GlamBag

December ipsy Glam Bag

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December is a busy month for most people. That said, here’s my ipsy review.

The bag itself is super cute. It’s simpler than some of their other designs but it’s a nice silver color with the stripe of glitter at the top and the zipper and pull are a turquoise color that I love. In the bag I received Purlisse Beauty Coconut + Rice Nourishing Sheet Mask and Green Tea + Ginger Treatment Sheet Mask, Smashbox Cosmetics Be Legendary Lipstick in Legendary, City Color Cosmetics Shimmer Shadow in It’s a Girl, NYX Professional Makeup Faux Blacks Liner in Midnight, and Chella Eyebrow Defining Gel. Overall, I’m fairly pleased with this bag. Onto the specifics!

Purlisse Beauty Coconut + Rice Nourishing Sheet Mask and Green Tea + Ginger Treatment Sheet Mask

I’m not including photos of me using/wearing these sheet masks because they look the same as the rest-white and wet. From what I can tell, they pretty much perform like the rest as well. My skin felt nice and refreshed after using them but only for about a day. They smelled nice and were very relaxing and cooling while I wore them. Sheet masks, to me, seem to be a good thing to do when you need to take a load off but aren’t quite as beneficial to your skin as we make them out to be. Good skin comes with good hydration and good everyday care. But they’re still fun and when I get them from ipsy or when they’re on sale, I’m still going to use them.

Smashbox Cosmetics Be Legendary Lipstick in Legendary

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Smashbox is a brand that I tend to like but also question heavily. I like what I’ve used from them such as their Photo Finish Primers and X-Rated Mascara but I never want to try their other products. That said I wasn’t mad at this lipstick. It’s a nice, normal red, and it’s not a matte but could easily be made one with some setting powder (I’ve been swaying away from mattes lately because I’ve been trying to take better care of my lips). It applied easily and stayed on the rest of the night while I was moving around my apartment cleaning. I’ve yet to wear it out or to work, but it was a solid 4-ish hours that I wore it inside.

City Color Cosmetics Shimmer Shadow in It’s a Girl

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With flash

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since I’ve started doing more eyeshadow, I’ve been more excited to get them in my ipsy Glam Bags. Getting bright colors like this one is especially exciting because I can use them as a pop of color in my otherwise dark and monochrome work outfits. When I swatched this one on my arm, I was very excited because it was super pink and it had a good amount of shimmer to it. When I finally used it the first time on my eyes however, I was rather disappointed. It gave a nice pink for my crease into upper lid area to layer on top of, but the shimmer seemed to disappear and it did not seem nearly as pigmented as when it was on my arm. It still works as a pretty nice base to the Anastasia Beverly Hills Modern Romance palette that I recently bought, as well as the tarte Magic Star palette that I got for my birthday. A customer at work even asked what it was and I had to tell her that it was, unfortunately, not something that we sell in our store.

NYX Professional Makeup Faux Blacks Liner in Midnight

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The tip broke

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The NYX Faux Blacks and Faux Whites Liners have intrigued me since I first saw them at Ulta. As someone who loves all things black, especially her eye makeup, I have never understood why people use brown eyeliner or mascara. When I was younger, I dabbled with colored liners, picking out a bright turquoise one, but when I wanted black, I wanted black. Recently however, because I wear black on black on the daily, I have been branching out with my make-up and looking for it to make my color statement recently. This eyeliner doesn’t do that, but I don’t hate it as much as I thought I would. It’s a nice navy blue color and goes on pretty well with some pretty good staying power. Without really looking at it when it’s on, you’d never tell that it wasn’t black besides the fact that it’s not quite as intense. For comparison of color, I swatched it on my arm next to the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion, UD’s blackest shade. The reason it seems kind of messy is because in the middle of the swatch, the tip broke off. Regardless of the fact that you can easily sharpen this pencil, the product breaking is not great because it may be dry which would make it more difficult to use and it might tug and get stuck while you are applying it. I intend to sharpen this and keep using it, but that took it down a tick in my book.

