Ipsy: December Review

Ipsy: December Review

This was my first time using Ipsy. I heard such great reviews about it and decided to subscribe.

For those of you who do not know what ipsy is, it’s a monthly subscription of $10 where you get 5 beauty samples & full sized products ranging from drug store products to high end products.

Shipping took about over a week to receive so I was a little impatient. 

I was disappointed about the packaging. I understand shipping is free but they could have tried a little. When I received my Birchbox, they shipped it in a huge package to keep it safe and protected. Ipsy just had this one little bag, so packaging was a bummer for me.

When I opened the package, this cute little wristlet was in there. Pink is my favorite color so I am biased and love this wristlet. It’s soft on the outside. The inside was alright. It wasn’t soft or anything great but it’s good to use for a night out or if you don’t feel like carrying a purse. I’m obsessed with the color.

The five products in the wristlet that I received are MintPear Beauty Blending Sponge, Benefit Cosmetics the POREfessional face primer, Josie Maran Cosmetics Argan Enlightment Illuminizer, Ciate London Liquid Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick and NIP+FAB Glycolic Fix Serum.

I’ll start off with the MintPear Beauty Blending Sponge. I used this 3 times and I hated using it each time. The sponge is HARD. It’s squishy but hard. Even when I soaked it in water, it was still hard. It made blending and putting foundation on difficult. In prefer Sephora’s beauty blender over this. I genuinely cannot believe this costs regularly $20. Who would pay $20 for this?! I like my beauty blenders to actually be soft, squishy and like a SPONGE. This just felt hard. I used the sponge on different sides and angles to see if maybe I was using it wrong and it was still hard. Water didn’t make a difference. It absorbed my foundation and concealer. Overall, I’m not pleased with this item.

NIP+FAB Glycolic Fix Serum – it’s supposed to brighten and smooth my face. It’s supposed to get rid of my wrinkles and moisturize my face. It made my face glow and soft. It definitely moisturized my face, but I have sensitive skin so it DID burn my skin when I first used it. It wasn’t a bad burn, it was a light burn but I wouldn’t recommend this for anyone with sensitive skin. It didn’t reduce my pores. In fact, it actually made me break out. I noticed the next day that little white heads were popping in places that I used the product. I thought it might have been my other products so I used this product alone, no other makeup, the next day. And the very next day, the white heads popped up again. So I think this serum is making my skin worse and break out. It was sensitive for my skin and I just don’t recommend it whatsoever if you have sensitive skin.

I used the Ciate London Liquid Velvet Matte Liquid Lipstick next. It’s easy to apply. The applicator is thick and I was able to outline my lips with it. It was smooth and easy to apply. Drying didn’t take long. I like how soft this liquid lipstick is and it didn’t dry my lips at all! It wasn’t drying! It does transfer. This is NOT a long lasting liquid lipstick. When you eat or drink, it transfers like crazy. I unfortunately did not take photos the first time I used it but I ate eggrolls, a pizza, and a cheesecake along with drinking out of a cup and by 2PM, the product was mainly gone. The product around my lips were still there so it looked like I just applied lip liner and nothing else. I mean, you can still see the product and what’s left on my lips but the edges of my lips showed more color to the point it looked like I just had lip liner on. I like the lipstick but I wouldn’t use it for an all day kind of thing. I would only wear it if I wasn’t planning on eating or drinking anything because it transfers. It doesn’t transfer a crazy amount like Colourpop’s Satin Liquid Lipsticks or NYX’s Liquid Suede Crème Lipsticks but it does transfer. You would have to reapply if you’re constantly going to eat and drink throughout the day.

If you do eat throughout the day, it WILL smudge on your chin so have a compact mirror near you to double check! I ate a bagel and it smeared a line on my chin and had to go to the bathroom to fix it. If you’re not near a bathroom, have some tissues and a compact mirror with you at all times.

Benefit Cosmetics the POREfessional face primer – it is a great primer. It wasn’t drying and it was easy to apply. My makeup lasted well. My foundation didn’t completely come off throughout the day. It’s a pretty decent primer. I received a tiny sample of it but I was able to use enough to make a judgment. However, it’s supposed to help my pores? I used this for a couple days straight and didn’t noticed an effect. I understand – you have to use it CONSTANTLY to see a difference, but I just thought maybe there’d be a small effect immediately. In fact, this actually opened up my pores a little bit. I already have huge pores but this opened my pores a little bit even more. It didn’t smooth my pores or try to reduce it. It’s a good primer but as a product for my pores? It didn’t do anything.

Finally, I used the Josie Maran Cosmetics Argan Enlightment Illuminizer. I used it over my foundation & concealer. It was just a sample size and I had to pump it out. I read reviews that it comes out a lot but I didn’t have that problem. It’s probably because I had a sample size. It is gold and shiny. It’s supposed to illuminate your face or you can use it as a highlighter. I used it as a highlighter and I blended a little bit on my face and you can see and tell the difference. I would be careful not to add to much. It is noticeable. By the time I got out of work, I checked my face and from far away, my makeup didn’t look cakey but up close, you can see my scaley skin. I naturally have scaley skin because I unfortunately do not exfoliate as much as I should, so it wasn’t entirely because of this product. However, it did make me a little CAKEY. Be careful on how much you use because it will get cakey. It does work well as a highlighter. I was able to see the highlight in the mirror, in pictures. I’ll most likely continue to keep using it because it is nice as a highlighter. I haven’t used it as an overall moisturizer or as an “illuminator” but as a highlighter, I do like it. I do recommend it and I think you should be careful with how much you use.

I’m actually disappointed in my first Ipsy box. I genuinely like the wristlet so I think I’m going to continue to subscription for the wristlet. I know I should cancel it since I didn’t really like any of the products but I’m going to give it a second try.

I would give this ipsy box a review of 4/10.

Linda Tran

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