Ipsy Glam Bag Review: July 2018

I've been in a long term relationship with ipsy since around 2013; back when I joined, you were added to a waiting list, and sharing a referral link on social media moved you up the list! In return, I've accumulated a serious amount of cute pouches and beauty products over the years... some products I used once, some I'm still using years later. You never know what you're going to get when you receive your monthly glam bag, and although some people aren't comfortable with that... I love it! I've been introduced to countless things that I wouldn't necessarily choose in a store, but ended up loving once they got in my hands-- shades, colors, products, scents, there are so many options, and when you let go of what you think you know, and try something new... the world might surprise you! Although ipsy & I have taken occasional breaks when my makeup collection gets out of control (I can't even say that with a straight face), I always find myself running back to ipsy with arms open wide. 

What better way to talk about my little monthly purple package than with a review of the products & glam bag, I added a Beauty section to my blog tonight, it will contain my monthly ipsy reviews, as well as any beauty product reviews or advice. Let me know what you think!

The July 2018 ipsy glam bag was jam packed full of useful products & tools, and nearly all were full size.

Let's jump right in with my favorite, and extraordinarily needed, products: the face masks

Yesterday I posted on my blog for the first time in nearly 2 weeks because I battled one heck of a cold, of which my skin & face took a major beating. By the end of my 2-week yuck-fest, I had dry patches on my face and my complexion felt like the Sahara. As you can imagine, when I opened my glam bag this weekend and found not one, but TWO hydrating face masks, I knew it was my spirit sisters watching out for me.

That night, I washed my face, applied toner, and applied the Nature Recipe Honey Mask; the mask was sopping wet (that's a beautiful thing!) and smelled yummy, I let it sit on my face for far longer than the directions advised, but my skin was extra dry and mama needed extra time! I snapped a goofy selfie, just for you <3 

After removing the mask, my face felt plumper and more hydrated; I moisturized with a face cream and topped it off with Drunk Elephant Virgin Marula Oil and went to bed. 

 The next morning, I jumped in the shower, and as I was cleaning my face, the dry patches of skin on my face practically sloughed off in my hands, without even using soap! I was so impressed. I had a fresh, healthy, glowing face again!

The Nature Recipe Honey Masks gets a solid 5-star vote from me.

Next up is the tool I needed most- a blending brush. 

I recently updated my brush collection with some very aesthetically pleasing brushes, but a quality blending brush was not included, so getting one in my ipsy bag felt like finding a little puzzle piece!

Seriously, how do they know?!

I tried out the Elizabeth Mott Tapered Blending Brush with my newest eye-shadow palette- ColourPop's "Yes, Please!" palette. I applied Gno on my inner corners, and Brick on my outer... and then let that blending brush show me what it had. 

Holy smokes! I was blown away!I posted a photo of the eyeshadow blend towards the bottom of the blog, I wish I got a better shot though because this brush did a stellar job...or was it me?! Do you credit the artist, or the tools?

This brush seamlessly blended two extremely bright and bold colors, and with hardly any back-and-forth motion at all; the Elizabeth Mott brush is superb quality and is my new favorite blending brush. A solid 5-star brush!

I absolutely love the brand Pacifica, not only are they vegan and cruelty-free, but they have one of my favorite fragrance lines-- their perfume oil products smell delicious enough to eat, every time I walk by them in Ulta I have to sneak a scent of a few. So naturally, when I opened my glam bag and saw a full size double blush compact with a mirror, and the Pacifica logo across the front... my excitement rose just a tad!

 Yes, it's glorious. I received a full size summer blush kit, the formula is made with coconut oil and has a warm bronzy vibe. The blush is beautifully pigmented and goes on smoothly, and is easily buildable as a bronzer, blush, or even contour! Although I am a total sucker for pink blushes, this warm summertime blush kit will be my go-to well into Fall.

The City Color Cosmetics eye-shadow pan is a great example of something that I would not have bought myself, the color is Skinny Latte and it's very light and shiny, and frankly, I don't use much shiny on my eyes... so when I dabbed a little around my inner corners to top off my finished eye look, I was so impressed that I added a touch more along my brow bone. Hello, new highlighter! I officially love this stuff now; and like I said, if it weren't for ipsy, I never would have given it a shot! Super yummy stuff.

One thing ipsy knows is that it's never a bad idea to include staple products in a glam bag... this month I received a travel sized pen of Eyeko Liquid Eyeliner in the color Carbon Black. Just, yes, YES. I love liquid eyeliner, I use it nearly everyday I wear makeup, it's a total must-have. What's incredible is that I have recently actually been thinking "gosh I need more liquid liner", and voila, it arrived. Magic. 

This eyeliner goes on totally flawlessly, it is true carbon black and stayed on all day. 

I needed it, I love it, I'll wear it until it's gone! 

In order to create an authentic and genuine review for you guys, I wanted to use and wear the products (rather than just test swatch them), and that's just what I did. I used all my glam bag products together so I could test them out and show you a finished eye look with them all... here you'll see the pop of highlight, the eyeliner, the warm blush contour, and the well-blended shadows. 

This is such a fun Summer look! I need a juicy orange Popsicle and my feet in the pool!

 I will not say this about every glam bag, but I will say it for July 2018-- I absolutely, positively LOVED this month's ipsy glam bag! The products were carefully selected, and complimented each other beautifully; I am, once again, blown away that $10 bought got me all these useful products. Thank you ipsy!

If you're interested in signing up for monthly glam bags, use my special ipsy link, select your style, and get started!

Do you subscribe to ipsy Glam Bags? If so, what do you think of the service?

If you could subscribe, what products would you like to see?

Let me know what you think of everything I got!