Friday, December 13, 2013

Ipsy's December 2013 "Celebrate" Glam Bag

Hello Lovelies!

Long time, no blog. I know, I totally suck at consistency these days. But I just started a new job in cosmetic sales at Macy's (totally awesome, btw!) and my husband just started a new job, and I've got like a million and a half things to do to get ready for Christmas. Oh, and I recently started assisting a friend in getting her web page up and running, and I'm blogging for her as well. This one's a foodie site, and I'm typing up recipes and such. We are looking for someone to do videos for her site, so if you or someone you know has a great foodie vlog, let me know and maybe we can work something out.

But moving on to today's post! I received my Glam Bag from Ipsy yesterday, and I immediately tried out the products and got pictures for you guys. This month's bag was absolutely gorgeous! Of all the ipsy bags I've received so far, this is by far the nicest looking. It's simple in design, just glossy back without any print, but it's textured. This is something that I could actually see myself carrying out as a clutch, not just a makeup bag. I received 5 items in this month's bag; Be a Bombshell The One Stick in Flustered, Pop Beauty Bright Up Your Life Eye Shadow Trio in Smokin Hot!, Andrea Strip Lashes #33, NYX Round Lipstick in Goddess, and Starrily Nail Polish in Bzzz Bzzz. I'm going to give a bit of a mini review for each product based on my usage yesterday, so it's not going to be very in depth.

If you haven't heard of the Glam Bag before, it's a $10 a month subscription bag with various full and sample sized cosmetics. Usually there are 5-6 items in your bag, and the bag itself is usually super cute. Totally worth $10 in my opinion. If you'd like to sign up, please do use my link as it will get me Ipsy points that I can use to get additional items in my bag. KalamityJane's Ipsy Referral Link

December 2013 "Celebrate" Glam Bag
NYX Extra Creamy Round Lipstick in Goddess
I received a full size tube of the NYX Extra Creamy Round Lipstick in Goddess, and so far I really like it. It glides on extra creamy and feels really nice on the lips; it's feels somewhat moisturizing but it isn't greasy at all. Really really really love the texture of the lipstick! And the color is very nice, a not-quite-nude shade that actually works very well with my skin tone. It's not the most long wearing lipstick ever, but it applies like a dream, so I don't mind having to reapply every few hours. I'd guess the wear time on this at about 4 hours, I wasn't really clocking it.

be a.... Bombshell The One Stick in Flustered
I also received what has to be a full size tube of The One Stick in Flustered by be a .... Bombshell. The thing is seriously huge!! Now I'm not going to lie here, I was not excited to try this product. It's one of those 3 in 1 sticks that can be used as a blush, eye shadow, and lipstick, and I've never really had good luck with these things before. And when I saw the color I was a bit put off on using this as anything outside of a lipstick. So when I tried this bugger out I was very pleasantly surprised. The texture was creamy without being greasy, and the color is gorgeous! I used this as a blush and it looks fabulous, gives a very rosy and festive look to my cheeks. It blends out with ease and leaves a nice subtle wash of color. I also tried this out on my lips just to see how it looked, and it was very opaque (I applied it heavier than on my cheeks, to clarify lol) and it felt nice. Not cakey and weird like some of the other 3 in 1 sticks I've tried. I have yet to try this on my eyes as it's a very bold color choice, but when I do I'll be sure to let you guys know how I like it.

Andrea Strip Lashes #33
I received these Andrea Strip Lashes (I'm guessing that the style is 33, there was no other labeling on the package) and I was less than impressed. The lashes look super gorgeous when you put them on, but getting them on is a serious pain in the ass. The strip is super flimsy so you really have to work at getting them evenly on the lashes. I also had a couple of the little lashes fall off when I was getting them out of the packaging! So while these are super pretty and very soft, they're just more hassle than they're worth.

pop beauty Bright Up Your Life Eye Shadow Trio in Smokin' Hot!
I think this is a cute little trio by pop beauty. The colors were chosen very well, and they look really nice together. However, the lightest of the shades is kinda meh. It's not very pigmented and is a total glitter bomb. But the other two shades are really nice, they applied well, blended nicely, and are just, well, nice. The shadows lasted a decent amount of time, though nothing to write home to mom about. But if you are going out for the evening, with a little primer, these will stay nice all night. So I like this trio, but I don't love it.

Starrily Nail Polish in Bzzz Bzzz
I applied this glitter topper by Starilly over a random silver polish in my collection (can't remember which one, sorry!) and it is just too adorable! I love the color and texture variance in this polish! I applied two coats of Bzzz Bzzz by Starilly for massive amounts of mega fab glittery goodness on my nails. It applied with ease, no glitter clumpage or anything like that, and it dried super fast. I would highly recommend a clear coat to top this polish as it is very textured after it dries. But no chipping so far, so it's a win in my book.

And of course, I had to try out all of my products to see how well they worked together, and I'm loving it. These all worked together very well to make a lovely look. So, here's a quick selfie with all products listed below!

Look Using the December 2013 "Celebrate" Glam Bag
Face Products Used: NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Mont Blanc; Pixi Beauty Bronzer in Summertime; be a.... Bombshell The One Stick in Flustered; e.l.f. studio highlight in Glow; Mary Kay Mineral Powder Foundation in Ivory 2.
Eye Products Used: pop beauty Bright Up Your Life Eye Shadow Trio in Smokin Hot; Maybelline the Falsies Mascara in Very Black; Andrea Strip Lashes; e.l.f. pencil eyeliner in Black.
Lip Products Used: NYX Extra Creamy Round Lipstick in Goddess.

I think that this month's products worked really well together to make a great look. Perfect for holiday parties with lots of shimmer and drama on the eyes while still staying very rosy/natural on the rest of the face. And then the bag to go with it is ultra fab. Great job, Ipsy! This month's bag is amazing!

I hope that everyone is getting to spend some wonderful time with friends and family for the holidays and not totally spazzing out over the stressers that come about this time of year. I definitely get a little crazy this time of year, so you might not see too much of me over here on the blog until after New Year's. So in case you don't hear more from me until later, I hope everyone has a happy holiday season! Til next time!