A month or so ago Ipsy was offering a #throwbackThursday Mystery Glam Bag filled with an assortment of popular samples from past Ipsy bags [read: leftovers]. This mystery bag was available for purchase for just a few hours, and cost “just” 1500 ipsypoints.
“We’re leaving a little to the imagination with the latest addition to ipsyPoints rewards. A #throwbackThursday Mystery Glam Bag filled to the brim with FIVE deluxe sample and full-size beauty products that received rave reviews, inside one of the most popular makeup bag designs ever. All for just 1,500 ipsyPoints!”
For those of you that don’t know, 1500 ipsypoints is actually a lot, and one would have to refer 6 people to subscribe to Ipsy, or a combination of friend referrals and monthly product reviews. My points were going to expire soon if I didn’t spend them so this was as good of a bonus as any to redeem them for.
As far as I know all Mystery Glam Bags contained the same assortment of products, and it was a mix of samples and full-sized goodies from previous months. Here’s what they were:
The cosmetic bag itself was from June 2013, and as far as I remember it was well-received. I personally didn’t care for it, but it’s very easy to gift, or use as a little something extra when sending out samples for a swap.
POP Beauty Bright Up Your Life Eyeshadow Palette in Naturally Bare from December 2013, which was actually pretty decent. It’s a dupe for me, but it’s a nice mini-palette with universally flattering neutral colors, and should make a good stocking stuffer.
One set of Klorane Smoothing and Relaxing Patches from March 2014, this was the one that got away, and I am thrilled to finally be able to try them. Surely, I could just buy them, but I’m weird like that and kept hoping they would somehow magically appear in one of my future bags. And they did 🙂 Well, I’m glad I got a chance to give them a shot, because I know I’ll be purchasing more; I like them just as much as skyn ICELAND patches and that’s a big compliment to Klorane.
Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter was another elusive sample that I wished I got, and it was also featured in the December 2013 bag like Klorane eye patches. If you love the smell of coconut and vanilla together, then you would love this body lotion, too. It’s also very moisturizing!
I already have one Starlooks Gem Pencil in Topaz, and don’t need another, even though it’s a very pretty shade. Again, this one should be easily giftable! It’s actually a really good eyeliner, on par with many brand name department store gel liners.
Lastly, my favorite item in the bag – Costal Scents Medium Shadow Brush! Yeah, I know that it’s a cheapie, but I’ve been lusting over that brush for a long time, and it lived up to my expectations. I really love it!
THE VERDICT
To me personally this Mystery Bag was totally worth it, even though I had to blow a big chunk of my remaining ipsypoints on it. I discovered my new favorite eye patches that I otherwise would never have tried, and a great makeup brush.
| Product | Retail value |
|---|---|
| POP Beauty Bright Up Your Life Eyeshadow Palette | $7.20 |
| Klorane Smoothing and Relaxing Patches | $2.57 |
| Pacifica Indian Coconut Nectar Body Butter | $7.00 |
| Starlooks Gem Pencil | $14.00 |
| Costal Scents Medium Shadow Brush | $2.49 |
| Box Retail Value | $33.26 |
Birchbox also had a bonus mystery box you could claim recently! I really like the idea of the bonus box/bag, so it’s fun that Ipsy did it as well. I wanted to try that Pacifica Body Butter when I was still subscribed, but I missed it, too!
Me, too! Since boxes have so many variations it gives everyone the chance to potentially try products they missed out on. I wonder what came in Birchbox bonus boxes, I totally forgot about those!