All Eyes on Me: My Ipsy January 2016 "Unbagging"

Adorable packaging 

Ipsy All Eyes on You!

I've been interested in signing on to a beauty sample subscription service for quite some time.  After doing a lot of research, I decided on Ipsy. If you decide to subscribe, there are a few options. 1.  pay monthly and 2. pay the entire year.  I paid the entire year upfront and and got some money off, which is always very nice. You can cancel at any time, but how or why would you do that if you paid the entire year?  What I love about this is that, it's like having a birthday every month.

 Each bag has 5 samples, some are sample sized and some are full sized products. Each month revolves around a theme.  The products you get are related to that month's theme.  This month the theme was All Eyes on You. I have to say that the packaging that these bags come in is absolutely adorable. It's shiny, hot pink, and very very girly.  Pink is my signature color. My mom decided to keep the shipping bag, because she loved the color too.  The makeup bag itself was vibrant and oh so colorful. Retro girls wearing black rimmed sunglasses, decorate the front of the bag. The back is a solid blue.  I'm obsessed with travel makeup bags.  I have them to hold all of my BareMinerals eye shadows. Since the theme of the month was All Eyes on You, 4 of the 5 samples were related to makeup for the eyes.

Smudger from Skone

The first product I got was a smudger Luxe pro brush, from Skone Cosmetics.  I've never heard of this brand before.  This is obviously a full sized brush.  It retails for $15.00.  The website, which I will link below, says that you can smudge your eyeliner or blend your eye shadow. I thought the brush was OK.  It felt too rough to smudge my liner, the L'Oreal Infallible Lacquer Liner in Blackest Black. It seemed too small to be an eye shadow blender. What I thought was cool was that this one item, already cost more than my actual subscription.

It's a little light and stiff

Jac swatched

The next thing was a gold eyeliner from another brand I've never hear of, The Balm Cosmetics.  I looked up reviews and heard some people rave about their products, except for the liner (insert sad panda face here). This was the product I was most excited to try. The liner I got in my bag is from their line, Mr. Write (Now) in Jac. I looked up this company and found that they are talc-paraben-cruelty-free. This makes me very interested.  I will definitely look into more of their products.  The liner itself, and I got a full sample, retails for $17.  I like that the liner is gold.  I'm obsessed with gold right now. I've used it a few times and I think it's a little light and a bit stiff.  

UPDATE: I have heard about this company The Balm Cosmetics. I've seen a review of the Nude Dude Eyeshadow Palette, it's adorable, so make sure to take a look.  

 Peek Cosmetics: Very cute tin.

This may be too light for my eyebrows? But we shall see!

I also got, from Peek Beauty, eyebrow powder in Expresso Natural Stain ( I know espresso is spelled incorrectly but, it's how they spell it). I have to be honest and say I haven't used this brow powder yet. I did receive a sample sized amount, but a full sized stain retails for $22.  The packaging is adorable. I love the tin it comes in. I did swatch this and it didn't look to be too pigmented. OMG the woman who started this company was once the creative director for NYX Cosmetics, a brand I do know and like. These products are also cruelty-free. 

A lot of fallout!

Tangerine Light

The fourth item in my bag was an eyeshadow from J. Cat Beauty. This is another company I've never heard of.  The eyeshadow is from their Blinkle Shimmer line and retails for $4.99. The site doesn't say anything about being cruelty-free and states to look at the ingredients list on the packaging to see if the ingredients are appropriate for our (the consumer) daily use. OK, the red flags are up here. The color I got in my bag is called Tangerine Light.  It's a very highly pigmented and opaque, orange shimmer.  Orange is just not my color, so I probably won't use this very often. I did try this out in my crease and it didn't stay on, even with my MAC primer.  I'm curious to try it with a dampened brush. Maybe then it will stay on longer and it'll be even more pigmented

UPDATE as I'm still writing this blog, I did find a section that states this brand in cruelty-sulfate-GMO-phthalate-triclosan-free, however some items use parabens and propylene glycol. If you're interested in these products, the link is below. This company did begin in L.A., which is nice. 

Great for the summer!

The last product I got had nothing to do with eyes.  It's a body cream from a company called Mitchell and Peach. This was definitely a sample sized portion. They're located in the UK.  The full price of this cream retails for 36 British pounds, which is roughly $51.50. They do ship to the US.

This body cream is so fresh smelling, I absolutely love it.  It isn't the most moisturizing for the winter, though.  I gave some to Tim, my hubby, and he needed something else. I would probably use this product in the spring and summer.  I just smells like summer. In the winter I want warm, comforting, rich fragrances, and this one in particular reminds me of a meadow.

What I love about this brand is that it is pretty much all natural.  Many of the ingredients are cultivated right on the family's farm in Kent.  They have been farming the same land for five generations. These are the stories I love to hear. These are the products I'm willing to spend a little more $ on.  

I love getting these products in the mail.  I know, I'm not going to like everything I get, but it's fun to try new things. Overall I'm pleased with the choice I made to try this type of service out, maybe next year I'll try Birchbox.  

Skone Cosmetics: https://skonecosmetics.com/

The Balm Cosmetics:  http://www.thebalm.com/

Peek Beauty: http://peekbeauty.co/

J. Cat Beauty: http://jcatbeauty.com/

Mitchell and Peach:  http://www.mitchellandpeach.com/

Remember, "Beauty isn't about having a pretty face. It's about having a pretty mind, a pretty heart, and a pretty soul." I don't know who said this, but I like it!

It's way to early to hand out Gerber Daisies, maybe next time. Thanks for reading!  XOXO