Ipsy, Ipsy, Ipsy!

I got my monthly Ipsy bag!

Ipsy, for those not in the know, is a subscription based makeup service. For $10 a month, they send out a makeup bag, filled with five makeup products. The products vary based on the survey you take when you sign up, and your favorable or unfavorable reviews of the products that you received each month.

This month, I'm quite pleased! The theme of this months bag was "Beautifully Bohemian". I'm much more a fan of some bags than others, but I love this one!

The gold tube that you see is Elizabeth Arden lipstick in "Red Door Red", which I tweeted was so pretty, that I practically want to pet it. Elizabeth Arden is famous for their Red Door to their spa in NYC, which is obviously what that packaging is a takeoff on.

The door is even engraved in to the lipstick. And I know I'm weird for saying I want to pet a lipstick, but would you look at it?! So pretty!

And then there was another product, that I'm more confused by than anything;

Mullein & Sparrow's Tinted Lip and Cheek balm, which everyone on Ipsy's Facebook page seemed to be really excited by. And I don't understand. Mine didn't seem to have any color what so ever, which is fine for my lips, but I own an awful lot of highlighters already. I'm pretty good there.

And the last product I'll give a shout out to is my "Fit" Nude Dude, from TheBalm:

Now, I think I misunderstood when it was advertised that these are full size. Because they're not. But the big deal about my Fit dude is that he's not available as a single. Anywhere other than last month's Ipsy bag. TheBalm has a eyeshadow palette that they produce, called Nude Dudes, and Fit is only available in that. So that's pretty cool. The light dimmed his sparkle a little bit, he's the color of a fresh penny.

And he's also magnetic, which means that he and the lip and cheek tint are stuck to each other, every time I open the bag. Hah!

Ipsy often negotiates discounts with the companies, so if you get something in your bag that you fall in love with, you can buy an extra at a good deal!

If you think you'd be interested in subscribing to Ipsy, please use my referral code! You can do certain things through Ipsy (like reviewing your products that you're sent), and you can later use the points to purchase full sizes of your favorites as well. If you use my referral code, I get 250 points! :)

Interested in Ipsy? Me too! I've talked about it before! I've also done more in depth reviews of a couple of the products that I've gotten!

Today, We're Talkin'...HAIR!

Today, we're talking something we don't usually talk much about - HAIR! I...I'm not kind to mine. I heat style only rarely, but I do love me some hair color. And, I've been known to forget to comb it. Sometimes I genuinely remembered but just didn't, sometimes I can't find a comb, and sometimes, like in the case of this past weekend, I've been so darn sick, that pretty much as long as my hair wasn't hanging directly in my face, that was good enough for me. The elementary school plague struck my house early this year, and took me down with it, which it doesn't usually. As a result, I've been pretty well out of commission.

At any rate, today was the day I had to rejoin society, couldn't lay in my sick bed anymore, and I needed to clean up! So I raided my recent Ipsy bag, and found Briogeo's "Don't Despair - Repair!" deep conditioning mask, and hit the showers.

Of course, mine came in my Ipsy bag, but you can find this product full size for $26 a tub at Sephora, according to a quick google search. According to their website, pretty well any tasty treat for your hair is in here - "Fortified with ultra-hydrating avocado, sweet almond & argan oils, strengthening keratin protein, power-conditioning rosehip oil, soothing aloe, and super hair-essential vitamins B5, D, A, E and biotin. "

I immediatly noticed that this mask did not feel heavy in my hand - I've used some that felt like they could double as body butter in a heart beat. This didn't. It felt nice and silky in my hand. It also wasn't overly scented. I don't find scents especially problematic allergy-wise or anything, but I also don't want to be able to smell my hair either. :)

This absorbed in to my hair. Like, absorbed. I almost applied more, I was so convinced that it'd all disappeared! I decided to give it a shot though.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that even though it felt like it had disappeared, it had done a very capable job for my hair! Laid smooth, gave it a little shine, combed through easily. Super impressive. I had a sample, so I really don't get another shot at using it, but I can easily see where with regular use, your hair would get real happy, real fast!

Product shot:

Nice looking product, right? Again, this is a sample size, so it's smaller than the $26 Sephora version. Easy to read, will look nice in your shower. I'm a mope with pictures today, I guess, so I couldn't get a Before/After shot of my hair that was even a tiny bit satisfying to me, so I've got nothing for you this week that way. Trust - this is a tasty treat your hair will love! A little lightweight heavy weight that you need if you do a lot of color or heat styling!

I'll be back later in the week with some nail polish swatches for you! See you then!

Ooh! I feel so naughty!

I received a large sample of Perversion mascara from Urban Decay in my last Ipsy bag, and I've been really on the fence about it, but today tipped me over the edge.

