Can we just take a moment to admire the willpower that it took for me to wait this long to sign up for one of those monthly cosmetic grab bag offers? I mean, they’re everywhere! And I really love makeup and trying new products, so it was inevitable that I would eventually give in. Finally, last month after seeing Mahin post about her June ipsy Glam Bag, I decided to sign up. After a quick quiz about my coloring, style, and the products and brands I was interested in, I put in my payment info and waited impatiently for mid-July to roll around so I could receive my first bag.
When it arrived earlier this week, I had mixed emotions. All of the products were new to me, which was awesome. But were they things that I would have chosen for myself? Not necessarily. Let’s do a quick rundown:
1. The bag itself. Neon pink is not a color I ever choose for anything. But the design is cute, it’s a nice medium-small size, and it’s not like I have to wear it on my body. I like to use these sort of bags to carry chunky tribal jewelry to events.
2. Hang 10 tanning spray. This is the one item that I am not at all excited about. I mean, tanning spray? The quiz that’s supposed to help them determine what products to put in our customized bags includes skin tone, obviously, and obviously I said “Fair” (because “nearly translucent” wasn’t an option), so why send me a tanning spray? I mean, I didn’t even know SPF 08 was an option. Hopefully I can find someone who still thinks tanning is a good idea and give it to them. By the way, when I visited the ipsy site I saw a LOT of people complaining about this item, from ladies as pale as me to African American ladies, so I suspect they threw it in everyone’s bag regardless of skin tone. Not cool.
3. POPbeauty Sunkissed Bronzer in Secret Sunshine. This appears to be either a full-size product or a very generous sample and the compact is really cute (I love POP’s floral motif). It’s a shimmery bronze, whereas I usually use matte bronzers for contouring, but I think I can find a use for it. In my testing, it went on smoothly and held up well to a night of troupe practice.
4. Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm in Pretty Pink. I’ve seen Pixi brand at Target and was attracted by the name but not excited about any of the products, so I hadn’t tried them yet. This balm feels nice on the lips and provided a nice bright pink tint. Again, pink is not my usual color, but I thought this was a cute Summer look and while I wouldn’t rock that shade on stage, it would be fun for a lunch date with a friend, or just when I need to cheer up my face to make myself feel better about braces. I like it enough that I’ll check out the other color options next time I’m at Target.
5. bareMinerals 5in1 BB advanced performance cream eye shadow with broad spectrum SPF 15 in Divine Wine. Yes, that’s right, the eye shadow has a higher SPF than the tanning oil. Let me ask you… when was the last time you got sunburned eyelids? Because despite my fair skin I don’t think that’s ever been a problem for me. If I’m out in the sun I’ve usually got some combination of sunglasses, hat and parasol to protect my face and eyes. Also the packaging warns not to get it in your eyes, which seems a little weird for a product you’re going to be smearing on your lid. I found the application a little tricky since I don’t use cream shadows often. The color was like a matte wine-tinted brown, very neutral, not what I normally wear. However, I jazzed it up with some shimmery mauve-taupe eye shadow and sparkly brown liner and it looked GOOD. The product promises 12 hours of wear. It still looked good after about 7 hours (on a hot humid day with an hour of troupe practice). If you like cream shadows and/or are concerned about sunburned eyelids, it might be worth checking out. However, the blah neutral palette leaves me uninterested in picking up this product for myself.
6. Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray. This is a spray-on, leave-in conditioner with argan oil and stuff. I sprayed it onto my still-damp hair after a shower and let it air dry. I have no idea how much I was supposed to use. Once my hair was dry, it seemed softer, shinier and maybe a little fuller, with a little extra curl in the ends. I suspect this might give more body to shorter or finer hair. I’ll probably use this on my hair when I’m going to wear it down for a performance, but I don’t think I’ll buy more when it’s gone, unless I hit on some way to use it that makes my hair extra awesome. I do like the scent, which is kind of sweet and soapy. It makes me feel like my hair is extra-clean.
Would I recommend the ipsy Glam Bag to my fellow belly dancers? Well, it depends. If you only wear makeup for stage, probably not. You’re likely to get a lot of more day-to-day products, like the lip balm and neutral eye shadow. But if you enjoy wearing makeup off-stage, too, and experimenting with new brands and products, it seems worth a shot. I’m going to give it a few more months to see how I feel about it for sure. I do feel like the products I was sent are good-quality, and that other than the tanning oil, they were suited for my complexion and interests. If you’d like to try it, please use my ipsy referral link so I can earn points for extra cosmetics (yay, more makeup!).