Ipsy Glam Bag Plus December 2020 Unboxing & Review
Just a few more days until this year is over and I. Can’t. Wait! Who’s with me, raise your hand! 2020 has been a literal nightmare so my hopes for the final bag of the year were high. Really, there are only two months when I have high expectations of my subscription boxes: September because it’s my birthday month, and December because of holidays and the whole end-of-year, turning new leaf shenanigans. This year I have an additional layer of wishful thinking due to COVID, so they better make this one good. Spoiler alert: it was! Read on for the full contents.
HOW IT WORKS:
Each month you will receive a new drawstring pouch filled with a mix of 5 full-sized beauty products customized according to your beauty profile. Ipsy Glam Bag Plus members can watch videos and play along with the stylists, all for only $25/month ($120+ value). Click here to check it out.
IN THE BAG:
1 // QMS ACE Vitamin Day & Night Cream ($140) – Starting with the bougiest thing in the bag which happened to be the first product I tried. Just wow, you guys! This moisturizer is very rich and feels like silk on the skin – no wonder it’s recommended for normal to dry skin types, because it would definitely be too much for oily skin. The ingredient list boasts moisturizing factors, a very gentle retinoid in the form of Retinyl Palmitate, and vitamins C and E for antioxidant defense, along with other plant extracts and botanical oils. This cosmeceutical brand feels like something you’d find on the shelves at a med-SPA with its effective formulation in a no-frills packaging. The formula is not fragrance-free; this moisturizer has a perfumey scent that smells like European skincare – hard to explain, but sort of like a floral baby powder? Either way, my tretinoin-dehydrated skin absolutely loved this guy and I’ll be scooping the last bits until the jar is squeaky clean. 5/5
QMS ACE Vitamin Day & Night Cream (left) and Veriphy Skincare 20/20 Eye Cream (right)
2 // Tula Skincare So Polished Exfoliating Sugar Scrub ($32) – I remember when Tula first launched, and it was so exciting to watch the brand grow and become more popular each year! While I don’t really use physical scrubs on my face anymore, this one is perfect for my neck and chest where I don’t use resurfacing acids. This creamy gommage has just the right consistency to gently exfoliate without irritating the delicate skin. 4.5/5
3 // Veriphy Skincare 20/20 Eye Cream ($68) – I’m always happy to try a new eye cream since it’s one of the areas I’m extra concerned about. I’m genetically predisposed to eyelid skin drooping and everyone in my family developed early crow’s feet in that area, so I went heavy on eye-safe retinoids as soon as I realized that was an option. Because of that, I go through eye creams pretty quickly since I tend to reapply several times throughout the day to ensure that area is always well-moisturized. That said, this Canadian-made eye cream caught my fancy because it was formulated to address every skin concern you can think of from fine lines to lack of moisture and pigmentation. The texture is absolutely lovely and it’s actually moisturizing! It’s the kind of product you apply before bed and wake up still feeling it on your skin. Also, it doesn’t contain fragrance or any fragrant plant extracts. 5/5
4 // Wander Beauty Skyliner Automatic Gel Eyeliner in Jet Black ($21) – Wander Beauty is one of those rare gems that often go unnoticed. I’ve been loving their products for years and I feel like they don’t always get the hype they deserve. This eyeliner, for example, may look like “just another black eyeliner”, but it’s one of the better formulas I received from Ipsy, plus it comes with its own little sharpener. The whole Wander Beauty line was built around products you can grab and go on adventures with. 5/5
5 // NOMAD x Tuscany Intense Eyeshadow Palette ($27) – I know it’s a super cheesy thing to say, but I will never say no to another neutral palette. Maybe that’s not very adventurous of me, but I love having different neutral palettes to play with because even though the shades may look similar they’re not the same. Also, I’ve never tried anything from NOMAD before but I saw a couple of beauty gurus raving about it on YouTube and remembered the name of the brand. For being under $30, this is killer value; the pans are huge and the formula is beautiful – blendable, intensely pigmented, and the color story actually makes sense. My swatches came out blurry so I decided not to post them, but you can check out some good swatches here. 5/5 (more like 10/5!)
THE VERDICT:
I can totally see how some people who are more into makeup would be bored with a skincare-heavy bag but as a skincare junkie, I’m all here for it! This month was fantastic in every way possible: great products, great sizes, high value, and I plan to use every single thing. I can’t even point out my favorites because everything is equally as amazing as it is useful plus I got to discover new-to-me brands that turned out to be fantastic.
The value of my Ipsy December 2020 Glam Bag Plus: $288
