Glam Bag time! I love coming home from work and finding that bright pink shipping bag propped up against my door waiting for me. 🙂 July’s theme is “Beach Beauty,” which is perfect because I’m heading to the beach soon (woohoo!).
As soon as I opened up the shipping pouch, I got hit with the smell of plastic. Ew. It turns out that the smell was coming from this month’s bag, which is a hot pink jelly plastic bag. No thank you! It’s not that cute and it stinks. I’m valuing it at only about $1 because it smells and I don’t like it. Good thing it was filled with fun goodies!
To be honest, I was a little mixed in feelings when I opened my bag. I had gotten an email saying Benetint (by Benefit) was a featured product of this month’s bag. I figured that, as such, it would be one of the products that ends up in every bag…nope. Scowl. I have wanted to try Benetint for ages! I’m not very skilled at blending out quick-dry liquids though, so not receiving Benetint could actually be an okay thing.
First up, another product I have been wanting to try – Healthy Sexy Hair Soy Renewal Beach Spray. According to Ulta’s site, this “Soy Renewal Beach Spray provides body, fullness and light hold while helping to nourish, protect and heal hair damage with the power of Argan Oil. It creates undone texture that looks and feels like you¿ve spent a day by the sea.” It’s listed as a texturizer but also has conditioning properties – snazzy! The full size bottle is 5.1 oz and retails for $19.95; my bottle is a third of the size at 1.7 oz, so I value it at about $6.65.
I was pleasantly surprised by this Beach Spray! That little nozzle packs a punch – the first time I sprayed it I was too close and had one very saturated spot of hair. Holding it at more of a distance gives a nice, even spritz. The bottle says that this product can be used on wet or dry hair. I shampoo and condition my hair and then let it air dry without products, so I’ve only used this on dry hair. Some reviews I’ve spotted have said that using this on wet hair can cause it to dry snarled and sticky. I had no such problems with dry hair. I spray a little on the underside of my hair and tousle it, then flip my hair over and do the same on the top. The spray gives my hair a tiny bit of volume (although it is not long lasting for me), gives me a little texture, and makes my hair feel and smell nice. No big, dramatic results here, but I still like it. Would I purchase it in full size? Ehhh…maybe if I had a coupon or something. I’m taking this little guy to the beach with me as one of my main hair products though!
The next item out of my bag was the Pouty Pop Crayon in Fuchsia Flirt from Pop Beauty. This lip crayon comes in a pack of six on the Pop Beauty website, so I’d value my single product at $4.17.
According to Pop Beauty, “these extra-nourishing balms gently bounce onto lips, creating a plumped & pillowy pout and leaving them with luscious, long-lasting colour in a super-smooth texture.” I swatched this first on my hand, just running the crayon back and forth a few times –
The majority of balms I’ve tried have been sheer, with just a touch of color – this one packs a punch compared to most balms! I’d say it’s more like a lipstick than a balm. I like the color I received; although not an everyday shade for me, the bubble-gummy pink is a pretty one.
Natural light
Indoor lighting w/ flash
While I wouldn’t say this crayon “bounced” onto my lips, it did apply very smoothly and with fairly even pigmentation. I used a few swipes and the crayon made it easy to control where the product was ending up. I was a little concerned that I’d have to sharpen the crayon, but the end twists the product up out of the tube. The crayon didn’t moisturize my lips but also did not dry them out. The color also lasted longer than some lipsticks I’ve tried. Overall, I like this product but would like it more if it could be bought singly instead of as part of a six pack.
Ipsy also partnered with bh Cosmetics this month, which is a brand I had never heard of until I received my bag. bh has three California themed eye shadow and blush palettes – Hollywood, San Francisco, and Malibu. Instead of sending a single shadow or a full-sized palette, Ipsy met in the middle by sending a mini palette comprised of one shade from each palette.
