Facebook PixelIpsy Glam Bag Plus Review – May 2019 | MSA
My Subscription Addiction
My Subscription Addiction
Our reviewers research, test, and recommend the best subscriptions and products independently; click to learn more about our editorial guidelines. We may receive commissions on purchases made through links on our site.

Ipsy Glam Bag Plus Review – May 2019

Megan K.
ByMegan K.May 20, 2019 | 67 comments

Ipsy Glam Bag Plus May 2019 beauty box review

Ipsy Glam Bag Plus
4.3 overall rating
242 Ratings | 28 Reviews

Ipsy Glam Bag Plus is a $25 a month subscription box from Ipsy. Every month you’ll receive 5 full-sized beauty products. The box will have a retail value of at least $120. (This box was voted as a best makeup subscription box and a best beauty subscription box by MSA readers!)

Ipsy Glam Bag Plus May 2019 beauty box review open

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

Ipsy Glam Bag Plus May 2019 beauty box review all contents

About the Ipsy Glam Bag Plus

The Box: Ipsy Glam Bag Plus

The Cost: $25 a month (free shipping)

The Products: Full-size makeup and beauty products every month.

Ships to: US

Delivered via: USPS

Our Ipsy Glam Bag Plus May 2019 Review

Now, on to the items!

 

 

Illamasque Lip Contouring Pencil in 'Lust', 1.4 g - Retail Value $21.00

We received two lipliners in this box. This first shade (Lust) is a very pretty darker mauve with berry undertones. The formula glides on effortlessly and stayed in place for a few hours before I noticed any real movement. This is a great color for someone like myself who loves pink lipsticks.

 

Illamasque Lip Contouring Pencil in 'Media', 1.4 g - Retail Value $21.00

This color was actually very similar to the other just lighter. Colorwise, it was another win for me personally, as I love pinks. It might have been nice to see a little more variety between the two shades, but I can't complain because I will absolutely use both! The formula was identical, as was the staying power.

 

Wander Beauty Wandress Seascape Eyeshadow Palette, 9.4 g - Retail Value $25.00

This palette is beach themed and exceptionally sparkly! There is actually only one matte shade in the bunch (Sand Dollar) and it is a very pretty warm brown/tan. The other shades are inspired by the ocean, and include champagne (Champagne Harbor), rose gold (sea salt), copper (Golden Reef), pale green (Sea Foam), and a striking blue (Coastal). The pigment is great and they are incredibly smooth.

 

Go-To Face Hero, 1 fl oz - Retail Value $34.00

I have never tried anything by this brand so that was exciting. The packaging couldn't be cuter, covered with quirky instructions and funny notes about the formula. This oil is a blend of 10 different skin-loving oils, including Buriti, almond, jojoba, and macadamia. It doesn't absorb as quickly as some other oils, but the hydration effect is worth it. It also smells delightfully sweet. Use this before bed to wake up with glowing skin.

 

YENSA Tone Up Primer Essential Glow, 1 fl oz - Retail Value $35.00

Some of you may know that I have been on a quest for the perfect summer skin replacement for foundation. You all recommended some amazing BB and CC creams as well as some tinted primers too! This item falls into that latter category and it might just end up in my summer rotation. Although it looks flesh colored straight out of the tube, it goes on with no noticeable color but does somehow bring a glow to my face. There is no shimmer or sparkle, so I think this glow is from the formula evening out my skin tone. It has a soft semi-matte finish and smells very clean. It also has some really great ingredients (squalane, shea, seaweed, etc) that make my skin feel hydrated and happy!

 

IL MAKIAGE Icon High Volume & Intense Curl Mascara, 6 ml - Retail Value $25.00

I don't really need more mascara right now but are any of us not constantly searching for the next holy grail lash-loving mascara? This wasn't HG for me, but I didn't dislike it. It gave my lashes length but not a ton of volume. The bush is one of those silicone bristle types, which can be super hit or miss for me personally. It wasn't clumpy and stayed on my lashes all day.

