April Ipsy Glam Bag Review + Video

Sunday, May 22, 2016
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Ok, so yes this is extraordinarily late, but in my defense I did receive my bag a few days into May. I decided that I wanted to kick things up a notch and do my boring monthly Glam Bag video in a totally different format because, frankly, I'm tired of doing them and having them be almost identical to every other small potatoes YouTuber out there. I'd really appreciate any and all feedback you have on the video/how I'm going to handle my ipsy subscription from now on! Without further ado, I present to you my April 2016 Glam Bag video and product review blog post!



As far as bags go, I'd definitely call this one a decent one based on sight alone. It's not my dream bag by any means, but it's not anything I'd sniff at. I feel like I got a nice mix of makeup, tools, hair care, and skin care and I managed to get a few brands I'm quite familiar with, some I'm still discovering, and one I've never heard of.


I was delighted to see that I was going to get a Luxie brush in this bag! After such a positive experience with their product after Gen Beauty LA I was almost rabid to try more. I'm not a huge fan of the coloring of the handle and the ferrule, but that's just life - the important part is the bristles and how they perform, which is excellent! The vegan "hairs" are luxuriously soft and have a nice density to them. I was mildly devastated to learn that the ferrule on this was a bit wobbly, but it's still pretty secure. After a little investigation, I wasn't the only person with this issue and that does make me a little upset, but thankful that the other 5 brushes I have from them are solidly built.


I've had two or three other tarte Lipsurgences over the years, and while I really like the formula, the colors didn't really mesh with me because of the strong pink undertones in them. Wonder, a poppy color which is the shade that I got, is still pretty pink, but it's definitely more wearable for me especially when sheered out like in the video. Unfortunately, it's pretty much impossible to find an extensive collection of any Lipsurgences at Ulta or Sephora anymore - heck, even on the tarte website pickings are slim - because these are being phased out and being replaced with their new matte lip lingerie. I'm a little cheesed that ipsy members are getting sent things that are hard to find or impossible to get like this and the next item.

Trust Fund Beauty That Glo Tho, $22

I didn't like the last Trust Fund Beauty item I got from ipsy, which was a nail polish, but I was still curious about the rest of their line which includes a few lipsticks and the That Glo Tho highlighter. I'm still a little bit highlight phobic even after a marked improvement in the clarity of my skin and improvement of my skin texture due to a new addition to my skincare regimen (spoilers for an upcoming video, btw), but I thought I would give it a go. This product is no longer available on the Trust Fund Beauty website, but after contacting the company I determined that it had sold out and will be later introduced as a liquid, presumably keeping the same $22 price tag That being said, the packaging is atrociously cheap feeling and reminds me a lot of the e.l.f studio line. The scent of this highlight also reminds me of the e.l.f Studio Lip Exfoliator, which is not a compliment as it smells of a singed, chemical version of Créme Brûlée. The shade is a fine golden pink, which is lovely, but it also has some glitter flecks in there too. This is pretty flattering and can be sheered out to be nice and subtle.


I got a leave in treatment from Briogeo before that was a similar concept to my coveted It's a 10, and that went over really well with me. I don't find myself needing an overnight treatment since my hair isn't that damaged... plus I'm incredibly lazy in the morning and can't be bothered to drag my groggy bunz to the shower to rinse it out. I'm a little cranky about the absolutely minuscule size of this sample because I was only able to get about one good use out of it. This is a gel to oil formula, but oh lordy the oil phase feels very odd and dry. I have issues with texture and I did not enjoy it one bit because it felt like it made the swoops and whorls of my fingers much larger than what they were and that freaked me out a LOT. These treatments are honestly useless to me since they take such a long time and I'd rather use a hair masque while taking a long bath instead of trying to comb a scant amount of oil through my dry hair and sleeping with greasy hair in a bun all night. After a shampoo and condition, I didn't notice a difference.


I have way more mud masques than I need right now if we're being honest. What sets this Jor'el Parker one apart is that in addition to having clarifying mud it also contains sweet almond and avocado oils that add some moisture back into the skin, which I noticed right off the bat since this sucker was a lot more emollient and easy to smear around on my face without the whole drying clay dragging bit. This masque has a distinct herbal scent to it, but it's not super pungent or offensive. This treatment makes a lot of claims, which I'm sure need repetitive use to fully see, but I've gotta say that hands down this is the softest and least stripped my skin has felt from a clarifying mud masque. I pretty much always find myself needing a rich moisturizer to replenish all the oils pulled out of my skin by a mud treatment, but I honestly felt like I could forego that... which I didn't, but that was a very pleasant surprise.

Overall, I like the variety of items I received and like pretty much every item. The value of the bag is pretty good at around $60, but I didn't like how small the Briogeo sample was and frankly felt cheated because of the two items that I can no longer buy or won't be able to rather soon. Luckily both of those items aren't things I can see myself purchasing in the future, but that's pretty unfair to the people that liked them.

What did you get in your ipsy Glam Bag?

If you'd like to sign up for ipsy and get 5 beauty products a mont for $10, you can do so HERE!

Oh, and THIS page always has bangin' coupon codes from various brands and you don't need to be an ipsy subscriber to use them. Score!

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