Ipsy Glambag Review December 2013

So this is a first.  My poor baby Dragon woke up with a bad cough this morning, so he's staying home from preschool today.  Which means I'm writing this post with him laying on my right arm.  Of course, I'm blaming any and all typos on him.  Kidding!  I have to admit, I haven't been keeping very good track of my subs this month, with all of the holiday excitement they just keep slipping my mind!  So I was happily surprised to see my Ipsy bag in my mailbox yesterday!

I did have enough presence of mind to check my GlamRoom when it went live, so I already had some idea of what I was getting.  And I tell you what, when I saw that I was getting ANOTHER pair of fake lashes I about went bonkers.  I was soooo ready to come on here and whine about another freakin' mascara/black eyeliner/red lipstick/pair of lashes... you know, like I do.  But then I made a little discovery...   I went on my profile page on Ipsy.com and started looking through all the looks and items I'd "loved".  Well guess what?  Back when I was a new subscriber, I went through and "loved" a whole bunch of vintage/bombshell looks, and guess what they all had in common?  Red lipstick! Black eyeliner!  False lashes!  MASCARA!!!  Here I've been complaining about getting these items constantly, and I had basically told Ipsy that they were my favorite thing!  So I went back through (no easy feat - the Ipsy website is hard to navigate and slow to load!) and "unloved" all of those looks AND  the products used to make them, and then I searched out the items I wanted - perfumes! nail polish! pastel eyeshadows! Mauve/berry lipsticks!  and showed them some love!

Yes, there was a point to my little rant there.  If you are an Ipsy subscriber, and constantly getting items that you don't want, please go through your profile page, click on the looks you've "loved", and make sure that those looks don't have products tagged that you don't want!  Another thing I did was go through my Glam Rooms for all my past bags.  If there was an item I wanted, but didn't get, I clicked on it and "loved'" it.  I can't wait to see how this affects my future bags!  A lot of people claim that the bags are random, but I think they do use some sort of algorithm.  Now, this is all speculation on my part - I have no inside knowledge (unfortunately!).  But I have found that the looks and products you "love" tend to have a lot more of an effect than the stylist quiz you take when you sign up.

I know, I know, I always make you guys sit through a huge lecture before showing you the bag.  I'm sorry, I'm JUST TRYING TO HELP.  I swear.  Here you are, my impatient darlings!

Ta-Da!

Ok, first of all, I am going to apologize for these pics.  It was just above freezing, my deck was soaking wet from rain earlier that day, and the sun was at a weird angle.  I did my best.

First of all, the bag this month:

Cute, right?  Quilted black pleather, lined with red satin-y material.  Definitely not my current personal taste (although 22-year-old me would have loved it!), but it's definitely better than last month's gold-and-hot-pink travesty.  I really wish they would do more bags like the May 2013 bag.  That was just gorgeous!

The first item from this month was from Be A Bombshell.  But wait!  Didn't we just get a lip pencil from them last month?  Why yes, we did!  (Sidenote:  I was able to trade for the Shameless (berry) color after receiving Hot Damn (bright red).  It's so awesomely gorgeous!)  The item for this month is something called "The One Stick" ($14), and it's a creamy product that can be used as a lipstick, blush, or eyeshadow.  I was hoping for a good lip color, and I was NOT disappointed!  Flustered is a very pretty, sparkly, reddish berry color that I will definitely use as a lipstick and a blush.  Not so much an eyeshadow.

I know, it's washed out.  Keep scrolling down for swatches!

The next item was going to be either a J. Cat lip pencil ($3.99) or a NYX lipstick ($4).  I haven't had the best luck with J. Cat (glitter palette and zombie-flesh colored lipstick.  Meh.), so I was very happy to see an NYX lipstick - in the color "Goddess", no less!  Haha it's like they KNOW me!  Goddess is a great light neutral color, but I do have to apply it sheerly or it turns a weird brownish shade.  However, if I put it on lightly and blot it down, it's perfect for that "no-makeup" look!  You know that look... when you don't want to put on a whole face of makeup, but you don't want to end up on the "People of Walmart" page?  Yeah, it's perfect for that.

"We guarantee you won't show up on People of Walmart"
 is a great advertising slogan! Right, NYX? RIGHT!?

And since the pics are so washed out, here are some swatches on my arm.  The first pic is in sunlight, the second in shade, and both are just one pass over my arm.

The third item is a Pop Beauty eyeshadow trio ($7.20).  The other item we've received from them, a lip crayon, wasn't my favorite, as it was very sheerly pigmented.  I've heard much better things about the eyeshadow, but the problem is I got the trio in black & white, and I already have SEVERAL black eyeshadows!  I mean, I have more than several brown shadows, but they're all different!  I swear!  Thankfully, I've set up a swap for the neutral trio.  I will try to remember to post pics and swatches when it arrives!

So pretty, but so not what I wanted!

Next, can I say how happy I am that Ipsy finally realized I love indie products!  They sent out a mini polish by Starrily this month called Bzzz Bzzz ($5).  I adore indie polishes and I was so glad to try one... til I saw the color!  I actually have a polish almost exactly like it!  HOWEVER!  You know I will always find a solution.  This polish was pretty high up in wanted items on the trade board this month, and I was able to trade it for an English Laundry perfume sample.  Actually, 2 samples.  The set Ipsy sent included a men's and women's cologne, so I'm even getting something for the hubby in my trade!  Yay!  (Question of the Day - is it pretentious for a couple to wear matching colognes?  i.e. Acqua di Gio and Acqua di Goia? I find it adorable, but I want to hear what you think!)  So here's a pic of the polish, but wave bye-bye, cause it's leaving soon!  Don't worry, it has a travel buddy.  The wonderful lady who is trading her perfume to me is the same wonderful lady trading the Pop Beauty trio!  Yay multi-item trades!

Bye Bye Bzzz Bzzz!

The last item - lashes.  By Andrea. ($5) Le sigh.

And that brings us to the end of this month's bag.  Was I overwhelmed with joy?  Nah.  That hasn't happened since August.  I am more hopeful now that I discovered my epic bombshell mistake and have hopefully fixed my preferences on the Ipsy site!  My bag was worth $35.20 this month, which is actually one of the lower-valued bags I've received! I do still think this is an awesome investment for my $10/month (plus a few bucks for shipping my trades), and if you agree, feel free to use my Ipsy link to sign up!  I'm getting closer to 1000 points, and I can only hope that they have some Beauty Blenders left once I get there for my points prize!

I hope you're having a fabulous day!  FYI, Dragon has finally gotten off my arm.  He's watching a Lego Batman movie right now and it's taking all of his concentration.  Normally, I restrict Knight and Dragon's TV time, but I'm a firm believer that when you're sick, you should be spoiled.  Even if Lego Batman drives Mommy nuts and she has to go write a blog post to distract herself.

Ah yes, the disclaimer.  I do have affiliate links - just the hyperlinks with the word "Ipsy".  All company product pages are simply links to the pages, with no benefits to myself.  Darn it.