Hollywood appears to be a deep purple shadow but is actually fairly sheer and not as deep as it appears. It took a lot of passes to build up the color with this shade. San Francisco is a light, sparkly brown shadow and is, like Hollywood, pretty sheer. Malibu is a golden shimmer, the most pigmented of the three shades, and my favorite of the trio.
Indoor lighting
Shade
These shadows were meh for me. The colors chosen from each palette for this sampler were good choices color-wise in that they form a pretty eye together. However, the pigmentation was less than I like and the shadows weren’t very easy to work with – they felt a bit dry and weren’t very smooth to apply. You can purchase the full-sized bh palettes online for $17.95, although they’re currently on sale for $9.95. I’d value the Ipsy trio at around $2 based on an average of the full-sized pricing.
Next out of my bag was a sample-sized Rose Essence Tinted Moisturizer mineral sunscreen by Coola organic suncare. Here is Coola’s description of this product –
Keep the sun and environment at bay with this SPF 20 broad-spectrum UVA/UVB sunscreen, a tinted, light Rose scented, Titanium Dioxide based formula (for those who are Zinc sensitive) made with 98% natural ingredients. Organic Acai Oil – high in Omegas-3/6/9, Vitamins B1/2/3, plus antioxidant Vitamins C and E – delivers a powerful defense against aging. Organic Sunflower Seed Extract promotes elasticity while organic Linseed Oil, containing Alpha-Linolenic Acids, reduces redness and irritation. The phyto-protector Plankton Extract rejuvenates, as organic Cucumber Extract calms skin.
- Hypoallergenic
- Paraben Free
- Ultra Sheer
- Anti-Aging
- Water Resistant (40 minutes)
This sample size is about 1/7 of the size of the actual product at only .23 oz. I am heading to the beach in a little over a week and decided to hold onto this until then to use in place of makeup in the early evenings. I did dot some onto my hand though to test the consistency, look, etc.
Dotted and blended out to the right
Dotted and blended out to the right
This product comes out of the tube tinted but does apply very sheer. I could tell where it was blended on my hand because it had a slight color difference and a little shimmer, but you’d have to know where to look to notice. The product smelled nice and felt smooth against skin. I really like that this product is hypoallergenic and free of parabens, making it more skin-friendly – plus it contains anti-agers and skin soothers! The SPF is a little low and its wear time isn’t very long so I wouldn’t depend on this for actual sunscreen if you burn easily or want maximum skin protection (hence my saving it for early evening instead of prime beach-time). The big downside to this product in my book? The price. A 1.7 oz bottle will set you back $36.00…yikes.
Last but not least is one of my favorite products from the bag – Nailtini’s Straight Up Color Nail Lacquer in Mai Tai, a shade described on the site as a “vibrant sunrise coral.”
I had never heard of Nailtini before (despite being a polish junkie), but knew I liked the brand as soon as I read their description online –
Welcome to the ‘Tini Bar, stocked with top-shelf cosmetics inspired by
“cocktailing.” Wear them alone or layered to create custom looks and colors …
whatever you feel like stirring up. Enjoy, and as always, apply responsibly.
Cocktail-inspired polish? Sounds good to me! I applied two coats of Mai Tai over a base coat for the swatches below.
Direct sunlight
W/ flash
Shade
I love this polish! It was smooth and a dream to apply. Mai Tai dried quickly to a beautiful shine – swatches above are without a top coat. The polish wore well and the shade is beautiful! It’s a very orange-y version of coral, but the “sunset” description is spot on. Now if only I had a Mai Tai to drink while wearing this… This polish retails for $13.00.
“Beach Beauty” was a really nice bag full of great summertime products. Glam Bags are $10 a month – about $9 for me because I signed up for a yearly subscription. This bag retails at just over $31 total. I believe there is currently a waitlist, but if you sign up for Ipsy I’d really appreciate it if you used my recommendation link! – http://www.ipsy.com/?refer=u-hfomrhebjvjd1ntm
Wayfaring Beauty 