- - Ipsy | "Destination Beauty" | March 2014 Glam Bag Review - -

Hey everyone!

Today I'm back with the Ipsy Glam Bag for March. This time around the theme was "Destination Beauty," which brings warm weather and vacations to mind. There were only 4 products in this month's bag, which I didn't mind too much.

Let's take a look at those products...

 

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What is ipsy?
Ipsy is a monthly subscription service that provides you with 4-5 beauty products curated by Michelle Phan and other stylists every month.

Frequency: monthly
Subscription plans: monthly plan = $10 | annual = $110 (~$9/month)
Billing date: 1st of every month 
Shipping: U.S. - free | Canada - $4.95 (USD)
Products: 4-5 sample/full-sized beauty products (mainly makeup based) + design of glam bag changes every month
Loyalty program: receive ipsyPoints for joining, referrals, and bag/product feedback

If you would like to use my referral link to join ipsy, you can find it right here. Thank you kindly in advance!

 

Previous ipsy reviews:

February 2014 ("Look of Love")

 January 2014 ("19 Reasons")

December 2013 ("Celebration")

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First peek

This month's glam bag design

This month, ipsy unveiled their new "Artist Series" program, which allows ipsters to submit their own bag designs for consideration (at least, I'm guessing that's how it'll work?). There is supposed to be more information available about this program soon. 

Anyways, the bag design for March belongs to Klari Reis, who has a geography-based series titled, "Street Anatomy," that displays San Francisco (Reis's hometown and ipsy headquarters) in a unique way.

Reverse side

Just like always, there were a lot of opinions about the design this month. When I saw the sneak peek on Facebook, I can't say that I was totally blown away by it either. I love the concept though - I love that ipsy is open-minded enough to accept designs by people outside of their design team. Plus, what an awesome way to showcase yourself! 

In person, the bag is actually better than what I thought it would be. The last few glam bags were cloth-based. I love that this bag isn't.

But I don't think that it's possible to truly appreciate the art of Klari Reis just from this bag since it features only a small part of "Street Anatomy." If anyone is interested, I would strongly recommend checking out Reis' website. A lot of the artwork is truly impressive. By the way, ipsy used a detailed shot of this image for their bags:

Source: Klari Reis's Facebook page

First peek at the products

  * All prices are in US dollars. *

1 || Marvelous Moxie™ Lipstick in Get Ready (bareMinerals)
        (Sample size: $7.50 for 1.5 g/0.05 oz | Full size: $18 for 3.4 g/0.12 oz)
        (Link to product)

L: artificial lighting | R: natural lighting

I've heard of bareMinerals before, but this is my very first product from them. 

I actually really liked this lipstick! It's pretty creamy and the colour is quite nice. My favourite part is that it smells wonderful! Lanie of Lanie Buck pinpointed the scent for me - it smells like vanilla sugar cookies (with maybe a hint of mint?)...yum!


2 || Love in Rio Eye Shadow in Segredos De Giselle (NYX)
         (FULL SIZE: $6.00 for 3 g/0.105 oz)
         (Link to product)

Hello, NYX, we meet again. I have not forgotten our last encounter in December.

I don't think I've touched the last NYX palette I received, but I'm happy that this one contains neutral tones. Actually, it looks like there was a ton of neautral variations sent out in ipsy bags this month. Overall, I like this eyeshadow. I've been using it very lightly the last couple of days and because they aren't too heavily-pigmented, I think these colours are a good introduction to eyeshadows.

3 || Indigo Blue Eyeliner (Chella) 
         (FULL SIZE: $24 for 11 g/0.40 oz)
         (Link to product)

L: artificial lighting | R: natural lighting

I was a little taken back when I found out that I would be receiving an indigo eyeliner. I thought for sure I would have no use for it since I only wear black eyeliner. I'm glad I was wrong.

The application is really great and unlike my current eyeliner, the felt tip of the Chella eyeliner is a lot thinner. Once on, the indigo isn't as bright as in the swatches. In fact, going over over your line several times actually darkens it. The colour is a bit darker in the picture below, but it's still bright because of the flash of my camera:

For a full picture, I only have this webcam shot. It's a bit blurry, but I think you can get a sense of what the eyeliner looks like from far away - it's pretty dark!

If interested, this eyeliner does actually come in black.

4 || Flawless Beauty Primer (Pixi Beauty)
         (Sample size: $13.60 for 12 mL | Full size: ~$34 for 30 mL)
         (Link to product)
 

To be honest, I don't know what to do with this product. I don't really wear a primer under my makeup. Plus, it's kind of...shimmery. I may experiment with it sometime, but for now it'll probably be put into an obscure corner of my room.

T: artificial lighting | B: natural lighting

(Blended) L: artificial lighting | R: natural lighting

|| Bag value: $51.10   ||

Thoughts

Overall, I think this was a good bag. It kind of sucks that there were only 4 products this month (and I'll be using only 2-3 of them), but I guess the upside is that they all had a pretty good value.

I'm looking forward to seeing what ipsy comes out with for April! 

Have you encountered any of these brands or products before?

Thanks for reading! -A.~