March 2013 Ipsy Bag

*This subscription bag was purchased by me.*

I'm a little late on this one, but here's the March 2013 Ipsy Bag! For a comprehensive overview of what Ipsy is, visit Ipsy's website or one of my previous posts (February Ipsy Bag, January Ipsy Bag, or December Ipsy Bag).

March 2013 Ipsy Bag

I had high expectations for this bag, especially since I knew a magnetic palette was included! While I enjoyed the bag overall, the contents were more minimal than I expected. 

Card, front.

Card, back.

The theme of March's bag is "The Great Escape." While the theme is very cute, I feel as if the vacation theme is a bit more suited for summer. I suppose they had spring break in mind, but I just thought that this seemed like a bag more appropriate for June or July. The card is absolutely adorable, and I love the travel concept behind March's bag.

The bag 

The inside of the bag

I really love how Ipsy listens to its consumers, and has finally delivered an adorable printed bag! This one is so cute with dark blue and white "sailor" stripes and an anchor print. The inside is white with the Ipsy logo stitched in. The bag is well made, but it definitely is a different texture than prior bags. It reminds me of a rain coat!

Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist

• Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist- Deluxe Sample
• Size: 1oz or 30ml
• Full Size: 6.75oz, $22
• Value of Sample: $3.26 (After calculating from full-size product. The sample might be available in a gift set, but it's not sold individually). 
• This is a toner that can either be sprayed directly on the face or put on with a cotton pad. I currently use a toner everyday, so I'm happy to try another one that is alcohol free! The ingredients include rosehip, ylang yang, grapeseed oil, and white grape juice. Juice Beauty uses great ingredients free of parabens and sulfates, just to name a few. This reminds me of the toners at Lush, which I've been wanting to try. The smell might be strong for some, but I personally enjoy the rose blend. This can be sprayed under and over makeup, so when the weather gets warms, I'm planning on putting it in the fridge for a refreshing pick me up!
• Repurchase? Probably not, even though it's a great product. Though I'm happy to try this product out, I'm happy with the toner I'm currently using.
• Pleased w/ Ipsy? Yes. I like trying toners out since they don't change your core skincare routine too drastically. Plus this is great deluxe sample size! Everyone received this product in their Ipsy bag.

La Fresh Travel Lite Makeup Remover Wipes

• La Fresh Travel Lite Makeup Remover Wipes (8 wipes)- Full Size
• Size: Full size (8 wipes), $1.99
• I love makeup remover wipes with the Neutrogena ones being my wipe of choice. I haven't tried many other wipes, but when I have, the Neutrogena ones were always my favorite (plus you can buy a mega pack at Costco for super cheap!). These wipes claim to be carry on friendly, to dissolve makeup from eyes/lips/face, have a moisturizing formula, and contain vitamin E. The ingredients in this product aren't quite as friendly, since it does contain mineral oil and parabens. I will still try it out, especially since I'm curious if it will remove waterproof mascara. 
• Repurchase? Maybe. It's only $1.99, so if I like them, I would repurchase. However, if these aren't available in store, I wouldn't order online just to purchase wipes when the Neutrogena ones are so readily available.
• Pleased w/ Ipsy? Yes. I use makeup wipes everyday to remove my makeup before cleansing the skin, so I'd love to try out more wipes! This is a useful product, so I'm quite pleased. All Ipsy subscribers received this product. 

Yaby Eyeshadow Refills in Seashell & Azalea Petal

Yaby Eyeshadow Refills compared to a dime.