Chella Eyebrow Defining Gel

I really don’t have much to say about this one. I like eyebrow gels because they do tend to help tame my brows a bit but when I really need the help because I slept on them all night and they’re incredibly unruly, no gels really do anything at all. This one has been pretty great however because I have been using it before and after filling in my brows and it a) may be helping my product go on a little better/stay a little longer and b) doesn’t seem to be taking product away when I use it after filling in, something that other brow gels and spoolies tend to do. Now if only it could grow hair back where I over-plucked it…

October/November 2017 ipsy Glam Bag

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Since I never did an October review and my November Glam Bag is here, we’re mushing the posts together. Hopefully that means the reviews will be short and concise. There will also be less pictures.

October

As always, I received five beauty items and a make-up bag in the shiny, pink bubble wrap packaging. The bag is red with lace detail and a black bat zipper pull. It is “mysterious” for this October, different than last where the bag was a light pink, patterned with cats and witches, and was a bit more fun.

HANALEI Papaya Enzyme Powder Cleanser

I liked this cleanser. It came in little packets of powder that you mix with water in order to form a paste that you scrub in. It felt good, smelled good, and didn’t leave my face dry. I still applied moisturizer after my face was dry anyways, as you always should, but it was less necessary than I have found with other powder cleansers like the Biore Baking Soda Powder Cleanser (which I received free from PINCHME; we’ll talk about that in a future post).

PRETTY WOMAN Nail Polish in Wine With Ice, Garcon

I’m a pretty big fan of nail polish. Like lipstick, though many may be very similar in shade, there is always a different formula and difference in the shade that makes me want to have all of them. This is also one of my favorite colors though. Deep burgundy is a color I like to wear in my shirts, dresses, hair, and apparently nails. The consistency of the polish itself is pretty nice too. It goes on well but you might need two coats to really get the deep color you want. I had to do two coats on Luke’s pinky finger to get this color.

Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion

This is an eye pencil that I have wanted to try since I was 12 and only used black eyeliner on my lower waterline without any other make-up. It stays pretty long (I can’t attest to 24 hours) and it also glides on fairly easily. It doesn’t pull and, though I don’t usually use pencils for winged eyeliner, I tried with this one day and it went on really well and stayed. It is also very black, something that I love, because when I want black pigment I expect black pigment. It’s not charcoal or grey, it is black.

TARTE deluxe lights, camera, lashes 4-in-1 mascara

I do not endorse every mascara that ipsy sends me. There have been a few that I have not been very impressed with at all. That said, I’m a big fan of this mascara and usually wear it without primer, something I would never tell anyone to do. It adds length, volume, and curls. Conditioning is the last of the “4” they talk about, but from my experience and knowledge, primer is what conditions your lashes (the reason I would never tell you not to wear primer).

MDMflow Liquid Matte Lipstick in Retro

The formula of this liquid lipstick was much like any other. It went on pretty smoothly but the color was absolutely horrible on my lips. It was much too pink and orange at the same time and I think the matte finish just didn’t suit this at all.

 

November

November ipsy Glam Bag

 

THE WHITE COMPANY White Lavender Body Lotion

Lavender is such a wonderful scent. It’s relaxing and helps you sleep which is why they put it in so many bath salts. This lotion smells wonderful and, since it’s a full body lotion, not just a hand lotion, it’s pretty thick. This means that I didn’t have to use a lot to cover my hands which now feel very soft, something difficult to keep up in these colder months.

Wearing IT Cosmetics CC Cream, Nomad Cosmetics Brow Powder, and ColourPop Satin Lippie

 

NOMAD COSMETICS Multi-Perfection Duo Brow Powder in Brunetta Brillante

Brow powders are interesting. I like pomades and pencils better because I feel like they show better and are easier to use. That said, the powders aren’t bad, they’re just not as good. That said, this brow powder isn’t quite as dark as I want it to be. They say that you’re supposed to use a brow color two shades lighter than your hair color. My hair is black. This brow powder is a bit lighter than two shades lighter than black.

