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Hello March Glam Bag!

And Hello Spring!

First of all, can we just appreciate how cute the bag for this month’s Ipsy is?

Okay, moving on to Skone Cosmetics – Insanely Intense Tattooed Eyeliner in JetBlack (0.07 oz.). I am in heaven with this eyeliner. Liquid eyeliner always used to scare me. In high school, I tried out a friend’s once, and I ended up looking like a Picasso painting. Not an understatement! But I don’t think I have ever been so impressed by eyeliner. I will definitely be buying Skone again. It looks like I received the full-size, which retails on skonecosmetics.com for $15.

The Pixi by Petra – Beauty Blush Duo in Rose Gold (0.16 oz.) is a really pretty blush. The combination of the two colors blends really well with my lighter skin tone. The 0.36 oz. size sells on both pixibeauty.com and target.com for $18. This smaller size would ring in at $8.

I wish I could love the deep red that is NYX Cosmetics – Liquid Suede Cream Lipstick (0.13 oz.) but it just doesn’t work for me. I ended up giving this to my friend who, by the way, looks gorgeous in it. The same size retails on nyxcosmetics.com for $7.

The MeMeMe – Loose Powder Brush (2 oz.) is super soft. I’m still getting used to figuring out different brushes (other than a regular blush brush or eyeshadow brush. I know…don’t make fun of me). This same brush retails on mememecosmetics.com for 14£, which means $20.04 (this one comes with its own carrying case).

Unfortunately, I was not impressed by Nourish Organic – Rosehip & Rosewater Body Oil (0.5 fl. oz.) and I really really wanted to be. I have high hopes for products with “organic” in their names, especially if it’s meant for my face or body. It came out of the tube separated. But maybe I just got a bad batch bottle. Or maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be, but I didn’t care for it. The 3 fl. oz. is $19.99 on nourishorganic.com so this small tube would be $3.33.

I also redeemed from points the NAOBAY Natural & Organic – Oxygenating Moisturizing Cream (0.75 oz.), which retails for $47.60 on beautybay.com for the 1.7 fl. oz. so this smaller (free) size would have been $21.

Including my bonus product, I would have spend $74.37. Lucky me!

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Happy New Ipsy!

January ipsyIt’s a new year….and a new set of goodies!!!

 

theBalm Cosmetics – Mr. Write (Now) eye liner (0.01 oz.) fell right into my ready and waiting hands. After this Christmas, my digits were primed for opening little treats. Mr. Write (Now) was definitely Mr. Right! I’m already a fan of theBalm Cosmetics and it’s not a bad price for a handle little eye liner. It can be found on thebalm.com for $17.

The J.Cat Beauty – Blinkle Shimmer Eyeshadow in shade Tangerine Light (0.09 oz.) has to be one of the funkiest colors I’ve seen not only out of Ipsy but ever – it has definitely put the groove back in my step. It can be purchased at Jcatbeauty.com for $4.99.

I’ve been getting a number of brushes recently and have been having an interesting time figuring out how to use all of them. Who knew you could have a brush for shaping, smudging, gliding, tweeking, glitterizing, etc. etc. …well, some of those I may have made up, but you get the idea. Before this Beau Gâchis Paris brush I always used my finger to smudge my eyeshadow but now I’m fancy! It is regularly $12 on Beaugachis.com, but there’s currently a Christmas/End of the Year Blowout sale for $9 so get a deal while you can!!!

Anything that has serum in the title usually reels me in instantly. That word just sounds so soothing. That’s exactly what pur~lisse – BLUE LOTUS 4-in-1 Eye Adore Serum (0.24 oz.)is – soothing. As much as I love it, I am not loving the dollar signs that go with it – on shope.purlisse.com it is a whopping $65 (0.5 oz./15 mL). While this half-size bottle would be $31.20, it’s going to make a slight dent in my wallet. I think for now I’ll stick with my to-go-unnamed brand.

Mitchell and Peach – English Leaf Body Cream (30 mL/1.01 fl.oz.)…all I can say is wow.Words cannot describe how in love I am with this body cream. Truly. In. Love. I wish the price tag was more in my range. On Mitchellandpeach.com it rings in at 36£ (180 mL), which equates to $52.62, making this much smaller size equal $8.77. #sadface

My total would have been $70.96. Even though some of these little (expensive) beauties won’t be rebought by me anytime soon, I plan keeping my New Year’s Resolution to enjoy my GlamBag…well, and maybe try to be healthier and shit. Haha…Happy New Year! Here’s to 2016!