Verdict: This box has a value of $161.00. That is pretty fantastic for a $25 box filled with full-sized products. I think the variety was a little off for me this round. I would have liked maybe one lip pencil instead of two similar ones and might have preferred to not get mascara. Otherwise, I really thought the palette was stunning and I loved the oil. The primer was the major standout item for me personally, and I can't wait to use it as the days get hotter! This is a great value box and I recommend it for anyone looking for an affordable assortment of well-curated full-size items.

To Wrap Up:

Can you still get this box if you sign up today?  If you want an Ipsy Glam Bag Plus subscription, get on the waitlist here.

Value Breakdown: This box cost $25. Here is approximately what you are paying per product:

  • Illamasqua Lip Pencil 'Lust' $3.26
  • Illamasqua Lip Pencil 'Media' $3.26
  • Wander Beauty Palette $3.88
  • Go-To Oil $5.28
  • YENSA Primer $5.43
  • IL MAKIAGE Mascara $3.88

Alternatively, each item has an average cost of $4.17.

Check out all of our Ipsy Glam Bag Plus reviews and our favorite beauty and makeup subscriptions!!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

What do you think of the May Ipsy Glam Bag Plus? Which items did you get?

Starting at $28.00
Subscribe Now
Megan K.
Megan K.
I love natural/vegan beauty products, Korean skincare, unique jewelry, and weird candies from far away places. When I am not waiting for my next exciting box you can find me painting or taking photographs of interesting people. I never leave home without pug hair somewhere on my shirt and a bold lipstick on my smile.

Join the Conversation

Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.

67 comments

Kara

This box was NOT GOOD. Since its inception in October 2018 we have seen TONS of well known products in these Plus bags: Smashbox, It Cosmetics, Tarte, Buxom, Lancome, Estee Lauder, 111 Skin. This May box was my first. ONE name brand I recognized – the GlamGlow masks. But they are deep cleansing masks and not suitable for my skin so I cannot use those. In my 20’s I would have used them.
The entire box was lackluster. The Go To Face Hero oil has known irritants – Rose Gardenia and Orange Blossom. I emailed the company over a week ago for more ingredient information and, yeah, they never responded. I only went the extra step of emailing them because the first time I put it on the back of my hand I felt irritation within 2 minutes.
The 2 lip products are “lip crayons” and are supposed to be suitable to fill in your lips. I did so and my lips were as dry as the Sahara.
The palette’s glittery shades had tons of fallout and after one hour I had glitter all over my cheeks. Bad.
I will get the June box. I wish I knew who manufactures the Ipsy Tetris palette! I would not out an unknown company’s eyeshadows on my eyes. I hope to get a full size 111 Skin or Sunday Riley to make up for my 2 boxes’ prices.
For July I will go back to my previous plan – buy the $10 bag and do the add ons of $12 and $3 products

Reply ButtonReply

Patricia S Garrett

Hm. It was my first GBPlus as well, and I couldn’t be happier. Strike that… I WILL be happier with my June GBPlus, with 111Skin and SundayRiley coming!

Reply ButtonReply

Laura

I totally agree. I still have issue with ipsy. Boxycharm was so much better this month. For next month I’m kind of mad too. They showed us the SR as a teaser in the original October box which was sent only to bloggers, now, about 8 month later we see it as a variation?!
I’ve canceled my ipsy this month and so glad I did this…

Reply ButtonReply

KatKat

I skipped 2 or 3 months in a row and glad I got this one. I got every thing expect i got murad eye serum rather than the mascara which I am glad for. the only dud for me is the lip pencils, i was hopping for the glamglow bubble masks. i do enjoy that i can skip as much as i want easily. already looking forward to the next one! I also like the new format much better.

Reply ButtonReply

Laura

One of my favorite months for this box! Loved most everything – I thought the lip liners would be a big no but I love the darker hued one. I received the pallet (just ok), Murad, primer, lip liner pair and facial oil.

Reply ButtonReply

Magz

I was actually excited about my GBP being delivered today. Then I opened it,,,,,,,,,,,,and I got Februarys’ box. Right down to the insert. I emailed them, and am hopeful I’ll get a replacement.

Reply ButtonReply

Amii1024

I got the exact same box. Swapping everything except the mascara. Amii1024 on swap site.

Reply ButtonReply

Ricki

I really liked this month’s bag, but I know a lot were rather meh about it. I got the lip pencils, primer, Nudestix, masks, and eyeshadow palette.

