Ipsy Review – July 2018

ByLiz CadmanJul 11, 2018 | 58 comments

Ipsy is a monthly beauty and makeup subscription box. Each month you get full-size, deluxe-sized, or sample products, plus a cute makeup bag. I think it’s one of the best value beauty subscriptions and a great way to build out your makeup collection on the cheap!

This is one of my top recommendations if you are looking for a beauty box - the value and sample sizes are amazing. (Check out my list of the Top Beauty Boxes for 2018 and our reviews of Cheap Subscription Boxes for more recommendations!)

(FYI – Just like Birchbox, Ipsy sends out many different variations of their bag each month – so my review is just one of the bag variations you might receive!)

My Subscription Addiction pays for this subscription. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: Ipsy

The Cost: $10 a month (free shipping)

The Products: Full size and samples of makeup and beauty products. (Plus a makeup bag!)

Ships to: US and Canada

Delivered via: USPS

Check out all of my Ipsy reviews and the Beauty Subscription Box List!

Visit the Ipsy Swap Page to swap for any of the items you see in this review!

Each month, ipsy subscribers get a makeup bag in addition to their 5 items.

This holographic turquoise is so fun! I love this zipper style, too.

Now, on to the items!

Sundays Nail Polish in No. 45 - FULL SIZE! Retail Value $18

This sky blue nail polish is vegan, 10-free, and non-toxic! Two coats to full coverage for a high-shine creme finish. Here it is on:

Briogeo Scalp Revival Cooling Jelly Conditioner - 22 ml Value $3.36

I really like that the Briogeo brand is ingredient conscious, but I seem to have a 50% success rate with their products. And I think this conditioner falls into the fail category. You use this like a regular conditioner, but you apply from scalp to ends, and massage into your scalp for 15-20 seconds. The massage part was great. The peppermint is refreshing, and my scalp still is feeling the cooling sensation post-shower.

The downside for me? It didn't leave my hair feeling hydrated. I ended up applying a conditioning balm almost immediately after my shower because I was hating how dry my hair was feeling.

Make Up For Ever Artist Rouge Creme in C211 -1.4 grams Value $8.80

This lipstick formula is creamy, moisturizing, highly-pigmented, with a satin finish = A+! The cool pink shade is my favorite lip color, too!

(Swatched in lower photo.)

Manna Kadar Flawless Finish Dual Powder in Flawless Linen - 2.64 g Value $10.20

This foundation has a matte finish and is designed to be used in different ways. You can use it with a light hand to set makeup, apply with a dry foundation brush to get light-coverage, or with a damp beauty sponge for more coverage. I found the formula to feel silky, and while I couldn't get the truly full coverage I wanted, it works as a setting powder for me.

Here it is swatched (you can barely see it) beneath the lipstick:

BKR Paris Water Balm - 2.64 g Vakye $9.90

(This is about half the size of the full-size version.)

Hands down, my favorite discovery in the box! This lip balm is super hydrating, provides a gorgeous shine (without any stickiness), and is just as lovely as it looks! (Plus it's ingredient conscious and fragrance-free!)

Verdict: This box has a value of about $50.26. I think that's a great value, and I'll use everything in the bag. (Plus the holographic bag itself is so cute!)

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No, if you sign up in this month, you'll get next month's box as your first box. (Check out our Ipsy Spoilers to see what's coming up next)

Good to know: Ipsy sends out variations. You may get a completely different bag than me.

What do you think of the July Ipsy Glam Bag? What items did you get in your bag?

Starting at $14.00

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Ipsy

4 overall rating

1814 Ratings | 301 Reviews

IPSY Glam Bag is one of the most popular and affordable subscriptions around, and our readers have selected it as one of the top beauty boxes for the last 5 years running! IPSY Glam Bag connects members with five makeup, skincare, hair care, and other beauty sample... read more.

