Product Review: May Ipsy Glam

Hello Dearies!

After waiting for what seemed weeks my May subscription ipsy bag finally arrived. The theme this month was “Destination Chic”. The bag was decorated with well known buildings or items from countries from around the world. It looks sort of like an envelope. Quite the adorable packaging. I received a total of five items that ranged from makeup to even a product for my hair. I won’t lie I actually have mixed feelings about this one. Some items I really liked while others…. didn’t quite make my “wow” list per say.

Let’s begin with the review!

The first item is a lipstick. The company is called Mellow Cosmetics. I have never heard of this company before. I of course, always jump at the opportunity of exploring new items. The formula is quite creamy, almost a satin. The color was in “Electro” which is a beautifully pigmented orange-red. It’s yells “Summer”. It feels quite comfortable on the lips. I’ve worn this one and it was quite awesome. I love the color and can’t wait to wear it out on a fun night around town! Oh! I forgot to mentioned this was a full size item.

Next item turned out to be a hair oil. Now, I am not sure if i have mentioned this before but my hair is naturally very curly. If you happen to be a naturally curly haired person you know that the care for it is quite extensive. I use a lot of products to make sure my curls stay hydrated, bouncy, shiny, and overall healthy. Apart from the coconut oil that I sometimes put in my hair, I tend to use products that are all natural and are free of any parabens or harsh chemicals. This was a sample size. It’s a hair oil from a company called, Eva NYC and it was a hungry hair oil and it was a sample size. Now according to the directions of the bottle, this product is supposed to help hair that needs a little quick of extra moisture. This is safe to use with wet or dry hair. You put about a dime size amount and run it through your hair. I like the product but I don’t think it actually did much to my hair. I did notice a shine but my curls didn’t look extra spectacular. This is definitely an item that didn’t rock my boat per say.

I also received a Hikari Cosmetics Shimmer Bronzer. I was most excited about this item but that quickly changed. This has four different sections. There is a coral shade, two golden shimmer, perfect for highlight and a matte quite warm bronzer. This is quite powdery. When used with a brush this kicks up a lot of powder that can be quite messy if you’re not careful. What was especially disappointed was trying to swirl all of  the colors. It all became muddy in the quad and I wasn’t that impressed with the final result. For something like this there is quite a lot of products similar to this that do a fantastic job and aren’t as messy. A definite dud.

I loved the IT Cosmetics not tug eyeliner in a mini size. It’s everything you need an eyeliner to be. It nice and creamy perfect to use on the waterline. Great for smudging underneath the waterline and overall an awesome item! Would definitely purchased a full sized item.

The last item was a Vera Mona smudger brush. It’s a travel size. I had no idea this company had eye brushes. I am not sure if this is something they recently just started using but I know them for their color switch swirl wheel thing. It’s a standard brush and does the job. Not much to say about the brush. I have washed this twice already and it hasn’t shed any hair.

Overall there were a few items that I wasn’t at all thrilled about. Overall this month’s bag was okay. I received a brush in my last bag so I wasn’t all that thrilled when I saw that I had received another one. I hope next month ipsy bag has a few more products that I will love.

That is all I have for today. Hope you found this helpful and until next time! Much love as always,

-Kat

 

Why I Deleted My Ipsy Subscription

Hello Everyone,

Happy New Year! It’s been a while ( again, I know…I know I’ve been slacking). I can’t believe we are already three days into the second month of this year. I began my New Year with a bang by TRAVELING. I went to Central America back in January for a week to spend some much needed time with my family. I had such a great time I came back home with a tan. I of course came back to home a little sad and missing absolutely everything.
Okay so now since that we have caught up on things I have a new post regarding my Ipsy bag subscription. About a year ago, I contacted the people of Ipsy glam bag on having them on the show that I work for here in California. After having them on show I ended up purchasing a subscription.
I really enjoyed the idea of the ipsy glam bag. For a small monthly fee you receive a variety of beauty product samples for you to try out. But after three months into my subscription I started to realize a pattern. I began to receive a lot of the same stuff from the same companies, which isn’t that big of a deal but in my mind I was under the impression that we would receive sample from a variety of companies. Another thing that I noticed was that I wasn’t really using most of the items that I was receiving in my ipsy bag. I began giving stuff away to my friends and family. After I received my last bag in September I cancelled my subscription.
It just ended up not to be for me, while I enjoyed the concept and the low cost for the subscription I did not enjoy receiving a lot of the same products that I already had received in previous months.
I hope you found this post helpful and informational and that everyone has a fabulous start to your work week.

