Ipsy August 2014 (first impression)

I was really excited to hear about makeup subscription "boxes". You pay a set fee, and get surprises delivered to your mailbox each month. Something that isn't a bill and is sparkly in my in box? Yes, please. Based on other reviews, I decided to go with ipsy.

Now, before I get onto my first impressions of my first box (yes, I'm totally qualified to review the service!), I want to mention the few minor negative experiences I've had with Ipsy. These involved their "waitlist" and their web page.

So, apparently there is a wait list to become an Ipsy subscriber. This is a bit annoying, but the more annoying part is that you can almost always get off the wait list with a few Facebook likes and other social media moves that benefit Ipsy. So, essentially, you need to jump through all these hoops to subscribe to a service that you pay for (and I'm guessing Ipsy gets most of these items for free since they're promotional items, but I could be wrong). Anyway, that's not a huge deal, just a minor inconvenience. The annoying part is that every time I clicked any "skip the wait!" link (including those directly sent to my own e-mail address), they just would not work. They would load indefinitely. I've seen other reviews mentioning this, so I think it's a website issue.

Anyway...once I finally got my page to load and got off the wait list, this was the reward for my patience...

This came in a fun, pink bubble mailer. As far as I can tell, the orange sheet is just an advertisement for Ipsy, nothing specific and no coupon code. The Perversion ad contains a sample size of the new Urban Decay perversion mascara. 

The little bag is cute, though small. It might be a nice way to travel with liners and some brushes. The "Ipsy" zipper is a nice touch. The thing that I couldn't get past though, was the smell. Seriously, the second I opened the bubble mailer, it smelled strongly of cheap plastic. I know this sounds petty, but it was really not a turn on. I hope it airs out, otherwise the bag aspect, which is supposed to be a feature, is pretty useless. 

The rest of the bag contained samples of Klorane extra dry shampoo with oat milk, Dr. Brandt pores no more, and full sizes of Jersey Shore Sun Mongongo balm and J. Cat Beauty Flying Solo shadow in Half Naked. I've never heard of J. Cat, but the sticker on the side of the shadow single was cute:

The shadow itself, though it doesn't look exciting, is actually a color I'd probably use often. It's a champagne shade that leans almost orange. Although it's sheer, I think it'd make a nice wash of color over the lid or as a highlight.

So, was it worth the $10? Here's the breakdown of "value":

J. Cat full sized shadow $2.99

Jersey Shore Sun full sized balm $5.50

Klorane dry shampoo sample sized $8.99

Dr. Brandt Pores No More sample sized $11.25 ($45/oz)

UD Perversion Sample $0 (since this has been readily available for free, I’m leaving it off)

= $28.73 (not taking into account the UD mascara & the free bag)

Now, value is really subjective, because, if I couldn't or wouldn't use the products provided, they're worthless to me. I can see myself using the vast majority of these (save maybe the Pores No More, I'm not a big fan of primer on my skin), so it's just a fun way to try new products. Also, getting a fun "surprise" in the mail is not quantifiable, but adds value to the Ipsy bag. So, I will definitely continue my  Ipsy subscription and will update monthly to see if I still find it worth the money. 

A+