Ipsy Glam Bag: Hit or Miss?

Beauty boxes and monthly subscription bags have become truly popular in recent years and for good reason: there are a variety of cosmetic and beauty brands excited to promote products and these monthly subscriptions are a great chance to hook beauty junkies. And it's truly a great partnership: beauty junkies like me get to truly new products every month at a reasonable cost and with little risk as well. Before trying out a beauty subscription, I would try a ton of brand new products, spending too much money on gorgeous products with beautiful packaging. Unfortunately, many of these products didn't live up to my expectations and cluttered my vanity, gathering dust until they hit the trash can.

This was until I tried my first beauty subscription bag, Ipsy, created by beauty Youtuber Michelle Phan in 2016. Thus far, the partnership has been a success and has definitely helped me to narrow down what works for my hair, skin and nails without buying a bunch of unnecessary products that don't.

The Ipsy "glam bag" works as following: for $10 a month, you get five products that are hand-picked for you by an Ipsy "stylist". When you sign on, you take a survey that helps to focus in on your interests and the stylists pair you with products that should meet your needs. Sometimes the products are sample sized, but, in my experience, they are often full-sized versions of amazing cruelty-free cosmetics from great brands such as Tarte, Urban Decay, and Juice Beauty, just to name a few. To top it all off, the products arrive in a cool, unique, specially designed "Glam Bag" (cosmetic bag) each month. It arrives in your mailbox, generally, in the first half of each month.

Below are a few of the pros and cons of Ipsy, as I have discovered over the past year. Hope it helps if you are considering a subscription bag like Ipsy!

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Pros:

• Cost: I have found $10 per month to be super reasonable for five quality products. It definitely doesn't break the bank and sometimes just one of the products, like a high-end, full-sized mascara, could cost you twice that cost at retail.

• Variety: I have found that I rarely get the same brand twice and when I do, it is generally a tried and tested brand like Tarte that I have reviewed highly before. This gives you the opportunity to try many new brands and decide what you dig.

• Time and Money Saving: I find that I rarely buy certain cosmetics anymore. For example, I have not purchased a high-end mascara at Ulta in over a year, simply because I generally get one in my bag every 1-2 months and they are almost always amazing. Eyeliner magically appears in my proper colors as well and I have more highlighter than I even need, thanks to Ipsy!

• The Bag: I have found MANY ways to re-purpose the adorable glam bags: they help hold numerous products in the bathroom, on a couple of occasions have served as cute wristlets, and at least one has found it's way to my kids for a pencil pouch. Very cute and functional.

Cons:

• Stylist and Survey: The survey you complete at the beginning can sometimes come up inaccurate if you are unsure how to answer certain questions. And the products you get and stylist you are assigned hinge on this. I had to complete my survey twice, the second time after sadly getting two months of glam bags filled with a few products that didn't quite work for me. However, this may be more user error (i.e., me) than Ipsy. Be honest with yourself and be careful to update the survey if anything changes in your needs and interests.

• Occasional repeats: Just as you will get products you totally love and want in your bag, you'll probably get a few that you have no need for. For a few months I received blending brushes galore: all were great quality, but I'm not a major brush fan, despite their usefulness.

• No palettes: Okay, so this one is a technicality. If you love a great palette with full-sized versions of an array of eyeshadows and blushes, don't look here. However, you should not expect this from a subscription bag. This need will keep you running back to Ulta and Sephora, which, if you are like me, you won't mind too much.

The verdict on Ipsy? Totally worth it and a lot of practical fun for beauty junkies and make-up newbies as well. Try it (or another subscription like Birchbox) out and get experimenting!

Share your experiences with beauty subscriptions in the comments below!