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Posted in Beauty Subscription Boxes, Cheap Subscription Boxes, Makeup Subscription Boxes, Subscription Box Reviews, Subscription Boxes for Women

Liz Cadman

Liz is the founder of My Subscription Addiction. She's been hooked on subscription boxes since 2011 thanks to Birchbox, and she now subscribes to over 100 boxes. Her favorites include POPSUGAR Must Have, FabFitFun, and any box that features natural beauty products!

Read More By Liz Cadman >

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58 comments

Lauren

Hey all, I have not received my bag yet, but I wanted to know if any of you makeup experts had opinions on what I am receiving:
Lip Gloss in the Affair by Give Them Lala Beauty, Rosehip Night Serim by Mintpiar, Studio Concealer by Smashbox, pressed eye shadow in Harmony by Ella Eden, and Oasis Ultra Hydrating Cream by H2O+ Beauty. Any input is greatly appreciated! Anyone else getting the same products?

Shelly111

Hi! The concealer by SmashBox is full size and works rather well. I am not familiar with any of the other brands. But a friend received the same lipgloss you mentioned and she loves it.

My bag didn’t include ANY of these items. I would have loved that nail polish & lip moisturizer and the concealer. Instead I got crappy eye shadow and non perfume and hair shine. I’ve tried to cancel my subscription 3 months in a row and they never send me the confirmation email. I don’t know how they’ve managed to stay in business as long as they have

Lisa Dudash

It’s very simple to cancel?

Sharalyn Maughan

I’m ready to cancel Ipsy. Month after month I get products I just give or throw away. This month I got two lip glosses. One was the BKR and the other a “sparkly” lip gloss. I don’t do sparkle. My nail polish was the brightest florescent pink I’ve ever seen. I got a ofra eye shadow to put in a pallet. The problem is that it is black. I never use black, and I have several thanks to beauty boxes. My other item was HEMPZ lotion, which I love, and it is probably the only thing I will use in the whole box. So, basically I paid $10 for a 2.25 oz bottle of lotion.

I feel like for me, Ipsy has just been one disappointing box after another. I always to the reviews, and try to tweek my profile, but I still get lots of stuff I just won’t use.

moongoddess

Anybody get the Banana Setting Powder? I got excited because I thought it was the sold-out Too Faced one from Kandee! Oh well.

Lisa

I got the banana powder as a point reward and love it I like it better than translucent powder that stuff looks like baby powder on my face.

Lizzy G

I got a full size SmashBox concealer! And my fav lipstick ever in my fav color ever. The Mellow bright pink. I love Ipsy!

I am unsubbing after this month because I need less samples. It was a nice way to end by getting a full size smashbox concealer.

Jeanine

I am really happy about that concealer also!! I just love getting samples and using them!! I feel so satisfied when I use all my product!!

Danielle

I ordered two bags this month just to test out the theory of customization. I made my 2nd profile COMPLETELY opposite of my original account. I basically modeled it after my younger sister who is 20 years old (I’m over 40), with different eye, skin, and hair color. On my original account the type of items I prefer to receive are pretty restricted, especially as far as makeup (I prefer skin care), including colors. In my new profile I asked for every type of makeup in any color and just a few skincare items. I picked different brands I use/want to try as well. Figured whatever was too wild/young for me I would actually send to my sister. Well I was just now able to preview the new account and the two bags are almost identical!!!!
Out of all the many different items offered in July I had 3 out of 5 exact same items, including the colors!!! Needless to say, I am no longer on the fence about whether they pay any attention to our profiles/reviews/etc when determining what products they send. So disappointing!

Mandy

Love that the BKR water bottle company is making lip gloss now. I have 5 of the bottles, but never use them because glass and not really insulated. Probably would have used the lip gloss but they didn’t pick me for the sample.

Mandy

I think my bag is lost, and it contains the blue nail polish that Liz has.. oops.

Lisa

There are new point rewards up .

Octavia

Is the swap just for those in the USA (I live in Canada).

Thanks!

