Ipsy: April 2016 Glam Bag Unboxing

April was a very good Ipsy month, with plenty of lovely, usable products and a beautiful watercolor zipped bag. Note that I forgot to include the blusher brush they gave me in the above image.

Pur~lisse Blue Lotus plus White Tea Sheet and Blue Lotus plus Seaweed Masks 

I tried one and gave the other to a friend, and while it wasn't the most amazing mask I've ever used, it was hydrating and comfortable to wear. I wasn't too impressed with the ingredients list (which features mainly glycerin with some fairly cheap herbal extracts) so would rather stick to my The Face Shop masks from Koreatown.

Swatches from left to right: Starlooks eyeliner, Trust Fund Beauty Highlighter, Tarte Lipsurgence in Wonder

Tarte LipSurgence lip creme in Wonder

This was probably my favorite item of the whole bag. I love how pigmented the Tarte Lipsurgence products are, and also needed a bright red (see swatch from earlier). It's a gorgeous color that applies easily and with a slightly minty taste and feel.

Trust Fund Beauty That Glo Tho Face Highlighter



This is a total wannabe copy of Benefit's Watts Up (which I also own), and unfortunately isn't nearly as good as the latter. It's disappointing as I love the packaging, which looks high-end and features a beautiful design on the outer box. Seriously, this product barely shows up when you apply it (just look at the swatch above, which took several coats to get), and what does show up are chunky pieces of glitter. It's ok, and at least usable, but I wouldn't go out and buy it.

Starlooks Luxe Longwear Eye Pencil in Jet

I love how smoothly this applies, but unfortunately it smudges like crazy (see how easily it smudges in swatch below) - even if I don't touch my eyes, it becomes a smudgy mess after a couple hours. Use this to get a smoked eye look, not for a sharp line. I stick to my Tarte eyeliner for that.

Crown Brush C427 Duo Fiber Blush Brush

Finally a brush from Ipsy that's actually soft and usable! This is one of those brushes with an uneven cut, meaning that there are fewer bristles up top so you won't be at risk of picking up too much product when you dab it on a pan. This makes it perfect for picking up and applying blusher. It's super soft, and I absolutely love it.

As mentioned, I was pretty impressed with all of my Ipsy picks for April, as for $10 it really can't be beat.

Tarte Blushing Bride Set

As part of the Sephora sale, I also picked up the Tarte blushing bride set, for ~$25. I've tried the Tarte blushers, but never their lip products or mascara before so thought it was a good opportunity. Considering that the retail price for one of their LipSurgence glosses alone is $19 (ridiculous I know), this is seemingly a great value. 

The set included the following:

Lingerie bag

The design of this is actually quite cute, and the quality surprisingly nice. It has a silken sheen and is about the size of a shoe bag. Now, considering that I'm not actually a bride-to-be I may just use this as a general travel bag rather than a lingerie bag. 

Cheek stain in blushing bride

I'm honestly not super impressed with this. I feel like I'm more of a powder blush kind of girl, as cheek stains are a pain to blend. The color is also more barbie pink on the skin (see below swatch) rather than the coral it seemingly is in the tube. Not terrible, but I wouldn't buy it.

  

LipSurgence lip gloss and power pigment, both in blushing bride

These I love. I used to be afraid of bold colors, but something about this cool-toned violet pink lipsurgence balm is just perfect for my skintone and I've received numerous compliments when it's on. It's super pigmented and not drying. I also love the color of the gloss - it's such a peachy, pretty pink that's natural but also done up.

The only negative I have to say about these lip products is that they contain artificial color ingredients, e.g., red 7 etc. I've read that artificial colors are basically poison to your body if you ingest them, and considering that it's near impossible to not wind up eating some of your lip product, this is a bit worrisome. I'm not bothered enough to stop using them, but I think next time I'll try for a more natural pigment based brand. I'm just surprised by Tarte using such cheap ingredients, considering their price point and seeming reputation for being an all-natural brand. But these days I don't trust in most big-box brands.

Lights, Camera, Splashes Mascara and blotting sheets

I haven't tried either of these as I'm still finishing up another mascara and I don't really need blotting sheets in the winter. Will report back. 

All in all, I'm happy with the set, especially due to the lip colors. I don't think I'll be repurchasing any of the items once I'm done trying them out, but it was fun to open up and experiment with this here.