Until next time!

The Holidays are here and I have an Update

Hello Everyone!

    It has been months since I have written a post! Life as usual has been quite busy. I can’t believe we are already in the month of December and I swear I did not feel this year pass by.

   I hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving if you celebrate it. I have a quick update. I few months back I wrote that I had taken a second job on top of my primary. After working 6 days a week I am back to just producing for the morning show and looking forward to taking a vacation and traveling hopefully in January.

   In the months that I have been away, I have been reviewing a few items as well as cancelling my subscription to Ipsy. Yes I do plan to write a post on my reasons for this as well.

  Stay tuned for more! I am planning to writing a post one a week! I hope you all have a fabulous start to your week.

Much love as always.

-Kat

 

April Glam Bag Review

Hello Loves,

IT IS FRIDAY!!!! WOOOO! I don’t know about you guys but I have been feeling very exhausted all week long. Needless to say, I am quite euphoric today is finally Friday and I am able to sleep in and become unplugged from the news realm for 48 hours. As much as I love my job, by day five I am ready for my weekend. Which by the way is the first full weekend I get to enjoy in a while. So it’s back to bare face, curls flowing freely, and casual clothes.

So today as I was kicking off my heels, my pink package for the month of May has finally arrived which means it is time for me write another review for the month of April! April was a very beautiful bag which products I have thoroughly enjoyed. The products were quite beautiful and a pleasure to work with.

The theme for the month of April was : Pretty In Pink. Interestingly enough pink is not at all a color I use or wear. I am not sure why but pink just…. I don’t know it’s not really my cup of tea. But I was a surprised on how not only great the products were but that I have reached for these far more than any the products that I already own. Just that stinkin’ good I tell ya.

The Pretty In Pink glam bag came with four items. The one that I received specifically contained:a Mica Mineral Eye Shadow in the color Earth, Sexy Hair Soy Renewal, Station Lacquer in of Corset I’ll Call You, and a Be A Bombshell Blush in Sweet cheeks. Did I mention everything was pink?

Let’s begin with the Mica Mineral Eye Shadow. The color is a nice pink/peach mix with very finely milled glitter. This is such a beautiful product! I wear this all over my eyelid and it adds the perfect glow, I also have used this very lightly for a glow on the high points of my cheek bones. The longevity of the product is a two thumbs up! I love wearing this especially when I am going for a very natural eye look. It is GORGEOUS DAHW-LING!

The Be A Bombshell Blush is a mid-range pink. It is what I would say a pearl finish because there is definitely a sheen to this product. However this does not contain any shimmer of any sort. The color payoff is great and the texture is very smooth. It blends very well and it can be packed on if you would like a much stronger color payoff. I was surprised on how much I loved this blush! Pink is not one of the colors I go for when looking for blush, I prefer a much more peach look to my cheeks simply because I think it looks better with my olive skin tone, but this pink looks very well. I was a little nervous at first but after playing with this around for a couple of days I really enjoyed the way it looked!

The Station Lacquer in Corset I’ll Call You is a very light muted pink, however it does not look like a pastel pink if that makes sense. These are definitely one of the colors you have to apply 2-3 coats to make the color show up with somewhat of an opaqueness.  The pink color is a beautiful pink that is perfectly suitable for work. It is not by any means very vibrant or too loud. It lasted on my nails for a good 5 days before I started to notice minor chipping on my nails. The only downfall to this nail polish I would say is getting the color to show up. I would have loved this to be much more of an opaque color with just a two coat application.