Luna

I’m pretty sure it’s open to Canadians (unless it’s changed recently), because I recall people talking on the forum about swapping with Canadians. 🙂

Dawn

I have not joined any swap groups yet but after this months bag, I think it’s time. I’m getting a lipstick in Vibrate that is a shade for subscriptions and is valued at over $30. Problem is, nobody I know wants it…
Recommendations and advice on swapping please

Kelle

What color is “vibrate”?

Kelle

Never mind I found it. Would you send it to me? I would like it!

April JK

I got that lipstick. It doesn’t seem like it’d be work that much, just based on the packaging. Also, “Le Beaute Fatale ‘The Fatal Beauty’ The notion that every woman carries an inner beauty that is powerful, strong, and destructive.” 😕🤔Barf.

Danielle

In my spoilers it said I was supposed to get the Briogeo charcoal scalp treatment, and I was super excited about trying it. THEN they switched it a couple days ago to this poorly reviewed conditioner. I get that product availability may have changed, but do they do this often? Has it happened to anyone else?

Luna

I’ve never had my products switched out before with Ipsy. However, Birchbox has does something similar where they spoil my box, but then switch out a spoiled item for something else.

Michelle

Worst bag ever for me. I just swapped away the lip balm and listed the eye shadow, MK powder, lipstick and bag. Only kept the green eyeliner because Thank the Lord it wasn’t Eyeko black.

Let'sSwap

My third really bad bag in a row. Really disappointed.

Dawn

How do you join the swap group?

Liz Cadman

You can join the waitlist here: swap.mysubscriptionaddiction.com

Michelle

I think you email Liz. I can’t remember how I did it. Can someone help her as clearly I can not.

Katy

I don’t have my reveal yet because I paid late but I am really hoping for the lip balm.

Aimee

I’m not sure if you noticed-but at the beginning of your review, you describe Ipsy as sending full sized or deluxe sized products. There is no mention of samples.

Liz Cadman

Good catch! I’ll update that. Thanks! 🙂

theworldofdale

I got completely different things (an awful eyeshadow, two masks, banana setting powder, a brow pencil/brush, and a brown lipstick. If Ipsy keeps sending me lipsticks (despite my profile preferences), I’m done. I had just re-subscribed after a couple years away and I feel like it’s gone down in quality/value quite a bit. Just really disappointed. 🙁

Jennifer

You can email their customer service and ‘opt out’ of lipsticks. You unfortunately can’t opt out of specific shades, though.

Dianne Chambers

I’m getting a little frustrated with Ipsy. What sets them apart for me, is that they send items in a fun little bag, rather than a box I’d just throw away. However, my bag came yesterday with the rubber zipper pull detached, making it very difficult to open my bag. If this was the first time, I wouldn’t be bothered, but the butterfly bag’s zipper was broken when I received it. It was even worse as there was no way to close the bag at all. Just a little disappointing when you count the bag as part of the value.

April jk

When they advertise that you get a cute reusable make-up bag, it most certainly is part of the value. I don’t mean the product value. I mean that “for $10, you get all these things, plus this make-up bag,” is their marketing strategy to earn potential customers’ business. It’s not a freebie because they’re just nice and like to give away free stuff.

I imagine they’d replace the broken bags if they were informed.

MzBev

If you email them about the zipper being busted, they’ll probably send you another one. They have done it before when someone received a damaged bag. Give it a shot!

Sarah

I don’t see where it says the value of the bag is included in the price? I don’t think it is. That stinks the zipper was broken but it’s not technically a part of the “value” they advertise.

Lara

Omg I sooo want that blue nail polish! Perfect match for my skin. But alas I’m not getting it in my bag this month 🙁

Sarah

Do they even bother with the profiles? Not only did I get the last things I’d have picked, I got something directly against my profile in THREE ways. Glad to see some people seemed to get decent bags, I’m pretty ticked off.

