Ipsy Glam Bag October 2020 Unboxing & Review
It’s been over 4 years since my last Ipsy review, so it feels surreal to be revisiting one of my favorite subscription boxes from the last decade. I was one of the first subscribers back when the service was still called MyGlam before they switched to Ipsy, and I probably still have their old makeup bags somewhere under the bed, too, but I digress…
The theme for October 2020 is You’re Magic. I pretty much learned long ago that the contents of the bags never really fit a particular theme, but the bags themselves do, and this month’s pouch is definitely giving off witchy vibes with that black matte exterior and golden accents. Also, the astronomy nerd in me loves that little star and moon charm on the zipper, it’s so cute!
HOW IT WORKS:
Each month you will receive a new Glam Bag with a mix of 5 deluxe samples and full-sized beauty products customized according to your beauty profile. Members can watch videos and play along with the stylists, all for only $12/month ($50+ value). Click here to check it out.
Briogeo Farewell Frizz Rosarco Milk Leave-In Conditioner
1 // Briogeo Farewell Frizz Rosarco Milk Leave-In Conditioner ($20 – $2.97 value) – Briogeo has been constantly present in subscription boxes since 2012, and that’s how I was introduced to the brand in the first place. Remember their Don’t Despair Repair mask? It was everywhere! I was a little iffy about the idea of a leave-in conditioner because I have fine hair, but it was surprisingly lightweight. It made my hair look smoother and tackled about half of the frizz on the highlighted parts of my hair. In full disclosure, I let my hair air dry and didn’t do any heat styling, so that was just the effect of the product on its own. 5/5
Firma Beauty Elite B 103 Angled Contour Brush
2 // Firma Beauty Elite B 103 Angled Contour Brush ($14.99) – I was not familiar with Firma Beauty until now so I can’t comment on the overall quality of their brushes, but this one felt really nice. Soft vegan bristles were packed tightly within the ferrule and felt really nice on the skin, the handle had some weight to it and didn’t feel flimsy, and the brush did a great job at diffusing the bronzer I used for contouring. If we’re nitpicking, then I should probably also mention that the bristles weren’t perfectly level. There were a few stray hairs sticking out of the dome here and there, and you could always trim them if it bugs you – I did and now it looks perfect. 4/5
Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara in Black
3 // Bobbi Brown Smokey Eye Mascara in Black ($32 – $16 value) – The main reason I subscribed to beauty boxes in the first place was to try products from premium brands that I otherwise wouldn’t have access to, and here’s the prime example. Some might argue that this mini mascara isn’t supposed to be sold because you can get it as a free gift with purchase, but what if you don’t want to make that purchase? What if you just want to try the mascara? I feel like it’s fair to charge at least something since you’re not exactly making a purchase with that brand/retailer that the GWPs are supposed to thank you for. That said, this mascara has my perfect wand – not too sparse and not too fluffy, it coats my lashes fully while lifting the roots just enough without giving me that spidery look. 5/5
Smashbox Oil & Shine Control Primer
4 // Smashbox Oil & Shine Control Primer ($39 – $9.75 value) – I tried the clear Smashbox primer before but never the creamy one, so this sample was a welcome surprise! This primer felt more like a lightweight lotion: it made the skin look smooth, soft, and matte, and actually felt somewhat moisturizing. This is a product I’d consider grabbing in full size in the future. 5/5
Illuminati Cosmetics Quad Palette in Enlightened
Illuminati Cosmetics Quad Palette in Enlightened (swatches)
5 // Illuminati Cosmetics Quad Palette in Enlightened ($21) – As you can see, my palette suffered some damage in transit, and one of the pans shattered all over the rest so there was glitter everywhere. It’s really too bad because this quad is beautiful! The color story reminds me of Urban Decay Naked Heat, which is one of my favorite UD releases. While the packaging looks super cheap and generic and this is most likely a private label formula, the product itself was pretty nice. I especially liked the mattes, both of which were richly pigmented, soft, and applied smoothly. The pressed glitters weren’t as good and felt a bit gritty – even somewhat scratchy – on the skin, and created some fallout if worn without primer. I’m going to try to salvage the mattes and put them in my custom magnetic palette, but I’m probably not going to reach for the glitters again since they’re so finicky. 3/5
THE VERDICT:
As I mentioned in the beginning, if you didn’t show me the makeup bag itself I would never be able to guess what the theme of this month is, but I won’t lie, having one is kinda fun, isn’t it? I got this bag as an Ipsy Open Studios creator so it didn’t take my beauty profile into consideration, but I was very happy with these products. My favorites this month were the Bobbi Brown mascara and the Smashbox primer, but I also really enjoyed the makeup brush and the leave-in conditioner. The eyeshadow palette was a hit and a miss, because the mattes were wonderful yet the pressed glitters didn’t impress.
The value of my Ipsy October 2020 Glam bag: $75.71
