Dre Does Ipsy Favorites

Happy May! My favorite month of the year because not only is it my birthday month but it's when it really starts to warm up and feel like summer is on it's way!! It's no secret that I haven't been doing my monthly Ipsy Glam Bag reviews but I am still receiving them. I decided a good way to catch up would be to share some of the products that I have loved recently that I would recommend to you. If you have never heard about Ipsy and curious to know more, look to the tool bar on the right and under favorites click the word 'Ipsy' to see all of my previous posts on the subscription service! (Hint: you can do this with any word you see to filter posts!)


1. Laura Mercier Invisible Loose Setting Powder: If you made me choose one product as the best thing I've ever received in an Ipsy bag, this would be it. I cannot tell you how much I love this powder. I don't normally use powders so the fact that I love this that much is saying something. I started using the new NARS Weightless foundation and I found that with the luminous finish I needed a setting powder so that it was easier to contour and blend my blush, highlighter, etc. I reached for this powder because it was in my collection and oh my word. This powder truly gives you the most flawless, airbrushed look without changing the finish of my foundation. I absolutely love it and will be purchasing it as as soon as my little guy is done. The full size retails at $37 for 0.4 oz, while the mini they sent me in my glam bag was 0.03 oz (a $2.78 value). I love to do the math when it comes to small samples like this because what it shows me is that if that sample lasted me a month, I can only imagine how long that larger one is going to last me! So worth the money! (Stay tuned to why this intrigues me more!


2. Dr. Brandt 'pores no more' anti-aging mattifying lotion: I can't tell you how excited I was to try out this sample because first off I LOVE Dr. Brandt products and second, as an oily girl, I have a really hard time finding anti-aging products that don't break me out. Generally, aging and more mature skin lacks the sebum (oil) production which disarms the protective nature of the acid barrier of your skin, so anti-aging products will try to boost that amount of oil. However, us oily girls can't handle more oil, but we still want to prevent aging! Luckily this product does just that. Provides anti-aging benefits (hello apple stem cells!) while still keeping our skin from breaking out and having too much oil. I love how quickly this absorbs into the skin and mattifies without feeling like you didn't put any moisturizer on in the first place. A full size retails at $60 for 1.7 oz. and the sample I received was 0.25 oz. (a $8.82 value).

3. Malin + Goetz Mojito Lip Balm: The second I opened the glam bag this came in, I put this on my lips and I've never looked back. I'm aware that sounds dramatic but this stuff is like heaven for your lips. It is the smoothest, most buttery lip balm I have ever tried and I will most certainly be buying this once it's gone. If you want it for the scent, I wouldn't get too excited though because I can't really smell or taste anything. This doesn't bother me however because I wear lip balms for the moisturizing factor not the scent. This one was a full size lip balm which retails for $12 on their site. I love keeping it in my purse because it's so easy to apply as well.

4. Crown Brush Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush: I was really excited to see a Crown Brush come in my glam bag one month because I had heard great things about the company before but never had tried any brushes before. I'm always looking for great pencil/smudge brushes because I love a good smoked out lower lash line, so I was excited to give this duo brush a try. I do have to say I prefer the pencil side to the flat shader side but overall the brush is a great addition to my collection. The pencil brush is nice and precise! At a value of $17.50 online, you know it's a great deal to get in your glam bag!

5. Elizabeth Mott All Over Shadow Brush: While I have received Elizabeth Mott makeup products in my glam bag before I was excited to see a brush one month. I love when you get to try a diverse amount of products from a line to see how it is as a whole. This brush is pink and white so it's really cute as well. It is exactly what you would want from an all over shadow brush. It is soft and does a great job of picking up and packing on shadow to the lid. It is worth $9.99 which again is a great value to receive in a glam bag since it is a full size item.

What do you think of posts like this? I feel like posting every month can get a bit repetitive if I haven't really gotten the chance to review products, so I'd rather show you a quick snapshot of everything I got right when it comes in the mail and then every so often share favorites from multiple months. What are your thoughts?

