January Ipsy Bag Review

With 2017 comes a whole new year of Ipsy bags and products to try! It's almost been a year now since I began my subscription and I haven't been disappointed.

The January Glam Bag is one of the nicer bags I've received. It's a silver bag with a blue/gray metallic mesh over top of it. Not my favorite, but one that I can see myself using.

Almost all of the products I got this month are from brands that I have had from Ipsy before--in some cases, more than once. This isn't necessarily a bad thing but I do enjoy trying new brands!

The first item is a Pacifica blush in the shade Wild Rose (I've had a Pacifica bronzer in the past). It isn't full-sized but you get a decent amount of product, the container is about as big around as the top of a Coke can. Wild Rose is a pretty rose gold color with a bit of sheen. This is the first blush I've gotten from Ipsy that I like the color of, so that's exciting! It reminds me a little of Benefit's Rockateur, which is one of my favorites, although it isn't as pigmented. I think it could be used as a blush or a blush topper.

Next up is a Heat Protection creme from Briogrio (I got a conditioning mask from Briogio a few months ago). I used this today and it smells nice and feels light in the hair. It's intended for blow drying, but I air-dry my hair. I will still need heat protection when I straighten it so I will still use this! It protects up to 425 degrees which is higher than my current protectant spray, so I hope this works out. The sample looks large enough for quite a few uses.

I'm not sure how I feel about the next item, which is a sample of theBalm's Bahama Mama bronzer. I have had a ton of theBalm products in the past, including an eyeshadow, their Hot Mama blush, their Mad Lash mascara, and all of the sample sizes are ridiculously small. The powders are literally the size of a dime and the mascara was not a traditional sample size. I've liked the quality of all the products, including this matte, neutral-toned bronzer, but they barely qualify as an item so I don't like getting them so often.

Swatches from left to right: Bahama Mama, Wild Rose, Smashbox BB cream (heavy and then blended on the side), Blue Lotus Seed mask.

Anyway, a product/brand that I haven't tried before is the Pur-lisse Blue Lotus Seed mud mask. I used this yesterday and as a first impression, I really liked it! It's a white mask with a subtle tea scent that clings to clogged pores as it dries, so you can see the impurities being drawn out. It tightens as it dries. After ten minutes, I washed it off and my skin felt smoother, didn't look red at all (which some masks do) and it didn't leave my skin feeling dry. Unfortunately it's a pretty expensive mask at $52, but I would consider purchasing the full size as you need such a thin layer per use.

Lastly, I got a sample of the Smashbox Camera Ready BB Cream in the shade Light. I haven't worn this yet, but the texture feels thicker than most of my base products. It's an okay shade match, perhaps a bit yellow-toned, but it should be okay if I'm using a self-tanner or if I save this sample for the summer. I've gotten a Smashbox product mascara before, but overall I haven't tried much from Smashbox and I'm happy to get to try it before I make a blind purchase.

So that was my entire bag! I think I'm most excited about the blush, mask, and heat protectant creme. Have you tried any of these or do you want to?

Xx Katie