This month marks the halfway point for the year- where has time gone?! I suppose what they say is true, time flies when you are having fun, but I feel as though time flies when you are anxiously anticipating your next monthly Ipsy Glam Bag too!
My Glam Bag arrives about half-way through the month and I eagerly check the mailbox every afternoon in hopes of retrieving my shiny, hot pink mailer full of surprise products. I always know I am going to enjoy my monthly assortment because the products are selected based on my preferences (as determined by a survey that you can retake at any point of time!) My June bag was no exception!
Ipsy Glam Bags always have a healthy balance of full size and sample size products. Bear in mind that this subscription beauty bag only costs $10 (shipping included.) This month I definitely got my money’s worth, and for this beauty junkie that is of high importance!
I love trying new products, and since receiving my bag (and unboxing on SnapChat) I have been incorporating the June picks into my beauty routine. Below are my honest opinions on each product, a couple of swatches, and the dollar value of each as well.
What’s in my Ipsy Glam Bag
First out of the bag was this Seraphine Botanicals blush in the shade Happy Hibiscus. I immediately gravitated toward the pretty floral box with gold type (naturally!) The compact itself is attractive as well- a very sleek white and black design in a heavy weight plastic, with a quality mirror inside. I found this to be small in size compared to some of my other blushes (Milani for instance) but I have never yet used an entire blush, therefor I wouldn’t have a need for more product.
Happy Hibiscus is a shimmery peach-rose shade that is very flattering. Wear time for this formula is about 8 hours, but it builds nicely when reapplied.
The packaging mentions that this blush is 99% natural, and upon further research I found that Seraphine Botanicals is 100% vegan, cruelty free, gluten free, hypo-allergenic, and much more. Not only is this a safe and natural product, but it’s beautiful, buildable, and blendable too.
This blush is full size (2g) and costs $18 retail. For those of you who are in the market for vegan products, or if you are looking to take better care of your skin by using more natural products, I highly recommend this pretty blush.
I’m not usually one to fall into the hype of a ‘long-wearing’ nail color, mostly because I’ve had my heart broken by a few. I don’t consider myself necessarily hard on my hands, but polishes never really seem to last as long as they claim to. Because of this I tend to stick to cheaper brands with the expectation of a new mani every other day…
Formula X nail color can be found at Sephora for $10.50, and advertises double the wear time (when paired with a top coat) as compared to other salon brands. I tried this nail color without a top coat, and with just a single application, and I went my typical 2 days before chipping.
As for the formula, I was very impressed with the application and pigmentation. It was quick and easy to get smooth and opaque coverage, plus it was very shiny. Overall I could tell the difference in quality compared to my go-to cheap brands.
This mini bottle of the shade Wingwoman is one third the size of the retail bottle, so my sample is a $3.50 value.
The packaging of this Delectable by Cake Beauty Everything Balm instantly drew me in (anything pink will do that!) But upon examination of what it actually was it left more to be desired. I don’t get excited over generic products like this right off the bat. When I opened the tube to feel and smell the product my mind was immediately changed, so I did some research to find out was this Everything Balm was really all about.
The name is very fitting, it smells delectable! And with 21+ uses, this balm really does do just about everything. I’ve been using this to tame fly-aways, nourish my cuticles, and as a lip balm. So far I am very impressed with the quality and I’ll be incorporating it into my routine for other purposes as well.
The full sized version available for purchase is $16 and has a pump for hygienic and easy dispensing. My sample is roughly one third the size, giving me about $5 worth of this balm. A little goes a long way with this stuff though so I’m very satisfied with the size!
I’ve been a fan of Urban Decay shadows for what feels like forever, I have the Naked palettes to blame for that. Opening this single pan shadow I knew I wasn’t going to be anything less that impressed. This new duo-shade formula infuses two tones and shimmer for a pretty finish that changes color in different lighting and it is beautiful!
Fireball is peachy pink and gold shimmer shadow that is just as velvety and blendable as their other formulas. This shade looks pretty all over the lid, no crease or transition color necessary. A single Urban Decay shadow will run you $19, this is a mini and probably has about $3 worth of shadow.
One of my favorite items to receive in my Ipsy bags are brushes, and I eagerly unwrapped this one right away. In my opinion you can never have too many shadow brushes, especially when they do double duty like this one from Royal and Langnickel. This crease/smudge brush makes smokey eyes easy, and the synthetic bristles diffuse shadows just enough.
Unfortunately this brush is an Ipsy exclusive and only the crease brush is available for purchase, but the crease end is by far my favorite part of this brush and it only costs $5.99 on it’s own!
What was it worth?
I really felt like my $10 went a long way this month, I received about $35 worth of beauty products and I’ve been introduced to new brands that I look forward to using more of.
For a limited time there is no wait list for signing up for the Ipsy Glam Bag subscription! You can sign up here. Already a subscriber? I would love to hear what you got in your June Ipsy, share in the comments below or tag me (@compasslanechic) in your pics on social!
