It’s officially the first week of August now, but I only got to play with my July Ipsy goodies a couple days ago. Last month the theme was Summer Lovin’, and the bags contained products appropriate for the hottest month of the year. The cosmetic bag itself was crafted of some thick linen-like material with a bright tribal chevron print. Very summery, indeed!
HOW IT WORKS: Each month subscribers will receive a new Glam Bag with deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products customized according to your beauty profile. Members can watch videos and play along with the stylists with the same products that they are using, all for only $10/month. If you would like to use my referral link click here to join Ipsy. Thank you!
Octavio Molina La Playa Salt Spray was the first product in the box that I tried. As far as texturizing sea salt sprays go, this one was a dud for me personally. My hair is normally baby fine and flat, but I have a lot of it, so I like products that give it volume and texture. This spray made my hair look and feel dirty, which is not something I go for when I think of tousled styles.
Next product I wanted to take a closer look at was Jelly Pong Pong Cosmetics 2-in-1 Shadow/Liner. This thick jumbo pencil is marketed as a multitasker that can be used as an eyeliner and a cream shadow. While I really liked this warm deep shimmery bronze shade, I am just not a fan of products that need sharpening – it’s messy and the tips never seem to come out right. Kudos to those of you who can manage to regularly sharpen all of your beauty pencils!
Now here’s something I was excited to see in my bag – Avène Cleanance Gel Soapless Cleanser! I tried it before, and it’s one of the best and gentlest cleansers I’ve come across. The pH is perfectly balanced, so it never leaves my skin dry and irritated. If I didn’t already have a whole bunch of cleansers in my stash, I would definitely consider buying this one.
BelláPierre Cosmetics Mineral Lipstick in Burlesque didn’t live up to its long-wearing claims and started fading about an hour after the initial application. Since the color wasn’t super flattering on me anyway, I decided to just pass it on to someone else instead.
And finally, one of my favorite cheapies – City Color Cosmetics HD Powder. This brand consistently impresses me with the quality of their formulas, and the products are very inexpensive. I am still loving my watermelon blush that I received several months ago, it’s easily one of the most pigmented blushes in my stash. This setting powder is also super concentrated, so you need a light hand to use it. I lightly dust it over my face to set my makeup, and it keeps the skin matte for an extra hour or so.
THE VERDICT: Kind of a win-lose month for me, to be honest. On one end I was thrilled with Avene cleanser and City Color HD powder, but at the same time those two are the cheapest products in the bag. It’s like ordering a 3-course meal just because you like the side salad it comes with sort of feeling, if you know what I mean. I was not a fan of the sea salt spray, the lipstick formula was disappointing, and despite the gorgeous color, I just can’t deal with pencils that need to be constantly sharpened. I don’t know, ladies, I guess I’m just not feeling this one; here’s hoping my August bag is better.
What do you think about pencils that need to be sharpened? Have you tried any of these products before? If you received a July Ipsy bag, what was your favorite sample? Let me know in the comments below!
| Product | Retail value |
|---|---|
| Octavio Molina La Playa Salt Spray | $7.75 |
| Jelly Pong Pong Cosmetics 2-in-1 Shadow/Liner | $15.95 |
| Avène Cleanance Gel Soapless Cleanser | $2.48 |
| BelláPierre Cosmetics Mineral Lipstick | $19.99 |
| City Color Cosmetics HD Powder | $3.42 |
| Box Retail Value | $49.59 |
Disclosure: This post features products purchased by Glamorable and may contain affiliate or referral links. For more details about my product review policy, copyright, and information about affiliate links, please refer to Disclosures & Content Use page.
That cleanser looks nice. I wasn’t wowed by the Bellapierre lippie either. I don’t mind sharpening pencils, but I hate the bit of waxy colour that sticks to the sharpener’s blade. Waste of product, and getting it off the sharpener is so ICK. Like cleaning snot. Ugh!
Glad I’m not alone, that lippie formula needs improvement.
Love the analogy about ordering meal for side salad; that cleanser has to come home with me!
Haha, pretty much! I always feel that way when the only products I like also happen to be the cheapest.
The Avene cleanser definitely sounds worth looking into. I don’t have a problem sharpening pencils so I would’ve liked that, and the Bellapierre shade would have worked for me. My bag was a decent one, though I put the Tarte bronzer in my giveaway stash along with a couple of other things. I’ve been using the NIcka K shadow quad though
Lucky that you got that tarte bronzer, it was one of the best samples this month!
I hope whoever wins my giveaway will appreciate the Tarte bronzer since I unfortunately don’t 😉
They definitely will! It’s a nice one 🙂
I have my bag sitting here beside me. I havent opened it yet,
I don’t blame you, this month it’s pretty boring.
Sounds like a bummer of a bag, minus the City Color. I got that powder, too. I placed an order with them when they had some lipsticks half off, and I just got it today. Really impressed with them!
I’m really impressed with them as well, everything I tried from City Color was great so far!
Ours were pretty different! I got a dry shampoo so I was happy lol I go through those like water!
How nice!! I would’ve loved to try that one 🙂
City Color HD powder sounds awesome
It’s surprisingly good.
Loving the lipstick color.
It’s very pretty in the bullet, but didn’t look that great on my lips.
I strongly dislike having to sharpen pencils. They break, splinter and never come out the way they should. Blech!
Right? Clearing out those crumbs is the worst.
I’m OK with sharpening pencils if the product is killer. They all look like nice products.
I sharpen two of my pencils and that’s about it. Usually I find that products are just not worth the hassle when I can buy the twist-up ones instead.
Oh, I’ll take a twist-up over any other!!
Right? I wish more companies would just make the twist up ones. It’s like buying stationery pencils, I would always get the automatic ones.
I don’t mind sharpening and the Jelly Pong Pong was my favorite item in this months bag. I didn’t try the salt spray and now I’m glad I didn’t.
I sharpen two of my lip pencils and that’s about it. They break all the time on me 🙁
I like the ikat-designed bag. I like that Avene cleanser too.
The cleanser is very nice indeed.
I’ve barely played with mine, too! I honestly don’t even remember what I got in mine! *goes to find bag*
I don’t blame you, this month was kind of meh.
This month was meh for me too- I was super sad I didn’t get the Tarte bronzer haha. I did like the actual bag though!
Definitely one of my worst Ipsy moments.
Eh, I wasn’t thrilled with this bag in particular when I got it. It’s not horrible, just not exciting
I agree.
Yours was 100% different from mine.
It’s interesting how the bags can be so different 🙂
It’s crazy how much the bags differ each month. Mine was totally different (except for the lipstick). I hope August’s bag brings good things for you!
Girl… I just peeked at my August bag and it’s probably my worst one yet 🙂 I don’t even have it yet, and I’m already a sad panda, because there are actually lots of really cool things I could have gotten. At least my Birchbox is going to be good!