It's been a few days since I last posted, but I'm back again! I received my Ipsy bag a few weeks ago, but I held off opening it until I was finished with my 2nd to last core rotation of medical school this past Friday (whoop!). The finishing line is sooooo close, but lots of exciting (yet scary) things to hurdle over before Match Day! Hopefully things go smoothly and I get a decent number of interviews. I hate the unpredictability though, and things can either go really well or be a total nightmare. Anyway, this month's Ipsy bag review! Overall, I really liked this month's bag! Let's start off by discussing the bag. I like the design a lot -- it's a cool crisp black and white geometric pattern with a hot pink zipper that jazzes up the bag. Super classy! However, I really don't like the texture of this bag. It feels like that recycled plastic/pleather material that I'm not a huge fan of. I really like the Ipsy cloth bags a lot more. But still, I really like the overall design of the bag and most probably will keep it or give it over to my mom.

On to the makeup. Again, really nice products this month! The skincare product I received this month is the La Fresh Group Good Night. Night Cream. As I've always stated, I dot like to try out new skincare items since I have sensitive skin, so I most probably will be tossing this one out. The haircare product this month is the Marc Anthony Nourishing Argan Oil of Morocco Oil Treatment. Definitely the most promising haircare product I've received in an Ipsy bag to date. I've really gotten into putting a few drops of the Organix Argan Oil on the ends of my damp hair since it makes my hair super moisturized and soft. I'm super excited to try this brand out! It's a pretty generous size as well for something you only need a little bit of per use.

I received 3 makeup products in my bag this month. First, the OFRA Cosmetics Lip Liner in Wine which is a gorgeous berry-magenta shade that's going to be perfect for the upcoming fall season. I've honestly never used a lipliner before mainly because I'm not a huge lipstick wearer. And even when I wear lipstick, I don't really find the need to put on lipliner. I'll probably be passing this product off to my mom since she's a huge fan of lipliners and this shade is right up her alley. Next, the Bella Piere Cosmetics Mineral Lipstick in P.I.N.K, which is a true magenta lipstick that again is going to be a good color for the fall. I really like this one because it smells like chocolate! The smell is very reminiscent of the Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette in my opinion (although it may just be my imagination...). The quality seems very good since this swatched beautifully and smoothly on my hand. Can't wait to play around with this shade in the fall and winter seasons. Last but not least, my favorite product in the bag this month -- the Glamour Dolls Single Eyeshadow in Sorcery. Holyyyyyy crap. First off, the packaging is super cute! The color is a gorgeous milky bronze shade that reminds me of the bronze shade in the NARS Kalahari Duo. I absolutely love shades like these. They're really beautiful alone on the lid for everyday makeup, but can easily be upgraded to a smokey nighttime bronze look. The quality seems to be nice as well. I'm not sure if I'll be keeping this one or if I'll be passing this to my mom as well since I have a bajillion shades like this already in my makeup drawer.

Another really fun Ipsy bag! And I really liked how the makeup products were geared towards the upcoming fall and winter season. Speaking of which, this post marks (in my book), the almost-end of summer since tomorrow will be the first day of September! I guess Labor Day is the official last day of summer, but once September rolls around I start thinking of fall and winter, my favorite seasons of the year! I really enjoyed blogging more in August and hopefully the trend can continue in September as well. I have a few fall themed posts planned already so stay tuned! Lots of product reviews coming up soon as well :)

April 2015 Ipsy Bag

Hey guys, sorry for the super late post on the April Ipsy bag! I got the bag last weekend, but I had a final exam this week so it took longer than expected to write this post. But I definitely wanted to talk about the bag because this by far is my most favorite Ipsy bag so far! Okay now granted this is only my 3rd Ipsy bag ever, but I got a great selection of products this month. The bag was beautiful and I can see myself using all of the products I received.

First, let me start off with talking about the bag. It's a beautiful straw zippie bag with various colors of thread woven in. It's also a bit bigger than the other Ipsy clutches I've received. I'm loving the bright colors and the artisan look of this bag! It's going to go great for my travel bag or for when I'm taking a tote bag to the park or the pool or something this summer. Next I'll talk about the only skincare item I received this month, the Lather Ultra Light Face Lotion. I'm not a huge fan of face product samples, so I'm going to be skipping this one. But the scent of this product is heavenly. It smells like rosewater. Maybe I'll use this as a hand cream just for the scent, who knows?

Next, my favorites -- the makeup! The full-sized/deluxe sample of the month that everyone received was the theBalm Cosmetics NUDE Dude Eyeshadow Single. Mine was in the shade Fit, which is a really beautiful golden-peach color. It looks copper in the pan, but when I swatched it on my arm it looked more golden. I'll have to see how it wears on my lids. I've never tried theBalm products but I've always wanted to, so I'm super duper excited about this sample! This will definitely be going in my travel makeup bag for my pediatrics rotation next month!

 Next up, the JulieG Nail Color in Damsel. I actually applied this to my nails a few days ago and I absolutely LOVE the color, the texture, and quality of this nail polish. It's a really nice cool-toned hot pink/fuschia shade for the summer. I was amazed to see that it was opaque after only 1 coat! I applied 2 coats and topped it off with the Seche Vite Dry Fast Topcoat. Three days later, the color is still beautiful and no chips yet!

