Glam Bag Review: June 2014

So… Am I the only one who went their whole life knowing nothing about beauty subscriptions until this year?

Please tell me I’m not. That would be so embarrassing.

The story goes like this; I went over to one of my closest friends house for a Game of Thrones-marathon-slumber-party-palooza and got a look at her sweet stash of beauty products.

“What’s your secret!?” I exclaimed, waiting with baited breath. To which she replied; like an all-knowing sage: “An Ipsy Subscription.”

Such wisdom she imparted to me on that fateful day.

So, of course, I got my butt over to Ipsy’s site and signed up. I was fortunate enough to be able skip the wait list and my glam bag for June was in the mail by the 10th.

I’d like to kick off this review by saying how much I love this bag. Way cute, am I right? Ipsy collaborated with the bag designer Rebecca Minkoff, and released this beauty to be beheld by the Ipsy populace. Apparently I lucked out. Many people have said that this month’s bag is the best one yet.

Alright, now for the goodies that came inside.

I’m going to start off with the Marc Anthony Dream Waves Beach Spray because it was my favorite product in the bag. Seriously, I love this stuff. The directions recommend using it on damp hair, but I prefer applying it dry and scrunching. I have naturally wavy to curly hair and Dream Waves gives me a wonderful boost of volume and texture. As an added bonus; this product works marvelously as a primer for hair styling. I spritz in on before putting my hair up in hot rollers and it helps me hold a big, bouncy curl for hours. Dream Waves gives your hair just enough grit to hold onto itself, providing shape without sacrificing flexibility. If any of you other Ipsters were lucky enough to get Dream Waves, I suggest trying it as a style extender.  5/5

The second product I want to talk about is the Ofra Universal Brow Pencil. I usually powder fill my brows with a dark brown eye shadow and an angled brush so I was rather excited to try out a pencil intended specifically for brow grooming. Honestly, I’m going to have to say that I still prefer powder filling. I like my brows dark and dramatic; and I found that a brow pencil resulted in a waxy build up if I tried to fill to my desired level. The color was what I would want, just not the consistency. 3/5

The Be A Bombshell Lash Out Mascara was rather disappointing; I’m afraid. The formula was sticky, the brush was mediocre, and it smelled horrible. The smell I can get past, BAB even did a test on the product to ensure people that it was safe after they received so many complaints, so I’m not worried about that. But the rest…. it was just not a good product. Total bust. 1/5

Now; on to better things, like the NYX Butter Gloss in Creme Brule. I am not a lip gloss lady by any means, but I found that this little tube managed to sneak its way into my daily carry-around cosmetics bag. No easy feat for a lip gloss in my house, I assure you. Usually I am thrown off by the stickiness and short staying-power of lip glosses, and while I still have a problem with keeping it on for long periods of time, I’ve found the Butter Gloss formula to be extremely pleasant. It slides on with a more creamy consistency, and also gives my lips just a hint of hydration. The color is also excellent. Creme Brule goes on as a peachy nude; perfect over my favorite nude lipsticks for bright, summery looks. Also, it smells like cake. Yum. 4/5

The final product in my June 2014 Glam Bag is a Realtree For Her deluxe perfume sample. Now, my dear readers, as you get to know me better over the coming months you will realize something about me. I hate synthetic smelling perfumes. Although Realtree’s fragrance wasn’t necessarily unpleasant, it was not my type of scent. I like confectionery scents; a hint of vanilla or caramel. And earthy scents; sandalwood, lavender, jasmine, patchouli. I just found this fragrance smelled too processed. 2/5

So, according to the individual reviews, I’ve some mixed feelings about the item in the bag. At the end of the day I’m still glad I subscribed. Like I said before, the bag is adorable. And I could always use more makeup bags! Haha, right… The Marc Anthony Dream Spray is also an item that I never would have tried without having it picked for me. I enjoy the excitement of Ipsy! Waiting for the sneak peeks, guessing what the products may be, that fateful day that your glam room updates and lets you know what you’re getting, and then waiting for it to arrive… yeah, it’s pretty exciting.

I’m looking forward to seeing what the July Glam Bag has in store for me!