Reply ButtonReply

Bonnie

I feel like no one else got what I got! I got the palette (for me, Wander Beauty has just been meh all around), the lip pencils, and the primer. I also got a Purlisse/Kandee Johnson collab that’s an orange creamsicle scented body lotion and 3 Glamglow bubble sheet masks. Happy with both of those.

I’m happy about getting the palette because I always love a palette and would have had FOMO had I not gotten it, but I just haven’t fallen in love with Wander.

Reply ButtonReply

Jackie

Received the same. Swapped the palette and pencils and probably the sheet masks. Happy with the primer and the body lotion (if I like the scent!)

Reply ButtonReply

KatKat

could someone explain how swap works? the page looks super intimidating.

tammy g

my first glam bag plus was ok…but please send me more skincare than mascara and eyeshadows..

Reply ButtonReply

Let'sSwap

So agree! I got the worst of everything this month and most of my items from the 2 categories of items you are allowed to opt out of. Super disappointed and can’t use anything this month.

Reply ButtonReply

Laura C

I forgot to mention that I like the slideshow format 🙂

Reply ButtonReply

Laura C

I have been loving Glam Bag Plus! This month I received Murad Eye Serum, Wanderess Eyeshadow Palette, Nudestix Tinted Blur Stick ( which matched me perfectly ), IL Makiage Icon Mascara and Glamglow Bubblesheet Mask.

I added the Yensa Primer, Ofra Liquid Lipstick and Oryza Eyeshadow.

Reply ButtonReply

Luna

I was wondering if anyone knows… I cancelled my regular Ipsy bag last night, completely spacing on the fact that I had just used points last week to get that 111Skin eye gel. I’m okay with missing out on the eye gel (and the Tetris bag… I guess), so I was wondering…. does anyone know if Ipsy will re-instate my points since they won’t be able to send to me the point reward? Thanks!

Reply ButtonReply

Shawn

I did the same thing once. They did not re-instate my points.

Reply ButtonReply

Luna

FYI: I just found this in their FAQs:

What happens to my Points if I cancel my membership?

If you cancel your membership, we’ll save your Points for up to 12 months (remember that all Points expire one year from the date they were first earned.) Also, please keep in mind that you must be an active member in order to redeem your Points.

If you cancel your membership after you’ve redeemed your Points for a reward, but the reward has not shipped yet, the Points will be returned to you and you will not receive the reward.

Luna

Okay. Thanks for your reply 🙂 I’ll shoot them an email today about it.

Blaire

I got the exact same stuff in my box and the exact same opinions as you. I loved the primer, it was only standout. Oil is nice too but overall box was underwhelming. Eyeshadows are pretty but too glittery to be anything other than novelty.

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

I need about a gallon of that primer.. LOVE IT.

Reply ButtonReply

Anne

Same box, but I received the Avene mask instead of the primer (but I purchased this as an add-on. I had a sample before and loved it). I’m just not sure I will get to the mask until fall or winter now that my skin isn’t as dry. I used the shadow palette today, and the shimmer didn’t fade or fall all over my face after 12 hours, but the blue color is a little washed out. This was my first GBP. It was okay, but I feel as though I’ve seen better past boxes. I still live ipsy though and will give them a few months to try it out.

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

The blue was much darker than I expected when i swatched it for sure. I wish it had been more of a bold cobalt!

Reply ButtonReply

Elyse

I felt exactly the same. It looks like such a vibrant deep color in the pan but on my skin it is like a muddy navy. I love the shimmers but I did have a TON of fall out. Like pink sparkles all over my cheeks. Maybe I need a better primer!

Marion

I’m happy with my box. I think it’s my second-favorite GBP I’ve gotten. I got the two items I wanted most — the Wanderess palette & the TokyoMilk lip gloss. I think the Wanderess palette has a glitter overspray, which is not my favorite thing, but I like the colors. I was looking forward to the “seafoam” but I’m surprised because it turns out that the pink is the most unique & interesting color IMO — it has a duochrome effect to it. I love the scent of the TokyoMilk gloss (big surprise, lol!) but I get a slight cooling sensation just after I apply it. Does anyone know if that could be the castor oiI in it?

