Ipsy August 2013 Review

Ipsy time again! For only $10 a month, you get 4-5 samples or full size makeup and beauty products plus a cute makeup bag every month! I love it because it's cheap and it gives me my favorite kind of things to try - makeup!! August's theme was Glamour Academy, I guess kind of a back to school theme.  It was a pretty cute makeup bag and slightly bigger than normal.

Opening the bag. Not pictured is the pink mailer this came in.

Info cards - one is an ad for some party thing they're offering and the bigger one lists all the featured brands this month and their discounts (codes are displayed in your "Glam Room" online)

The first item I pulled out was a deluxe sample of Michael Todd True Organics Pumpkin Nutrient Rich Facial Mask ($10). I'll admit I looked at the hints before the bags were shipped out and I so hoped I'd get this!! I usually hope for as much make up as possible in my bag, but I love pumpkin and this smells fantastic. I can't wait to use it.

Michael Todd True Organics Pumpkin mask

My next item was a mini version of Pixi Lash Booster Mascara (~$8.50). I'm calling it half size when valuing it. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not. Either way, I'm always up to try another new mascara. This one might end up finding a home in my purse if I like it since it's nice and small.

Pixi Lash Booster Mascara

Next up was a Mica Beauty Cosmetics Eyeshadow in Bronze ($14.95). I'm always happy to see eyeshadows! It's a nice bronzey color with quite a bit of shimmer, happily not too similar to any of the other bronzey colors I've been getting. I do still think it'll be used mostly in summer looks, but I'll play. This brand has lots of other colors, so I certainly wouldn't mind seeing them again in the future! I don't know that I'd buy one on my own though, with my recent discovery of very reasonably priced and gorgeous indie mineral makeup.

Mica Beauty Cosmetics eyeshadow in Bronze

Swatch of Mica Beauty Cosmetics eyeshadow

My next product was a full size Nailtini polish in Mai Tai ($13). This is, I believe, my 3rd Nailtini polish. I think second from Ipsy (but I might be mixing that up with another box). It's fine. A bit too orange for my liking, but the formula seems fine. I'm just not excited about it. Maybe if it had been a glitter or something unique, I would have been. I have a lot of polish though.

Nailtini polish in Mai Tai

My final product, and the only one I flat out wish I didn't get, was a tiny tube of Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in 69 (full size is $22, this is maybe half size? So, $11). Well, I seem to get a lipstick or gloss or stain or whatever every month from them. In spite of having it not checked as a product I use in my beauty quiz. I've emailed them twice (the first was a month where I got BOTH of the lip products that were supposed to be an either/or option for everyone's bag) and I got the same generic response of "well, we try to provide the best match we can". 12 products this month, only 1 lip color (and a chapstick, which I would have been more than happy with by the way!!) and they decided the best match for me was the lip color. I just find it hard to believe this was my best match.
Normally, I'd just take the loss - Ipsy's $10 a month, who cares if I hate one item in the bag? It won't always be full of winners. The thing that bums me out this time is that there was so much hype about this product - so many people really wanted it! And I got it. And won't use it. And honestly, I'm pretty hesitant to do any trading on Ipsy. I don't know these people - how can I be 100% sure they'll follow through and that the product they're sending me wasn't tried out. I see people on there all the time saying, "this didn't work out for me, who wants to trade?" Ew. I don't want their used products! Plus, I really don't want to pay more for shipping to trade. There's nothing this month that I want enough to actually pay to ship mine somewhere to trade rather than just buying what I want new. So anyway, I didn't even swatch this one. I know it won't work out. It's bright red. And according to the reviews on Ipsy, highly pigmented.

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in 69

August 2013 Ipsy bag

In spite of the lipstick, I'm still pretty happy with this bag. For $10, I got a yummy pumpkin mask, an eyeshadow, and mascara that I'll definitely use ($33.45 value). The total bag value was $57.45 (plus a couple dollars for the bag), which is pretty high! I do wish they'd stick to the beauty quiz a bit better, but they're not Wantable. I think I just have to give up hoping they'll ever stop sending me lipstick and just focus on the things I get that I like, since really, I do usually like more things than not. And for $10, I do get a lot of stuff I really like!

What did you get in your bag this month? If you want to subscribe, please use my link! Seriously, this is an awesome sub - if you haven't tried it and you like makeup/beauty stuff, you should!

(And just a disclaimer: I bought this box myself and was not compensated for this review in any way. All opinions are my own. The final link is a referral link, but I also included a non-referral link at the top.)