Lastly, I used the Sexy Hair Soy Renewal infused with Moroccan oil. It smells quite lovely and it feels very rich. This products is best used on recently wash clean hair and it’s supposed to help your hair dry faster and prevent it from becoming frizzy. I have used this product but unfortunately I haven’t notice any change in how fast my hair dries, however it does add a good shine. Would I purchase a full size of this product? No, I think there other oils that are much more suitable for my hair type which is naturally quite curly.

I really loved the products for the month of April and can’t wait to begin playing with the few goodies I’ve received for the month of May, keep checking back on this post for pics and swatches of the products!

That is all I have for today, I hope you guys have a fabulous weekend! Remember to fully embrace everything that makes you beautiful! Much love,

-Kat

If you have any inquiries or questions feel free to shoot me an email!

Kat.Estefania@ gmail.com

March Glam Bag Review

Hello Loves,

I have a little spare time and what better way to spend it than catching up on the Glam Bag Reviews? I have my notebook, a nice cup of joe and music is playing. Yep, I am ready to rock-n-roll! I am lacking sleep a bit, but you know? Sometimes you can’t have it all right? It shall be my weekend soon enough and on Friday I will be attending a little get together with lovely work peeps for some good ol burgers and beers. MMMMmmm MMMMmm!

All right so moving things along, the theme for the month of March was ” The Great Escape”. The bag was a very cute Nautical inspired design. Blue and white lines with anchors stamped all around, stinkin cute perfect for summer! It came with four items varying from skin care to cosmetics. The items were: Yaby eye shadows  which varied in color (2), Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist, Glam RX empty palette, and finally a La Fresh Makeup remover wipes.

This was the first time that I have ever heard of Yaby eye shadows. I received two colors which were a muted rose pink with some berry undertones and a white  very similar to M.A.C’s Gesso. I immediately swatched the pink color and was a little disappointed by the color payoff. In the pan it looks quite intense and very pretty but the color payoff was disappointing. It does not show up at all and I have to pack it on quite heavy to make the color appear on my eyelid. The white colored eye shadow, did have a great vibrancy, it does have a slight shimmer and I would say it is pearl finish. Great for a highlighting the brow bone or the inner corner.

Now, the Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist is made with organic ingredients ( it does include an organic seal)  and it’s supposed to hydrate the skin as well as serve as a toner too. This most definitely has a smell, quite strong and its a mix between bitter and sweet. It is a strange mixture and it’s not something that I enjoy, I did spray it over my face and honestly I can’t say it helped or that I saw any significant change. It did however create a stinging sensations. Unfortunately, I feel like it falls under the category of “great so what exactly does this do?” It  doesn’t really help or affect the condition of your skin. Would I purchase this? No, the smell is awful and I don’t see any big “wow” factor or benefits for my skin. Very disappointed.

La Fresh Makeup Remover wipes, they do a great job in removing a the makeup off. No residue left after and it does not seem to dry my skin. Not much to say about this one, I mean… it a makeup remover wipe… It is a great travel size which is convenient I must say.

The Glam RX Empty Palette is magnetic and the perfect small travel size with a nice size mirror, I was able to fit my makeupgeek eye shadows which are about the same size of Mac eye shadow. Best item in the glam bag. Now, with that said, there was a slight confusion with this particular item. When the YouTube makeup gurus affiliated with ipsy uploaded their videos, Glam RX sent them a completely different item. Their had a translucent powder, eyeliner as well as other items all in a nice compact. I am fully aware that they receive items that are specifically for them but if the item differs tremendously from what the rest of the subscribers received, they should not use it at all. It clearly marks a difference when I believe the goal for the video is to provide an example of how to use your items.

Overall impression, well it was an okay bag for the month of March. I enjoyed the variety of beauty products however it did not excite me at all. I ended up giving away the majority of the products I received except for the blank mini palette. None of the items wowed me enough to even consider purchasing full sizes. Please take into considerations these are strictly my opinion based on a 3 week, everyday use. Some may have loved every item and that is absolutely fine.

That is all I have for today! I hope you guys found this helpful, if you have any questions or comments please feel free to include them below. Until next time, have fun and take care.

-Kat

Review: February Glam Bag

Hello my dearies!

