december ipsy review

Hi all! I hope you all had a wonderful and restful holiday. It's that time again... December Ipsy glam bag review!

bag | When I signed up for Ipsy, I thought I would love getting a small little makeup bag every month. Now, I am 4 months in and haven't really loved any of the actual bags! The only word to describe this bag is chintzy. Into the trash it will go soon! Sorry Ipsy.

Beauty Without Cruelty alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) facial cleanser | At first I thought this product would be a mediocre, run of the mill facial cleanser. I was wrong. Beauty Without Cruelty is a very misleading brand name -- because this facial cleanser did a cruel little number on my face. I'm not exactly sure if it was the AHAs in this wash that made my skin red, tight, and broken out for a solid 4 days, but I know it was not pleasant. This product will be going in the trash soon. I would not recommend it to anyone! (I swear, some of the products were actually good this month.)

Crown shadow/crease duet brush | This brush is just okay. It does the job, but I wasn't blown away by it. It is weird that it's double-ended, which doesn't allow you to stand it upright in a brush holder.

NYX Butter lip balm in red velvet | I've been wanting to try any NYX product, so I was pleased to see this in my Ipsy bag. It truly has a buttery formula, and the color tint is beautiful and easy to apply. It's lighter than a lipstick but still provides noticeable color. Did I mention that it smells like strawberry candy? I am a huge fan of it and will likely try other colors.

Pixi Fairy Dust in brightening bare | I've seen the Pixi line in Target before, but never tried any of their products. This loose powder eye shadow is a pretty nude color with a light shimmer. Would I repurchase it for $10? Probably not. But, it's a nice neutral shadow that can be used for a low-key look.

Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara | This product made this month's bag worth it! I've heard great things about Tarte mascaras... and let me tell you, the hype is real. I love the length this gives to my lashes. I would definitely consider purchasing a full-sized version of this product. My one qualm is that the mascara adds so much length to the lashes that they touch my eyelids and therefore the product sometimes transfers onto my lids. Because of this, I think I would probably purchase the waterproof version called Lights, Camera, Splashes. Side note: How cute are the names of their mascaras?!

Bare Minerals Flawless Definition Volumizing mascara | I know what you're thinking. Each bag usually only contains five items, why six this month?! Well, Ipsy forgot to send the Pixi Fairy Dust in my bag, so I emailed IpsyCare to make them aware. This was the second time in 4 months that they had forgotten to put an item in my bag. So, they sent me an extra item to make up for it. It was a nice gesture... But the mascara was dried out. I gave it a try anyway, and found that the brush/formula provides more volume than length. If volume is your thing, this product might be the one for you.

Overall, I only really liked the NYX balm and the Tarte mascara from December. I'm going to see how January's bag pans out, then re-evaluate my Ipsy subscription.

Do you have any other subscription services that you love? Let me know in the comments!

xoxo,
G