that i could use as a base coat if I wanted to.

Ilga is a dark red. As I've mentioned before, I'm not much of a fan of red nail polish. But for a red color, it's not too bad. 

Those were the classic with a twist colors. 

from l to r: Soleil and Paula.

Soleil is a bronze creme color. I don't have anything like it, and like Sienna, I like how it's a metallic base coat.

Paula is awesome. It's a bright electric blue color with a purple and silver sort of shimmer.

These were bombshell colors. 

from l to r: Karissa and Chatoya.

Karissa is a bright red color. It's very red?

Chatoya is a silver pink glitter color. It's very different from other glitters I have. 

Those were Boho Glam.

The upgrade also came with all three eyeshadow colors, an eye shadow brush, and eye primer.

Airglow

 Supernova

Equinox

And then I went to open moonbeam and found this:

I'm sure I could've called Julep and told them what happened and they would've sent me a replacement product, but it didn't seem worth it really, when they upgraded my box for free, and I didn't initially pay for this as it is, so I just let it be.

But that's what the dust all over some of those nail polish bottles was in my pictures.

from  l to r: equinox, supernova, and air glow.

Equinox is a beautiful shimmery silver color. I absolutely love silver eyeshadow and this is an amazing silver color. It's a dark silver and it has just enough shimmer and glitter that it really looks awesome.

Supernova is an amazing molten purple glitter, I'm sad that I don't think my picture shows the details of the color. It's a slightly darker purple with some pink glitter and it's really an incredible color.

Airglow is a nude shimmer. It's a very pale nude color. It's one of the few colors that I probably could wear for every day use at work and it would have just enough of a sparkle that it would kind of be different than what I usually wear and I like that about it.

So overall, I really liked the December box. I loved the eyeshadow, and the nail polish colors were a little bit different than what I usually get. 

And thanks Julep, loved the free upgrade.

Urban Decay Love

I have a hardcore love for Urban Decay. Their 24/7 eyeliner was the first eyeliner I ever bought. I used to buy their glitter eye gel in college that they don't make anymore. I wear their naked palette 3 every day to work. And their mascara makes it look like I have eyelashes.

Anyhow, I've been stocking up on their products lately thanks to amazing black Friday/cyber Monday deals and such.

I bought about three new eyeliner colors. 

from l to r: Junkie, LSD, and Delinquent.

 Here's a different view of the products.

I've been into "wilder" makeup colors lately. I tend to wear enough neutral colors during the school week so that I don't look dead, but when it comes to being social or whatever, I like to add a hint of color to my usual boring look.

Junkie is a greenish silver glittery color. I've always liked green eyeliner. I think it's because I have blue eyes, and green tends to bring out a lot of the blue in my eyes.

LSD is a bright turquoise glitter.

Delinquent is a purple glitter.

My eyeliner collection had severely lacked in the glitter department.

I really like all these colors, and I'm quite happy with the purchase.

A few weeks ago I went to Sephora, and I've been saving my Sephora points for years because there's never been a product I felt like cashing them in for until I saw this.

It was a palette that had an eyeliner and four eyeshadow colors. [for the record, the pinkish and black color did not come like that, this was after I had used it when I snapped this picture]. 

From l to r: skimp, bust, guilt, and oil slick.

I was OBSESSED with oil slick eyeliner for the longest time. It's a black color with silver glitter. The eyeshadow is the same color as the eyeliner. It's one of my favorite colors.

Skimp is very light and very neutral. It's a nice highlighting color or a good base color.

Bust is a little bit darker then skimp, but not by much. It's more brown. It's also a good base or highlighting color. 

Guilt  is a very pretty light pink. I really like the way it looks when it's blended with other colors.

The eyeliner is zero, which is the first black eyeliner I think I ever bought.

On Black Friday, the ammo palette was ten dollars, so of course I had to buy it, especially with free-shipping. 

 

 Top row from l to r: smog, mildew, oil slick, last call, chopper.

Bottom row from l to r: Maui wowie, shattered, polyester bride, grifter, and sin.

The best pic I could get of swatches. 

Smog is sort of a burnt orange color that's a bit more brown than orange. 

Mildew is an olive green color.

Oil Slick is black with silver glitter.

Last Call is sort of a light magenta color. 

Chopper is a nice neutral brown with a nice shimmer. 

Maui wowie is also a nice neutral brown, but it's sort of a cooler color than chopper with more gold than brown.

Shattered is a pale icy blue. 

Polyester Bride is a white eyeshadow color. I used to be OBSESSED with white eyeshadow in college, I'm sort of glad to have a white color again, it was really good to make me look awake. 

Grifter is a pinkish purple color.

Sin is a neutral shimmery brown, as well, though more taupe than anything. 

 

I'm very happy with this palette, it's a nice mixture of brights and neutrals and the price was amazing :)

 

Urban Decay= Love. 

November 2014: Julep "Friendsgiving"

Man, I can't even begin to tell you how much trouble I went through this month to get my Julep box. The box was supposed to be here on the 7th, it never got here. I checked the shipping status, and got that same error message I had gotten before about no such address existing. I called Julep and told them how whatever shipping company they use truncates my address, so the last digit in my apartment number is missing. They said I wasn't the first person to have that issue this month... SO YOU'D THINK THEY'D DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?