Danielle

They definitely do not. To test this theory I created a second account and made it COMPLETELY opposite of my original account in EVERY single way. Including eye and hair color and even age (23 vs my actual 43). I also asked for pretty much every type and color of makeup on it, whereas I asked for almost all skincare on my original. Imagine my disappointment when I logged in today and found that 3 out of 5 items are exactly the same in both bags!!!!! Out of all the many items Ipsy sent out to subscribers this month and I got 3 repeats from 2 entirely different profiles. I have been reading comments about Ipsy not paying any attention to profiles, reviews, etc but decided to try my luck and resubscribe after a year long break. But now after my little experiment I know eveyone was absolutely correct.

Carrie

Yes, I too agree. I am thinking of canceling. Another black eyeliner and face masks. I have FOMO so not sure if I will actually cancel. MSA has been a nightmare. I now subscribe to boxycharm, fff, ipsy, pet treater, subapollo, bijoux box, sprezza so Liz you are killin’ me! Ha ha. Love msa bunches and love reading all the reviews.

Lee Ann

They don’t. I have marked the adventurous category. 4 neutral eyeshadows in the last 6 months and 3 masks. I have reviewed no lipstick unless it’s liquid. I can’t wear anything else because of invisalign. I’m getting a non liquid this month. I’ve opted out of haircare products entirely. I try to do the improve products for the next 3 months. I end up getting haircare in those to approve of or not. I get products that I haven’t even seen in that selection process, products sometimes sent for that month in the spoilers or I get products I didn’t even see in the spoilers here. There was a clinique sunscreen that would’ve been nice to have picked or sent this month. I’m marked the palest color. It would’ve made sense to send that based off my profile and my age of 41 with anti aging concerns. I’ve tried to leave the most accurate review ever this month. If I don’t get products that I like next month it will be time for another break.

Bowman

I got NONE of those products! I love your site (MSA) and I get five different subscription boxes a month, so really rely on your site to provide info on which ones to keep and which to switch out.

I wish you could get ALL of the options for the month’s box/bag so you could review what others might get.

Thank you for all that you do!

Michelle

FYI the ingredients listed for the water balm at the link provided do include fragrance.

Emily

Also, it’s EXTREMELY sticky and thick… unlike the review states. I have it and was surprised to hear liz rave that its not, when she typicaly hates sticky lip products. This is stickier than Lipglass and the tack lasts (it’s supposed to as part of the formula, but I wanted people to know truthfully how it is).

MrsLittle

Thank you for that info! I was thinking of checking it out, but I think I’ll save my money!

Liz Cadman

So weird! I didn’t find it to be sticky! Maybe I applied a thin layer? I just tried it again now and did the “hair in my face” test to see if my hair would stick to my lips (one of my pet peeves of lip gloss + wind), and my hair did kind of stick a bit, so there’s that. Sorry I don’t want to misrepresent the balm! Hope that helps a bit.

Misti

hope I make it off the waitlist soon and I shouldn’t have but I did sign up

Cathy Viazanko

You have to share it on Facebook to get off the waiting list

Danielle

You can just email them and ask them to take you off the wait list.

Rhonda

How do you know what you are getting? I didn’t see a reveal yet.

amber

If you don’t have a reveal yet, then you may have missed a cutoff for this month’s bag, if you just signed up. Otherwise, all your bag’s items are on the main ipsy page.

Gillian

I am getting the exact same items, I am looking forward to the Water Bomb the most since I can never have enough lip balms and I like the London polish’es I have received in the past not to keen on the color, seems like blue was in all my subs last year but I work in a kitchen and find this polish is long wearing. Don’t like the lip color but 1 out of 5 is still pretty good.

Anita

I’m getting the same Manna Kadar powder not sure the shade. I thought it was powder? but you mentioned foundation & powder. I’m confused 🤷🏻‍♀️ guess I’ll see when it comes. Hope I get the right shade for me

Jennifer

It’s a powder you can also use as foundation if you want.

Michelle

Mine was a powder not foundation.

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Ipsy Review – July 2018

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