IT COSMETICS Your Skin But Better CC+ Cream with SPF 50+ in Medium

BB and CC creams are pretty great. They’re super easy to use when you’re not someone who wants to do a full face or you don’t have time. IT Cosmetics is a pretty good brand too. ipsy has sent me a few of their other face and eye products before and I’ve been pretty happy with all of them. As far as this CC cream goes, it holds up to the Mary Kay one I used to use. It gives about as much coverage as CC creams do and it doesn’t feel heavy. The main issue I have with this is that it’s just a little light for me. I didn’t notice until I used it at work the other morning when I was getting ready in the store (one of the most fun parts of working the morning shift) and I just looked so washed out.

COLOURPOP COSMETICS Ultra Satin Lip in Baracuda

I love the color of this lippie. One of my friends recently bought some ColourPop lippies and said she liked them, so I was excited to try this one. I was also pretty excited that it was a satin finish, not a matte, because my lips have been super dry with the change in the weather lately so I wanted something less drying. It was pretty matte though, and pretty drying. I’m still on the market for a less drying matte lippie. I will report back when I find one.

SKYN ICELAND Berry Lip Fix with Wintered Red Algae

I love lip balms. Luke can tell you, I have too many of them and I am constantly applying them. I especially love lip balms that make my lips tingle and it was a surprise but this one does. I was a bit concerned about the berry scent. I’m usually not a fan of berry scented anything because it can get too sweet but this one isn’t bad. It is also just a scent, not a flavor, so depending on how you look at it, that’s a good or bad thing. I think it’s good because then the flavor doesn’t transfer the way my Sun Bum lip balm does. Onto the actual quality, I’ve had it on for about half an hour now and my lips have changed drastically. I woke up with extremely dry lips (I’m kind of sick) and they are already so much softer and plumper than they were. I applied it again because I’m kind of a crazy person, but I’m a big fan. Now I wish I’d gotten a full size instead of a sample.

 

I’ve Been Busy

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My last post was over a week ago. I’d been meaning to post in this time, but life has been rather busy.  Because of that, this is going to be a rather long post, but it’s going to be pretty all-encompassing. And I’ll break it down into the different categories and keep them short-ish. To start:

Beauty

I got my August GlamBag around the middle of the month. This one had three different bags that you could have received and I got the one I wanted. In the bag I received two CLIV Max Hyalruonic Masks, theBalm Cosmetics theBalm Voyage Vol. 2 Eyeshadow in Willkommen, MAKE UP FOR EVER EXCESSIVE LASH Aressting Volume Mascara, Hikari Cosmetics Shimmer Bronzer in Flush, and Hey Honey Come Clean: Propolis & Minerals Face Scrub.

So far I have used one of the masks and don’t have a lot to say about it. I like these masks, they are refreshing and for at least the next day after using them, my skin feels softer and looks brighter. Since I don’t use them regularly though, I can’t really say anything more than that. I know that these having hyaluronic acid in them is supposed to be a good thing too, but honestly, the word “acid” used in the same sentence as the word “face” makes me uncomfortable. I’ll probably stick to the green tea masks.

The left is the bronzer and the right is the eyeshadow. This is under a light in the apartment.

The eyeshadow and bronzer I haven’t actually used. I swatched them, because that’s what you do, but I don’t use a lot of eyeshadow and bronzer. They just aren’t my jam. I thought the swatches looked pretty nice though.

I like the mascara. I use it with a primer, obviously, but it works. I think most mascaras work pretty well with a primer, but I have found a few that didn’t work super well, and this was not one of them.

As for the face scrub- I’ll be tossing this out before I finish using it. The description on the ipsy website says that every people with sensitive skin love it but I don’t see how. I have pretty normal skin- gets oily when I don’t wash it for a bit but is generally okay. THIS STUFF BURNED. I love face scrubs. I looooooove the way my skin feels after exfoliating. Unfortunately, after exfoliating, it felt like there was salt poured all over my face. This was not a good feeling. I don’t think I’ve ever given anything from ipsy one star until now.