They reordered my box for me, and changed my address, so it no longer said "Apt" just a # sign... But the box didn't even send till a week after they said they'd reorder it, and I just got it Wednesday. I really hope I don't have this issue with December's box.

 Eventually it did get to me... in two shipments?

In the pink box was just the mascara that came with my "classic with a twist" beauty profile this month. Nothing else... Just mascara. 

Ignore my marker stained hands- that's what happens when you teach special ed.

It's mascara, I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but I feel like the more mascara I have the better, so I'm eager to give it a try and see if it can help me fake the fact that I have no lashes.

This was the second box.

I kept my classic with a twist box, and just added one color. From l to r: Shari, Devon, and Kiki.

I wasn't really wowed with the color selection this month, so I kept my box and  just added Kiki to the order, although I did go add-on heavy with eyeliner :x

Speaking of which, I just realized that I never got a "bonus gift" for filling out all my add-0n spots. 

I don't really care, but it's sort of false advertising to claim you're going to do something and then not follow through with that claim.  It's totally not worth calling them about either... If I did, it would just take another two weeks to send me whatever the bonus product was and who knows if I'd even like it.

Anyhow....

Shari is a very light white pink color. I don't know if I'll ever wear it. But it isn't hideous.

Devon is pretty nifty, it's a gray color with a pink sheen:

[That was the best pic I could get that you can sort of see the pink sheen]

Kiki is a light blue glitter. It's nothing special, but I do like cooler colors like greens, blues, purples, etc as opposed to other colors.

This is every single gel eyeliner color minus the black one, which I own already.

I actually really like their gel eyeliner. It goes on smooth. I barely need primer. And it has amazing staying power, it's definitely up there as one of my preferred eyeliner choices, and it goes on the waterline quite smoothly.

Graphite Shimmer is a really dark gray color that looks more black than gray, and it's pretty awesome. I dig anything that is either black or gray.

Smokey Plum is a black purple. It's more black than purple, but it does have a hint of violet, it's a good color for when black is boring and I want something with a little more color but still dark. 

Bronze Shimmer is a nice neutral dark brown. I lack neutral colors for eyeliner aside from basic blacks, so it's an every day color that I can wear to school.

Regal Teal Shimmer is blue-green and bright. It's a nice wild color.

Smokey Taupe is a pale golden color, it has a nice sparkle, and it's also nice for every day neutral wear.

So as usual I spent far too much money on my monthly Julep box, but I would say I'm satisfied with the products I got, once they eventually got me.

Here's hoping December has far less shipping difficulties. 

Girl Meets Glitter: Ipsy, November 2014

Meh, that's how I've felt about my last two Ipsy bags.

For those, new to the party, Ipsy is a subscription box bag service. It's ten dollars a month, and you supposedly get a customized bag of beauty goods. You usually get at least what you paid, or more than what you paid, it's a good deal, I just haven't been wowed by it lately. 

This month's theme was "girl meets glitter."

I was really hoping that with a theme like that, I'd get some sort of sparkly makeup product... Nope. 

The only thing sparkly or glittery was this month's bag, which I did like. 

First up, some sort of Under the Eye cover.  A good product, in theory, since I have horrible under eye circles because I don't sleep well, at all, have horrible insomnia, and look it.

It was a tiny sample, it's 0.11 ounces, where as the full-size product is worth $24.00, which makes this sample worth a measly .10 cents. It's tiny. You can probably barely get one use out of it. Thanks for the crap Ipsy.

On my hand.

Blended on my hand. The shade isn't even close to my skin-tone, and my face is darker than my other skin because my face isn't covered like other parts of my body. Useless.

This is what was in the bag.

 Marc Anthony Hair Spray, worth approximately $1.40.

It's Hair Spray. I mean I like Hair Spray. I don't mind getting hairspray. But it's nothing special. I suppose it's a nice travel size for when I go home to NJ over the holidays.

SeaRX Face & Body Scrub, worth approximately $3.20.

It's supposedly anti-aging, but again, a really tiny sample, probably good for maybe one use... How can you even get an opinion of a product if you only get one use out of it?'

Not impressed.

Starlooks lip gloss in "Guilty Pleasure", worth $3.25.

 This is on my hand.

I do like Starlooks makeup products. I used to get their Starbox, I miss their Starbox, but haven't bothered to resubscribe yet :x and I've used their lip gloss before. It's a quality product and it lasts. I do like this color, as well. It's a nice pink, a little above a neutral color, but a nice shade of pink.

Be a Bombshell, eye base, in submissive, full-size, worth $14.00.

It's a very light and neutral brown with a slight shimmer. I like it because it's a neutral color, and I tend to wear neutrals to work. 

Total Value:  $21.95

Probably one of my lowest value Ipsy bags ever.

Looking at the rest of this month's products.. They didn't really go with the theme. There isn't an overall glitter theme or anything. I would've preferred a Starlooks Gem Eye Pencil or the Nicole by OPI glitter nailpolish to almost everything I've gotten.

Oh well... You win some... You lose some..

Here's hoping December's bag is a hell of a lot better.