Swatches of Yaby Eyeshadow Refills in Seashell & Azalea Petal

• Yaby Eyeshadow Refills in Seashell & Azalea Petal- Full Size
• Size: 15.5mm refill pans (Yaby states 3g of product, but there's no way! A pan is slightly smaller than a dime!), $3.29 each ($6.58 total value) at Camera Ready Cosmetics or $3.15 each at Yaby. I'm going to go with the price from Camera Ready Cosmetics, since that's the site featuring the Ipsy discount, plus the shipping for Yaby is insane!
• I've never heard of Yaby before, so I was curious to see what the quality of their shadows was like. Plus, I recently got a palette to depot shadows into (more on that later), so I was completely down for some eyeshadow pans! Seashell is a satin, subtly shimmery creamy shell color, which makes a beautiful inner corner and brow bone highlighter. The pigmentation isn't the strongest when swatched, but when used as a eye highlighter, Seashell worked fantastically! Azalea Petal is a satin, subtly shimmery plummy pink. This one is rather weak on pigmentation, and I really had to swatch it multiple times on my arm to get the color to show up. Like Seashell, it applied much better on the eyes, and made a subtle crease color. I don't think either of these shades are pigmented enough to make great all over lid colors, but used for my intended purpose (highlight or crease color), I rather enjoyed them.
• Repurchase? Probably not. If these were available in store I would consider picking up a few more, since I really have enjoyed them. But since these are online only, I wouldn't be willing to make an order large enough to render getting more. I do, however, love the concept of mini eyeshadow pans at a discount price. If more brands (especially ones with better pigmentation) started making these, I would buy so many! But let's face it, I do not need more eyeshadows. lol.
• Pleased w/ Ipsy? Yes. I'm always down more eyeshadow! Ipsy subscribers either received Seashell and Azalea Petal (like I did) or Sand Dune and So Vein (a tan and a teal green). I would have been happy with either combination, so good job Ipsy!

Glam RX Touch Up Palette, outside 

Glam RX Touch Up Palette, inside

Glam RX Touch Up Palette with the Yaby Eyeshadows

• Glam RX Touch Up palette- Deluxe Sample
• Size: Roughly the size of a credit card, but wider. 
• Full Size: The full size has two layers. The first layer contains "touch up" products like translucent powder, black eyeliner, lip tint, and under eye concealer. The bottom layer is an empty magnetic palette, in which magnetic pans of makeup can magnetize to. It also comes with mini brushes. The deluxe sample we received from Ipsy is basically only the bottom layer only. The full size retails for $16.50 on the website.
• Value of Sample: $8.25 (I figured since this is half of the full size, I should just half the price). 
• I was super excited to receive my first magnetic palette, though it was smaller than I was expecting. I love the red outer packaging, with black on the inside, along with a mirror. The palette is made out of cardboard, but it didn't seem flimsy. I can't compare it to the quality of a Z palette since I don't own one yet. But, it fit the Yaby eyeshadows perfectly! I also took the Coastal Scents eyeshadow from last month's Ipsy bag, put a magnetic on each one, and put them inside the palette as well! 
• Repurchase? No, I would not get the full size even though I like this palette. If I wanted another mini palette I would just get one from Z palette, since I don't need someone else's idea of prepackaged "touch up" products. I'd rather just use my own!
• Pleased w/ Ipsy? Yes. I thought that giving us a palette plus eyeshadows to go inside was a great idea! Everyone received this product.

Price Breakdown:

1. Juice Beauty Hydrating Mist-Deluxe Sample-$3.26
2. La Fresh Travel Lite Makeup Remover Wipes (8 wipes)-Full Size-$1.99
3. Yaby Eyeshadow Refills in Seashell & Azalea Petal-Full Size-$6.58
4. Glam RX Touch Up palette-Deluxe Sample-$8.25

Total Value: $20.08

Previous Months' Box: $40.55 (February), $38.79 (January), $72.67 (December)

Note: I don't add the cost of the bag to the total (since I don't know the value of the bag itself), so I just consider the bag to be a freebie.

Overview: While I really liked the products in March's Ipsy bag, the overall value of the bag is so much lower compared to previous months. Plus this month only had 4 items, unlike the usual 5 items. You could make the argument that each Yaby eyeshadow counts for one item, but this argument goes out the window when you consider last month's Coastal Scents eyeshadows; a quad of 4 eyeshadows roughly the same size as a Yaby pan clearly counted as 1 item! While I wish we received one more item or that the value of the bag was higher, I still enjoyed my Ipsy bag and have no intention of canceling at this time. I think we have all just been so spoiled with past Ipsy bags, we're always wanting more as oppose to realizing how great the bag really is! (Especially when you compare it to other subscription services). Also, all the products were new to me, so another success! I'm loving Ipsy overall; it's like getting a present every month, and I've never been truly disappointed! 

Preview for next month: So far for the month of April, I know we are all receiving a full size blush from Be a Bombshell. One of two shades are possible! (See April 2013 Ipsy Spoiler #1). This is EXCELLENT! :)

Disclosure: These products were purchased by me for review purposes. I was not paid or compensated in any way. All opinions are my own.