 

Food

The only full meal from BA we could make- but it was really good.

I am a Blue Apron customer. I originally signed up because I was curious and with a Rooster Teeth promo code, I could get $30 off, making my first box half price. Because I am stingy, I didn’t finish signing up at that point. I held out and they sent me an email for $40 off. Still wasn’t enough. Then I got the email for $50 off and I finished my membership and got my first box. Since then I have had a love/hate relationship with them. I believe that $60 is too much to be dishing out monthly for these meals so most of the time, I’ve been skipping weeks and only getting the boxes when they’ve got meals that look especially tasty in them. Since my first box however, all the of the boxes I have received after were boxes that I didn’t actually want and only received because I forgot to skip them. On 9/1, I received one of these boxes.

I was upset a) because $60 that I was not expecting to spend was now going to be spent and b) because I forgot about it, I didn’t even get to pick which meals I received and I got the default meals, one of which was barbecue baked chicken breast, sweet potato salad, and sauteed green beans. I spent $20 on barbecue baked chicken breast, sweet potato salad, and sauteed green beans. You can’t see my face, but it is unamused.

Since the box came in on Friday morning, I was at work so I asked Luke to bring it in and put all of the ingredients away. He did so and didn’t say anything was wrong with any of them. That Saturday, we decided to make one of the meals that turned out pretty well. On Sunday morning, I decided to go through all of the ingredients, just to see what we had. I pulled the sweet potatoes out of the pantry to find that one of them had turned completely to mush. What’s worse, somehow there was liquid in the bag that proceeded to leak all over the kitchen floor. I was livid. Luke then informed me that the sweet peppers in the fridge had also looked a little funky. I pulled them out and surely enough, they were moldy. I immediately took photos of it all and sent Blue Apron an angry email stating that for $60 I should not be getting bad produce (this wasn’t the first time) and would be cancelling my account. They responded the next day saying that they credited $10 to my account and how to cancel my account should I choose to proceed that way.  This confused me as I have never seen a company actively tell people how to stop being customers. I guess they have so many that they figured they didn’t need me anymore.

I have yet to cancel because I don’t want that $10 to go to waste, but I will after I use it up.

Life

My job hunt is still active. I am still working part-time at Ulta, though not many hours. I am still working temp in the same office I have been since August and today, I had an interview for the permanent position. In about a weekI also have an interview for a different position at a different company. I don’t want to jinx any of it so that’s all the information I am currently putting out there, but I’m nervous and pretty scared. A lot of what’s currently scaring me is the potential to have to choose which job I want because I don’t know right now. I’ve been talking to many people about this and I haven’t come up with a clearer decision. I suppose that is a bridge to cross when I get there however, because I could only get offered one or neither and then all of this anxiety was for nothing. We’re hoping for a much better outcome than that though.

Besides that, I’ve been dealing with needing to get a TX driver’s license and that has been a whole process that I can’t wait to be over.

Luke and I also bought season passes to Six Flags Fiesta Texas which is in San Antonio. The passes we bought will get us into any Six Flags though, so whenever we’re home, if anyone wants to go to Great America, we are there. The passes were supposed to be a birthday gift to Luke, but I just didn’t have the money to cover it so the surprise was ruined. So I still have to find a gift for him. If nothing else, I’ll bake him a cake. I can do that.

No Time Like the Present

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It has been a little while since my last post and there is good reason for that… which will not be disclosed at least for another week… for reasons…

In the meantime, I got an email from ipsy that my new GlamBag items have been picked so I thought it’d be a great time to share the reviews on my last one.

If you recall, I received a liquid lipstick, lip balm, gel-kohl hybrid eyeliner, eyeshadow, and face masks. Below are photos of me wearing all of the products, though not all at once- the masks were after washing my face.

In this photo, I am wearing the eyeliner on the left, eyeshadow on the right, and lip balm and liquid lipstick on, you guessed it, my lips. Luke said I looked funny only having done the eyeliner on one side, but I wanted to make sure the products were shown separately.