Obligatory product beauty shot:

Isn't she lovely? Unique look. Sleek, bold, will stand out on your vanity, or in your makeup bag. Unless you've got a black one, I suppose. Or, heaven forbid, you're trying to put on your makeup in the dark. And I mean, do what you gotta do for your beauty, but I don't recommend putting on makeup in the dark. :D

From urbandecay.com;

Get bigger, blacker, badder lashes with our ultra-creamy, lengthening and volumizing mascara. Includes a deluxe sample of Subversion Lash Primer! So intense you might need a safe word, Perversion glides on and gets you sexy in one stroke. (Yet it won’t quit until you say when.) It’s insane how black it is…the purest, deepest, most intense black color imaginable. Perversion has a creamy, full-bodied texture that’s not too dry, not too wet. This allows just the right amount of “pull” so it glides through lashes. The result: incredible control for insane lashes. Go ahead and pile on coat after coat. Want to apply more before you go out at night? No problem. Even if it’s been all day since you applied, more Perversion always means more beautiful lashes. Our formula NEVER gets brittle or clumpy.

Alright, back to me...I don't know that I think this has the pigment that it says that it does. It didn't seem markedly darker than any other sort of mascara that I'd tried. So, that might be a bit much. And I don't think this is especially volumizing either.

Know where they really sold me though? The lengthening. The crazy, crazy lengthening. This formula is rich and creamy, and layers nicely, so you can build up enough coats to suit you. Although, they do also sell Subversion mascara primer, so if you're really needing some sticking power, try that one. At any rate, builds well, without getting stiff or clumpy, and lengthens, like crazy. Like, looks like false eyelashes level of lengthening. Check out my pictures!

For the sake of the comparison, check out my bare lashes here, and my lashes on Wet N Wild, here. See what I mean? This stuff lengthens, like nothing I've tried in a while! While I stand by my saying that the Wet N Wild is a steal for the price tag, I've finally come around to the...aah, 'perverse' side?

Ipsy, Ipsy, Ipsy!

Like any good beauty blogger, I recently subscribed to Ipsy, and I've recently mentioned Ipsy to several people who really didn't know what it was. And, like any good blogger, I'm here to solve that problem

Ipsy is a subscription based service. For the low cost of $10 a month, you receive a small makeup bag full of five new treats to try, every month! You can subscribe from month to month, or you can buy a years subscription for $110, which gives you one month for free. When you subscribe, you take a quick survey that gives them your product preferences, and even allows you to talk about your brand preferences, and then every month you get a new bag, that comes in a cheerful pink envelope!

The bags are each themed to the season - July was my first bag, and it was themed for "fun in the sun", so my bag included a bronzer, a tanning oil, and a beach spray for the hair, along with an eyeshadow and lip pencil. This months theme is "back to school", so I received a makeup primer, eyeliner, mascara, blush and lip balm. Some of the products are sample size, and Ipsy has negotiated for you to get a sale price if you buy the item full size.

I only just received my August bag on Saturday, so I'm not ready to give super detailed reviews on any of the products in it, but I can speak to each of them a little;

My treats! Included in the bag;

A sample size of Urban Decay Perversion mascara, as well as a small pamphlet on the virtues of the mascara. I'm not 100% on it yet. It lengthens considerably better than my current mascara - which is nice, my lashes aren't what they used to be, I could use the help. But one of the big selling points behind Perversion is how pigmented it is, and I'm just not convinced on that point yet. Don't worry, I'm not giving up on my research!

Dr. Brandt "Pores No More" pore refiner and primer. I've currently got multiple pore refining and priming products in my makeup bag, at a variety of price points, and I pretty instantly noticed a major different between those and this one. They go on much thicker than this - they dry to a silky soft finish, to be sure, but they start out much thicker. This one starts thinner, it feels much more like a foundation than a primer. So if you've never been able to get on board with a primer because you didn't like the thickness, you might actually like this. It's also tinted, which I think I like as well. If you were going for a nice, no makeup look, this could make a great foundation. Supposing, I guess, that you were light/medium skinned, because there's no mention of color.

Coastal Scents "Forever Blush" sample. I really wish these were full sized! These colors seem really nice, if a bit cooler than I might pick otherwise, but it's hard to judge for sure, when the sample is so small!

Lord and Berry Silk Kajal Kohl-liner in black. My membership is new, but I've gotten a couple of really pleasant surprises so far, and this is one of them. Goes on really smooth, lots of pigment, and long lasting. This would be another that I would have to consider buying full sized!

And lastly, Absolute New York "You're The Balm" lip balm in green apple. This balm comes in a pot, which not everyone likes, so that might not be something you're in to. But it's got a great green apple scent that will take you right back to your Bonne Belle days. It even layers well - I tried it over the top of a lip pencil to give it a little more shine, and it works great! My only wish would be that the shine and moisture lasted longer - it's all gone too soon! :D

If I've said enough, and you're kind of intrigued, please click this link: Ipsy! I get credit for referring you, so we both win!

I do greatly recommend Ipsy, for the makeup geek in all of us. I am not certain if they ship outside the US however, so if you're from outside the US and reading this, that's certainly something to look in to as well.

And as an aside to any Sinful Colors nail polish fans, of which I'm clearly one; they're on sale for 99 cents this week at Walgreens if you have a Wellness Rewards card! All the colors, even the new summer collections. Go stock up! :)