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November Glam Bag – Beauty Blast

I loved the April Beautifully Bohemian bag but I think a new favorite has rocketed into my world this month! This colorful little bag is just too much fun.

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The first shining star I pulled out of the bag was the Deluxe Pointed Crease Brush by Crown. First impression – it is so soft – and I mean soft. I absolutely love it! Good brushes can be hard to find but I think the Crown brush is out of this world! It retails at $12.38 but I found it for 60% off on crownbrush.us for $4.95.

The Luxie Beauty – Matte Eyeshadow Pan No. 290 (0.05 oz.) is 100% cruelty-free. They hooked me right there, but then there’s the color – Aubergine (eggplant) I cannot get enough of this color. When I saw it my eyes lit up like shooting stars and once on, it did not disappoint. This size retails on luxiebeauty.com for $6.

Previously, Smashbox has impressed me – I  loved the Smashbox face primer so I had a feeling their Full Exposure Mascara (3 mL) would be out of this world. I’ve been using it every day since i received my little pink bag and it’s amazing! Keeps my lashes looking full and the application is stellar. The 11.4 mL retails for $20 on smashbox.com so this size blasts in at $5.26.

Model Co is another brand that has continued to impress me. Their Highlighting Trio (3 x 0.04 oz. = 0.12 oz.) in colors – Champagne, Peach Bellini, Bronze Shimmer – not only sound delightfully delicious, they are gorgeous on the eyes too. Modelcocosmetics.com retails this size at $22.

I truly enjoyed the Coolway sea salt spray I received a few Glam Bags back, so it does not surprise me that I love their holding spray as well. The Coolway Stronghold Spray (0.5 oz.) keeps my hair from orbiting outside of the Earth’s atmosphere. The 3.3 oz. size retails for $19.95 on coolwayhair.com. This smaller size is an astronomical deal at $3.02.

Not only did I get a couple of full-sized items but I only had to pay $10. I feel like I’m rocketing into some great deals. My total this November would have been $41.23 had I bought these at full-price. Keep up the heavenly work ipsy – you’ve outshined yourself this month.

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Fashion Face by Ipsy

edited new sept ipsyHello September Glam Bag! What treats you had in store for me.

With its cute little bow on the front clasp the NYX Cosmetics – Ipsy Eye Shadow Trio (0.03 oz.) had me instantly. Plus it didn’t hurt that the colors are perfect for Fall. Little sparkly gold and bronze and, of course a deep black for that perfect smoky eye. On nyxcosmetics.com, this baby sold regularly for $6, but was on sale for $3 most recently – either way, I’m getting a good deal. I love these colors.

The tre’Sti Que Mini Matte Lip Crayon (0.02 oz.) was a product I was truly looking forward to in this month’s bag. I’m usually more of a lip balm or lip gloss person but this Matte color intrigues me. I’m going to give it a whirl. On trestique.com, you can get a mini trio for $32 so one of these sweeties would be roughly $10.67.

Once again, this glam gal was excited for another product to help me fall into Fall. The Formula X Nail Color in Ignite (0.13 oz.) was on my nails almost before I had the bag unzipped. Ignite is almost a deep merlot color which makes it even more perfect for me, a wine lover! On Sephora.com, one 0.4 fl.oz. bottle is $10.50 so this smaller size would be about $3.41.

Finding a good cosmetic brush can be hard. So many times, I’ve bought one only to be disappointed with the roughness or the bristles falling out. So far, the Crown Brush – Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush (Wt.: 1 oz.) has been amazing. I hope it continues to live up to what I’ve come to expect in these last few weeks. Retail on crownbrush.us is$17.50 but their current sale price is $6.99, saving potential buyers 60%.

This last product – Eau Thermale Avène – Soothing Moisture Mask (0.16 fl. oz.) – is something I’m very much looking forward to trying out. These past few weeks have been particularly busy for me so I am hoping to get that soothing sensation this weekend.  I’ve always had dry skin and am hoping this moisture mask will help out the desert that is my face. On lovelyskin.com, the 1.7 fl. oz. tube retailed for $26. So this smaller size would be about $2.44.

This month has been one of the lower priced Glam Bags if you take into consideration only the five products I received in this adorably lux bag. They totaled $26.51. But I also received the Formula X hand crème after cashing in some of my Ipsy points. This rich crème with Kpangnan Butter retails at $16 on Sephora.com for the 3.4 fl. oz. bottle so my $10 bag is now worth around $42.51. Go Ipsy!

Can’t wait to see what you have in store for me next month!