In applying all of these products, they were nice. I don’t like trying to do a cateye with kohl or gel liners because I never think it comes out very good, but that’s probably just user error. SPOILER ALERT: I’m not good at make-up. I left them all on for a few hours, just trying to see how they lasted and the eyeshadow was the only thing that held up. After about three hours, the eyeliner had smudged to my bottom lid and the lipstick, which is supposed to be 24-hour, had run outside my lips. I was disappointed. What the lipstick did not do however, was get on any glasses or utensils I put in my mouth while eating dinner. This was pretty impressive. Verdict: the eyeliner and eyeshadow worked as expected, the lipstick would probably work best with a liner applied first.

Onto the masks. I’ve only heard good things about Tony Moly masks so I was excited to see that I had received some for July. As you can see, Luke put one on as well. I’m not the type to have a hard and fast skincare regimen that I perform every night and every morning. I wash my face when I need to wash my face and I put moisturizer on where I am dry. Luke does even less than that. That said, these masks are usually pretty fun and he and I could use a spa day.

As with all face masks of this sort, they are cold and goopy when you pull them out of the package. Luke was not a fan of this but put it on anyways because he’s a trooper. They also feel like you shouldn’t touch any sort of fabric with them, something that was hard for me since the hood of my robe likes to bunch up around my neck. While we waited for them to do their thing for half an hour, we watched another episode of Doctor Who. Once the time was up, we peeled them off and rubbed the remaining goop into our faces. Mine felt tighter and looked a little brighter immediately but Luke didn’t see much of a difference.

The next morning however, he told me that his skin looked too “pretty” and that he wasn’t a fan of what the mask had done to his face… just being a silly boy. I liked my face.

Currently, I am using the lip balm as often as I need to and while I like the smell of it, I don’t really know if it’s helping my lips or hurting them. It’s been a long debated myth/truth that lip balms actually dry out your lips more and there are definitely some that I believe do- the cheap kind you get for free with a company’s logo on them. I would expect more out of a product I receive from ipsy however. As I said in my all-beauty blog before, the best way to keep your lips from being chapped is to stay hydrated. For now, I will attribute my dry lips to my lack of hydration until further proof arises on this balm.

The Best Time of the Month

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For the past 17 months, around the middle of the month an email has come to my inbox and within about a week from that day this package has come to my mailbox. This is the packaging that ipsy sends their GlamBags in. It’s super pink, super shiny, and super squishy. They bring a smile to my face.

This month’s theme is Over Easy and features Gudetama who is an adorable little lazy egg character that I connect to so hard. The bag has an image of him on it and it is shimmery. In the bag, I got a COUGAR Beauty Cosmetics 24-Hour Liquid Lipstick in Mulberry, Ciate London Wonderwand Gel-Kohl Hybrid Liner in Black, OFRA Cosmetics Gold Rush Eyeshadow, Hempz Ultra Moisturizing Herbal Lip Balm, and two TONYMOLY I’m Real Sheet Masks in Green Tea and Lotus. Along with all of those fabulous products, I had also redeemed points for a Her Minerals Professional Blending Sponge.

I don’t know how much I’m going to use the eyeshadow or eyeliner, but I will return with updates and reviews as I try them. Even if I don’t continue using the products after I initially try them, I always try them at least once to review them. That’s how you get points!

On a completely unrelated note, Luke and I went to Target today on a mission. In the time that he was “living with me” in Tampa, every time we went to Target, we looked at a cookie jar. It was a grey cookie jar shaped as a little hippo. It was $20 and every single time I basically begged Luke to let me buy it but since we were in Tampa and knew we’d be moving to Austin, he always said no because it was another thing we’d have to move. Well, today, I would like to introduce you to Puds, the newest addition to our little family.

Yes, having a cookie jar means we will be baking cookies. Yes, I will post photos of him filled with cookies. For now, here he is in all of his cute glory. I love him.