I’ve noticed that I have fallen behind in the Glam Bag Product Review and can you believe we are already in the month of April??!! Eeeek! Where has the time gone? I hope everyone had an awesome Spring Break and were able to travel to exciting new places. It is always fun to get away from the routine. Unfortunately, I worked and stayed home but I did celebrate both of my parents’ birthday which was nice. We did go to a couple of places but not too far or for too long because yours truly had to work the next day. But the plans have begun for a trip very soon to Central America so fingers crossed in a few weeks well have purchased plane tickets! WOOOO! Can you tell I absolutely love to travel?

So for the month of February I received my glambag and for the first time it came about 3-4 days after the EXPECTED delivery date. Of course the dates on the email always vary and it is never guaranteed that you’ll get your bag on the exact date. For this bag the theme was: Red Carpet Ready and came with five items. They were: a mini Coastal Scents Eye Shadow quad, Pixi Flawless and Poreless Face Primer, POP Smokey Lash in KAPOW!, Mica Beauty Eyeliner (gel) and finally the Lash Card: The lashcard.

Coastal Scents Quad: There are four eye shadows (mini) that are part of a gold color scheme. The colors are: Dark Goldenrod which is a frosty pale gold with a green undertone. Sunbeam which is a matte pale yellow. Golden Globe which is a shimery yellow gold (satin finish). Dark Golden Olive which is a satin finish and is exactly what the title says A dark olive with a golden undertone. All of the colors except for the Sunbeam had a good color pay off. They blend very easily and you can create a simple golden look or amp it up with the dark golden olive color for a smokey look or just to add some dimension to the outer V. I love this mini quad and most of the colors. The only complain is the Sunbeam which is not only a very pale yellow but it is also a little powdery as well. These do have some fall out and do require a base before being applied onto the eyelid. 

Pixi Flawless and Poreless: My first PIXI product. The face primer has a slight tint to it. It feels a little thick than any silicone based primer like for example the Palladio one which is more of a gel consistency. It  does not contain any smell (from what I can tell) and it doesn’t seem to really conceal the pores as it may seem but it is a very nice primer.

POP Smokey Lash in KAPOW!: It is a nice mascara that definitely gives some length as well a bit of thickness. The more layers you add the more it thickens . You may want to give your lashes a brush through with a lash comb to prevent clumping because this product will clump if you are not careful, also you will notice tiny flecks after about 4 hours. Overall great mascara.

Mica Beauty Gel Liner (black): Is a nice black gel liner. However it is not like the Bobbie Brown’s gel liners. Those are nice and creamy and will slide onto your eyes quite smoothly. The texture in the Mica Beauty one seems to be a bit dryer and definitely need to be loaded quite onto the brush to get a nice smooth application. Once on the eyelid they do not budge. If you have an issue with creaminess of some gel liners this formula might be the best for you as you won’t over apply product onto your eyeliner brush.

Lash Card: The Lashcard: Is a card that is designed to prevent any mascara smearing onto your eyelid. They are wider in one end and a bit smaller on the other. You pick your correct measurement simply apply them over the eye and slightly pull up to expose your eyelashes better and apply mascara. As much as I would love to find this helpful in my opinion it was a hassle to even apply something so simple as mascara. I would apply it over my eyelid and it felt as it I was coating the lash card more than my eyelashes with product. For those who might struggle with mascara going onto your eyelid this might work for you but quite honestly a business card will do the same thing.

Overall I really got a good use from the most of the items that were sent for the month of February. By far my favorite product goes to the mini quad from Coastal Scents. Not only is the color payoff great but the blend-ability is quite nice and the pigmentation is fantastic. If I had to purchase something it would definitely be this one! 

That is all I have for today! Please check back as I will provide pictures on these products in a while :). Have a fantastic weekend! Much love as always and until next time!

-Kat

Review for the January Glam Bag

Hello Lovelies,

Hope you guys had a wonderful and relaxing three day weekend. Mine was quite enjoyable although we didn’t have a day off at work… only those that work in management (known to us as the “who knows what goes on up there”) had the day off. Oh welcome to the world of television we work the full 365 days of work. Gotta keep the masses informed right? Right.

