Ipsy Glam Bag Review: September 2016

I have a new hobby, which is collecting and applying beauty products. It's a long story, but it recently came to light that I used to enjoy girly stuff like makeup and nail polish. I decided to subscribe to a beauty box, and after a little research and asking around, I chose the Ipsy glam bag. It's just $10 a month and has a fun system where you earn extra points by doing reviews and sharing on social media and whatnot. You also get to pick a bunch of beauty preferences to try customizing your bag. Here's my referral link if you're interested! https://www.ipsy.com/new?cid=ppage_ref&sid=link&refer=z8mno

My first glam bag came in a hot pink bubble wrap mailer. It contained this cute "IPSY" figure zip-top bag with 5 beauty products. Here's my quick review!

Tarteist lash paint mascara, by tarte cosmetics

Nice gold/splatter design, but this is rather small and sample-sized so it's hard to have a "real" mascara experience. It's hard to remove the wand from the tube without the mascara being clumped on heavily (the wand just pushes in rather than screwing in, which seems to allow too much product to cling to it). Once I'd wiped and adjusted the mascara on the wand to a normal amount the result was quite nice, with LONG pretty lashes.

Eye Do Liquid Eyeliner in Black, by EYEKO

I did not need liquid eyeliner in black, but if I ever did want to start rocking the winged eyeliner look... well now I'm ready. This stuff goes on very smoothly and evenly. It is seriously black.

Restorative Toner, by Épicé International

Nope. This is supposed to be applied "after cleansing" and contains ingredients such as Propylene Glycol, Butylene Glycol, Phenoxyethanol, and Sodium Hydroxide. These are probably incredibly nourishing and cleansing (and to be fair, other ingredients are herbs like Aloe & Hops), but I'm scared of this toner.

Exfoliating Cleanser, by BeFine Food Skin Care

I'm not a fan of exfoliants since my skin has enough going on without being abraded on purpose. However this is a brown sugar, sweet almond, and oat cleanser, which sounds more like food to me than your average scrub. If I have a lot of gunk on my face I might try this to gently take it off. It also smells delightful, like Christmas morning marzipan.

Ombre Angle Brush, by Crown Brush

I ADORE THIS BRUSH. It is worth the whole glam bag to have this brush. I've started a concealer/setting powder routine and this angled brush is perfect for gently applying that fine setting powder, especially under the eyes. It's like the angle was made especially for my face—perfect.

It's been a while since I tried a product subscription—what about you? I'm sometimes tempted to try Blue Apron but it doesn't quite add up budget-wise.