I also added the Face Hero oil to my nighttime routine right away, since I didn’t have that type of product yet (to me, it smells like vitamins & slightly nutty, not sweet).

The last 2 items I got were the Avene mask & Illamasqua lip pencils, which are up for swap since I don’t use those types of products.

Reply ButtonReply

Anita

I got the Murad retinol eye serum instead of the primer & I’m really happy I did. Nothing against the Yensa brand but I have an abundance of primers & I have been loving the Murad skincare line lately.

I like the new photo layout it’s much easier to swipe through than have to keep scrolling up & down

Reply ButtonReply

Barbara

I wasn’t very excited when I saw what I would be getting, BUT once used, I found all of the items to be various descriptions of good to great. My most surprising item was the eye palette. I don’t like nor really gravitate towards sparkly-shiny shadows, but because I have a pretty dark tan (thank you Allure), the shadows looked really good on my old d=eyeballs. Surprise, surprise! I also got the Estee Lauder Lippie (a metallic orange) and used it sparingly and VOILA. WOW, I almost look human!

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

More than a little jelly of that orange lippe! I am really feeling orange and coral shades right now! I felt similarly regarding the palette. I don’t always jump for metallics but there were just beautiful!

Reply ButtonReply

Bb

I love the primer and most of the pallet. The oil is great too. Mascara not bad. Dont love the lip duo colors very much. Well worth 25 bucks for the things i do love

Reply ButtonReply

Sally Choi

I got the same box EXCEPT instead of the primer, I got the Tokyomilk gloss (which is actually really good, very thin and not sticky at all)
Since I got the lip liners and I never use lip liner, I’m GIVING THEM AWAY in my Ipsy Glam Bag Plus May 2019 unboxing video 🙂

My channel on YT is just my name, Sally Choi

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

I LOVE TokyoMilk so I was a little bummed to not get it. Maybe next time!

Reply ButtonReply

Sara

Forgot to add, I did like the new picture format, I don’t like scrolling past 30 pictures. I appreciated the more condensed version.

Reply ButtonReply

Sara

Box twins! I resubbed this month just to get that face oil, I can’t wait to use it! I’m really only excited about the facial oil and the primer, everything else is a pass. My box also took forever to get here, it “shipped” May 9th, and I just got it today. But I also had an extra item in my box that I didn’t order. I paused my sub for June, wasn’t excited about those spoilers at all.

Reply ButtonReply

Twyla

While this box didn’t “wow” me, i do feel i more than got my $25 value out of it. I do wonder how well they will be able to match our profiles if they start using pre-printed cards with predetermined box variations, but definitely still happy with Ipsy, and willing to see what comes next.

Reply ButtonReply

h

Thankfully, I am going to be receiving the Murad eye serum instead of the mascara, but everything else is identical. It’s not my favorite box, but I’ll use the eye serum, primer, and the lip liners. That’s still a great deal. It’s definitely not one of my favorite boxes, but the Add-Ons were good ones, which helps. I still think Ipsy Plus is a great box and a great deal, even on what I consider one of my least favorite boxes from them. They really seem to be honoring my choices on my profile. I think they are doing a fantastic job!

Reply ButtonReply

Megan K.

I think so too! Value is absolutely here.

Reply ButtonReply

Kimberly Sifford

I Love Mine this month! Great bag! The more I customize, each month gets better and better! Only item I really have FOMO for is the Avene Moisturie Mask! Hopefully I can find one or trade with someone! Love the Oil, it smells so good!

Reply ButtonReply

Jenn

This was by far THE WORST Ipsy Plus so far.. I usually don’t get upset when there are products I won’t use because usually there is at least one that makes up for the whole box, at least for me. Anyway, nothing on this box was usable for me.. I’ve had Ipsy plus since the first box in October, so one bad box isn’t such a deal breaker for me. It hopefully the boxes come back from this month.

Reply ButtonReply

Let'sSwap

So agree! I got the worst of everything this month and most of my items from the 2 categories of items you are allowed to opt out of. Super disappointed and can’t use anything this month.

Reply ButtonReply

Ashley

Not a fan of the new slideshow format. At first, I thought it was screenshots until looking at the comments and seeing that there are actually swatches in the post.

Reply ButtonReply