I received on Saturday my February Glam Bag and I am excited to begin testing out the products. I’ve had the whole month of January to play around with the January Glam bag and I took a little longer with this one because this one was all about skin care. Which I of course loved because I am a huge skin care freak. Despite the some of the criticism by other subscribers which was vented out on the forum ( seriously a whole different ball park) I thoroughly enjoy the different theme they have with the Glam Bags. The theme for the month of January was, “Super Star”.

The bag contained five items which included: Pacifica Body Butter in Blood Orange( sample size), Naitini Nail Laquer (full Size) in the color Frappe  ( 4 different colors were sent out mine was a pale pale pink) Josie Maran 100% Argan Oil (sample size), SOHO eyeliner Brush, and a Sexy Hair Volumizing Hair Spray ( sample size). The idea was to send out items that may help with skin since during the winter time the skin tends to become much more dry.

All of the items were quite wonderful except for the nail polish. The color is too light for my taste (which is really the ONLY down side). I needed three coats to make the color show up on my nails but I loved the longevity of the product. I went five days without it chipping no top coat. The Pacifica Body Butter is nice and rich with a delicious citrus smell, best part it is quite moisturizing and does not leave behind a greasy feeling. By far my favorite product this month was the Argan Oil. It contains a plethora of uses from the skin to hair and even Cuticles! It provides moisture and trust me a little goes a long way! The SOHO brush is flat eyeliner brush perfect for definition.
I really enjoyed all of the products for the January Glam bag. If you would like to learn more of ipsy and the glambag make sure to check out the website: www. ipsy.com.

Until Next time my dears! Take care.

-Kat

In Cased You Missed It

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone is having a great week and surviving their finals. I have a quick post today once again about ipsy.

 

I case you missed it, I was able to book the President on Ipsy Jennifer Goldfarb for a skype interview for the show I work for.

Below is the link to the interview:

http://gooddaysacramento.cbslocal.com/video/8072396-ipsy-com/

Recently Subscribed To Ipsy

Hello everyone,

 

   Hope you guys are having a much better start to your week than mine. I seem to have caught whatever bug was at work and despite my 3 week long survival streak , it all came to an end Saturday. I must say being sick is awful and I am mentally urging my body to fight it off ( I am taking medicine too of course!). Now onto a interesting blog post about beauty boxes and stuff!!

   As many of you may already know, when I am not doing anything school or work related I am killing time by watching YouTube videos, last night I was watching one from Michelle Phan where she was blogging on her way to work and came across the company she helped launched Ipsy ( formally known as myglam) which is a cute makeup bag the you receive monthly with a few makeup and beauty related samples. Very similar to Birchbird and my glambox from the UK. The fee is just $10 a month and you can cancell it at any time. So in my mind I thought “ah man, just 10 bucks…. small samples… monthly… man sounds good… yep I can afford that”. SO I SIGNED UP LAST NIGHT. I couldn’t help it… it sounds amazing.

    The whole purpose of ipsy is to create a glam bag exclusively for you with items that you absolutely would love to try. When I began the signing up process I took a quick survey that not only asked what products I would be interested in trying ( you can pick as many as you want from both high end and drugstore) to what type of hair, skin, hair and eye color. Also one thing that I loved is that there were pictures of makeup styles that you are more prone to wear.

   I added my billing information and it seems they bill you (or charge it to your card) the first of every month, this morning I received an email with an overview of my information as well as saying the my glambag should be mailed to me by the middle of the month! I must say that I am absolutely excited and gitty about receiving my first beauty bag this month. If you would like to learn more about it here is the webpage:

http://www.ipsy.com

(U.S and Canada only)

 

I will be reviewing the items once I receive my monthly bag. I am excited to see what kind f goodies are sent this month and the months to come! And no I am not in any way affiliated with the company.

 

Hope you guys have a great week and good luck to those who are heading for finals! I think I will go take some more tea and hopefully sleep my sickness away. Much love as always.

-Kat

 

Oh one more thing! if you are subscribed to ipsy glam bag how do you like it? I am interested in finding out!