Have  a beautiful Monday,

Dre

Dre Does an Ipsy Review

It's already time for another Ipsy Review and I absolutely love this month's Glambag! It's a great mix of skin care, hair care, and makeup. It was my second bag and I'm still incredibly happy I chose to start my subscription with Ipsy. Read through to the end to see how much it's worth! Here is an overall glance at my January Glambag!

First off the bag is adorable. I really like the material of it because it's got that plasticy feel that seems like it would be really easy to wipe off and clean, so I look forward to using this for travel! Not to mention the cosmetic bottle cartoons are really cute. 
Now for the products, first off I got this MICA Cosmetics tinted lip balm. Seeing as I've never heard of this brand, at first glance this looked like it would turn out being a sheer tinted lip balm that wouldn't do much. Boy am I glad was I wrong! This is one of the most amazing lip products I've seen in a long time! It's a ridiculously pigmented product. Probably one of the best I've ever used. It's extremely thin and comfortable on your lips and even though it dries to a matte finish it didn't feel extremely drying. I wore it to school the night I got my Glambag in the mail and I got so many compliments on it! I love the shade I received (#6 Fiesta) and the wear was also really great through the evening! I found myself researching the price of these normally before the night was even over. So basically I'm already hooked and will be purchasing more of these as soon as possible, especially since Ipsy gives you a 40% code for MICA Cosmetics! A tinted lip balm normally retails at $30 for 4g, but this sample isn't too far behind at a value of $18.75 for 2.5g. So your bag is already paid for with this product!

The next product is from the new Proactiv + line. They sent me four Mark Fading Pads which contain Salicylic Acid in them. I like that they sent me more than one so I could get more of a feel for the product, but since fading is a gradual thing, four isn't really enough to see a difference and see if they work. I was excited to try them however because hyperpigmentation and dark spots are my biggest concern for my skin. The main thing I didn't like though is that Ipsy included a product that you can't buy on its own. You have to buy the whole Proactiv + line to get them so I probably wouldn't ever purchase them. It also made it pretty hard to calculate its value, but it looks like it only added a dollar so that brings our total to $19.75.


Now for something I loved. I have heard of the Nourish Organic brand before is I was excited to find their Lightweight Moisturizing Face Lotion in the scent Argan + Rose Water. It smells sooooo amazing and is a great sample size. You can get many uses out of it. The product is just like they say, lightweight and moisturizing so it's a great daytime lotion for me since I get oily throughout the day in my T-zone. The 1.7 oz full size retails for $21.99 so the deluxe sample at 0.5 oz is worth $6.47. This brings the current total to $26.22.


At first I was really excited to see a eye product called the Smooth Shadow Creamy Eye Pencil from the brand Elizabeth Mott because I love eye shadow bases, especially neutral ones. This one is in the shade Pearl and while I like the color, I don't like how much chunky glitter is in it. It was hard to photograph exactly how glittery it was but we're talking disco ball here. I will probably use it up since I have it and just place other eye shadows over it to tone down the glitter but I like bases that I can use on their own in a rush if needed. The 1.5g full size retails for $14.99 so this mini guy is valued at $7 at 0.7g. This brings our total to $33.22.
Lastly, we have the Briogeo Don't Despair, Repair! Deep Conditioning Mask. Depending on how much hair you have you can probably get a good two or three uses out of this sample which is pretty good! I recently got 9 inches cut off so my hair is pretty healthy. Therefore, I can't really judge it on how well it repairs but I can say it made my hair really soft and it smells nice. The 5.25 oz full size retails for $26 so this deluxe sample comes in at $4.95 for 1 oz. This brings our final Ipsy Glambag total to $38.17!! That's almost 400% the price you pay for the bag!


Overall, I'm still extremely happy I started my subscription with Ipsy last month. I loved this bag even more than the first, and as an esthiology student who loves skin, I was happy to see the broad range of types of products this month. I still recommend subscribing and will continue to review them every month! If you'd like to join the link is below!


If you'd like to see my review on last month's bag, click here!

Have a beautiful day,

Dre