I also received a gorgeous bronzy-nude lipgloss this month. It's the Starlooks Satin Finish Lip Gloss in Cuddle. The color is really pretty and will look great in the summer with a nice tan, but I'm not too crazy about the formula. It's very sticky and the applicator isn't the best. But I'm still going to use it since I don't have any bronze-y lip glosses in my collection. And the last product I got this month was another lip product, the Mullein & Sparrow Mini Lip & Cheek Tint. Not sure if this is a new brand, but I've been seeing it a lot on YouTube recently. Again, the size of this sample is pretty generous! The texture reminds me of the Rosebud & Co Lip Salves, but the color is more of a a rosy-coral. It smells like orange chocolate to me, and I wish I could just eat it whenever I smell it. I like the natural look it gives my lips so I can definitely see myself using it on a no-makeup makeup day or just when I'm out running errands. It can be worn on the cheeks as well, but wearing jelly-like products on my face makes me twitch a little.

So those are all the goodies I received in my Ipsy bag this month. I'm super super super excited about trying all of these products and can see myself using all of the them on a regular basis (except for the face product). I'm also really happy that some of the products I received were brands I had been wanting to try for a while now. Also the bag this month is absolutely stunning and reminds me of summertime! Next month's bag is going to have a lot to look up to.

Oh! And just to update you guys, I have been LOVING the Pixi by Petra eyeshadow and the Crown brush I got last month in my March Ipsy Bag. That duo is the most perfect, gorgeous travel-sized eyeshadow pair I own and the flat shader side of the Crown brush applies shadow all over my lid like a dream. I was even thinking of picking up some Real Techniques larger eyeshadow brushes just to have more of those types of brushes. Maybe I'll do a quick makeup look post with those products in the future? Hmm.

March Ipsy Bag

Woo! My second Ipsy bag is finally here :) I subscribed to Ipsy back in December and finally got off the wait list in February. I got my first bag last month but I didn't make a blog post about it given all the crap that was going on around the time. But from now on, I'm hoping to post a monthly Ipsy bag post. For those of you who may not know, Ipsy is a monthly $10 beauty subscription. Each month, they mail you a package with 5 deluxe size beauty samples inside a patterned makeup bag . My favorite part about this subscription is that it's ALL beauty items, which makes it different than Birchbox or Pop Sugar where you get a bunch of different kinds of items. I love discovering new makeup brands and different types of makeup, so the Ipsy bag is perfect for me. There is a similar monthly beauty subscription box called Glossybox, which is a bit pricier at $21 per month but has higher-end beauty samples. I thought about subscribing to that box, but I wanted to first try a cheaper beauty subscription and Ipsy was one of the best, most affordable ones by far. 

This month, I received products that I think I'll get a lot of use out of! I haven't gotten the chance to play with any of them yet so can't speak as to the actual quality of these products. However, watch out for them in my monthly favorites if I like em! So starting things off, I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of this month's makeup bag. I absolutely LOVED the pink February makeup bag, but this one's a bit of a flop for me. The design just looks cheap-ish to me and the quality isn't as nice as the February bag's. For the products, I'll start off with the skincare items I received this month. The first thing I got was two packets of the Skyn Iceland Hydro Cool Firming Eye Gels. This product sounds heeeeavenly! I can definitely see myself popping these babies out during my next spa night or when I need a bit of pampering. Next up, the Coolway Glow Oil Treatment. I don't particularly like putting oils on my hair since they can sometimes weigh it down. I'll give it a shot, but I have a feeling I may not like this product and it's gonna go straight in the garbage can :( 

The rest of my products are all makeeeeeuppp, my fave! I really liked the Crown Brush Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush that I received this month. I'm pretty sure I've heard good things about this brand before. I think this brush will be really nice for my travel makeup bag that I take to work. I'm glad that it's a good sized brush, not a dinky sized one, and it's dual-ended so it's perfect for traveling. I'm hoping this brush gives decent eyeshadow application because it may just become my new on-the-go makeup brush! Next, I got what looks like a full-sized NYX Cosmetics Butter Lipstick in Hunk. In the tube, it looks like a really scary vampy purple but when I swatch it, it comes off as a really nice purply-berry color. I tried it on in front of my mom and she said it looked pretty good on me. Plus the formula goes on smooth and is very hydrating. She tried a bit of it too and it looked stunning on her, so if I don't get much use out of this one, then it's definitely going straight to her! Lastly, my favorite product this month, the Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral Duo. Ohhhhh my god. It's a tiny tiny eyeshadow palette, but the colors are absolutely stunning, everyday shimmery browns. Right up my alley. I swatched these bad boys on my hand and they're quite buttery, pigmented eyeshadows. Not as good as Urban Decay or Makeup Geek of course, but definitely up there. Again, I'm loving how perfect this will be for my work makeup bag since it's so compact. You guys have no idea how excited I am to try this duo!

So that is it for this month's Ipsy bag. Overall, I'm loving the nice mix of products I got and can see myself definitely using 4 out of the 5 products. The sizes of the products are pretty generous (although I wish my eyeshadow duo was a big bigger!), and I think well worth the $10. I'm hoping Ipsy keeps it up with the amazing round of products they've been sending!