Beauty Talk: My January Ipsy

Way to start the year off right, Ipsy. I was ecstatic about every single one of the products I received in my Ipsy Glam Bag last month. For those that don't know, Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription where for $10, you get a handful of products delivered to your door. I've been familiar with the service for a while (and heard rave reviews) but because of my near constant address changes for the last couple of years, I didn't take the plunge until last month. I've been loving every minute of it.

First, the bag: I like it more than last month's. It's got an Andy Warhol vibe that I'm into, plus it's more versatile - I could use this for work/pool/travel/etc instead of as a makeup bag, which is great, because I already have a makeup bag that I use regularly and it's much, much larger than this.

City Color Eyeshadow Trio in Falling Leaves: City Color gets such great word of mouth that I was immediately excited to see this brand in my bag. Plus, THE COLORS. They scream fall, which is weird considering it's the dead of winter, but they're gorgeous - neutral without being lifeless and they swatch beautifully - so I'm not complaining. If I could get away with fall colors year round, I would (and I try to). Each of the colors is incredibly versatile, but my favorite is the matte red/orange/maroon-ish color, which I use as a crease color to give a little bit of life to a neutral eye.

Tucker Ashley Advanced Peptide Eye Cream: I'll have to get back to you on this one, because I haven't even opened it yet. I don't have any anti-aging products in my routine, so I had difficulty trying to work it in. There were a couple of times I wanted to test it, but I was always hesitant to try a new product before I had to "be somewhere." So, we'll see!

TheBalm Mr. Write(Now) Eyeliner in Jac: Ah, I do love a good pun. Again, this is a brand that I had been wanting to try for AGES, but because it's not accessible through my dealers of choice (Ulta/Walgreens) I just hadn't gotten around to it. I was excited to get a nontraditional but still neutral copper color, which goes nicely with my eye color. I've mostly given up on wearing eyeliner (I don't have the patience for it), but I've found myself reaching for this, partly because of the color works so well on me, and partly because it's so small/easy to work with that I never end up with raccoon eyes.

Lasting Smiles Lip Balm in Peppermint Creme: I opened this immediately because I've been dealing with a particularly stubborn lip situation recently. It took a while to get cold this year, but once it did my lips dried out like the Sahara, right on schedule. I've been doing everything I can to stay hydrated and moisturized, but I'm still feeling like my lips don't belong to my face, if that makes any sense. Needless to say, I was probably more excited than most to get a lip balm in my bag this month. 

This has quickly become my favorite lip balm - I love it more than my Nivea Touch of Softness (or whatever the blue tube is called). It feels great, but also feels like it's actually doing something long-term. It definitely has an overwhelming peppermint scent: I felt like I was rubbing a candy cane on my face. It does have that tingly-effect, but that dissipates and it left my lips feeling moisturized.

Additionally, the brand uses a portion of the proceeds to support cleft lip and palate surgeries, which is pretty cool. I feel like Ipsy low-key supports awesome brands: I remember reading last month that Clark's Botanicals' originated as a way to treat skincare issues caused by the founder's spinal cord injury. It's really cool to get exposure to these kinds of brands that may not be as well-known.

Coastal Scents Pearl Shadow Large Angle Brush: I feel like I keep repeating myself, but YEP, this is another brand I'd heard great things about but had yet to try. I loved getting a brush in my bag, because I felt like it was such a great value - it's something that will last you ages, especially if it's of good quality. This synthetic brush is SO soft and while it's definitely on the large side for an eyeshadow brush, it's so fluffy that I don't find myself over-applying product. I've actually taken to using it as a blending or crease brush rather than an all-over shadow brush because of this. 

That's everything I got in my ipsy bag last month! If you get ipsy, let me know what you got in your bag. If you don't, let me know what beauty products you've been loving in the month of January!