New month, new Glam Bag! I worked my rumpus off all day but got an amazzzinggg call at the end of the work day – I got hired as a full time teacher by the school I just long-termed at. Woohoo! My summer job is just down the street from my home, so I skipped my way home in happiness over my new permanent gig…and then got home to find a pretty little Ipsy package waiting at my door for me. What a great way to end the work day, right?!
The theme for the June bag is “On the Wild Side” and, honestly, I was really excited to see what the bag itself looked like. May’s chevron bag was cute, but I (still) dig animal prints. Lo and behold – I love the bag. It may be a smidge Jersey-Shore-esque, but I can’t help but love it. This will be replacing my plans to use May’s bag as my beach clutch. Unless July’s bag is cuter, that is.
Like May’s bag, June’s bag seems to be made of some sort of nylon material. I’d value it roughly at about $5.00. I could be biased though because I love leopard/cheetah print.
This cute little bag contained five goodies: Cailyn Cosmetics Line Fix Gel Eyeliner in Iron (11); Starlooks Lip Liner in Bare; JCat Beauty Sparkling Cream Palette in Scp106 Volta; Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter Pencil; and NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Bronze Goddess.
Let’s just go in the order I named the products in, which means we’ll start with the Cailyn Cosmetics Line Fix Gel Eyeliner. Let me preface this by saying I was super impressed with the swanky packaging. I pulled it out of my Glam Bag and was immediately like, “Ohhh, this box!” Pretty, sturdy, and caught my eye – A+ Cailyn marketing/packaing department. I also liked the eyeliner packaging itself. The bottom of the container twists off and is the gel pot, while the brush pops out of the handle. Nifty!
…in case you didn’t know how to use eyeliner, Cailyn puts it on the box. So no excuses!
I was like “Wooooo, this is so nice!” …until I used it. According to the Cailyn site, the “highly concentrated pigment of the liner creates lusciously smooth lines” – pfffff. Maybe it’s just the shade I received (Iron), but my liner was most certainly not highly concentrated in pigment. For the photo below, I used one pass on the left and a few thinner ones on the right. Granted, this is a gray liner, but still…not as dark as I usually like.
This product won’t be a total waste though; I will probably use this for light smoky eyes or for days when I want a subtle liner look. I can also say that Cailyn is not lying when they describe this product as water and smudge proof – it didn’t want to come off my arm! Cailyn Cosmetics Line Fix Gel Eyeliner retails for $21.00/0.14oz on the company site.
I have actually been meaning to purchase a lip liner, so I was really pleased to find Starlooks Lip Liner in Bare in my bag.
Maybe I have unusually pink-ish lips, but “Bare” was a smidge brown-nude on me. I really liked the formula of this liner though – it was smooth and blended well. I really wanted to get the Tipsy shade (a coral-type pink), but am actually glad I got Bare so that I can use it for nude lips or to stop deeper lipstick shades from bleeding. Starlook Lip Liners retail for $12 online.
Bare lips
Wearing StarLooks Lip Liner in bare on entire lip
From far away, no flash. Please ignore the crazy-train hair.
Next up is the JCat Beauty Sparkling Cream Palette in Scp106 Volta. Where to begin with this one…ugh. First of all, let’s be clear – girlfriend loves her some sparkle. This product was originally promoted as a sparkly eyeshadow, though both Ipsy and JCat backtracked on that one. Due to that original description though, I was hoping this would be UD Moondust-ish without the fallout because of a cream consistency. However, no such luck. Not even close.
In the case, all looked pretty, especially in the sunlight. The Volta palette is made up of blues, grays, and golds. It came with those useless little eyeshadow applicators (hellllo, those are for eyeshadow JCat!), which I tossed.
Then I dipped my finger in the gold pan to swatch. Mmmmm, super gritty! Like, never-put-this-near-your-eyeballs gritty. Gritt-tacular, if you will. I took one for the team and swatched it on my arm anyways – yikes! The gold left me with a rather scattered swatch; the in-betweens were a little better; the last was best, although still a little painful to rub against my skin.
Curious, I decided to check out the JCat site while I let the cream set a little bit on my arm. The site proclaims,
Sparkle is everyone’s best friend! Give yourself a healthy dosage of sparkle with the cream palette that comes in a variety of complementing colors. The creamy texture allows the sparkle to be applied easily with an applicator onto your face.
* This product should be used with caution and attentive application around the eye area and on the body.
WordPress converts all my text to the same size, but the asteriked line is uber teeny on the JCat site. Sneaky, sneaky. Intrigued, I headed over to the Ipsy FB page, where the company is telling all my fellow complainers, “It is meant to be used as body glitter, not eye shadow. Use it for body art, body glitter, or a little added shine to your lipgloss!” First of all, I second all the commentors who start off their comments regarding this product with, “I am a grown-ass woman!” That line just makes me laugh a lot, but lets be real Ipsy – WTF am I gonna do with body glitter? Secondly, I advise you to only use this to “add shine to your lipgloss” if you are looking for an exfoliating lipgloss. One that simultaneously scratches and shines.
Much laughing-over-and-agreeing-with-comments later, I decided to wipe the junk off my arms. As it turns out, the sparkle wasn’t ready to go anywhere. Instead, it smeared liberally all around my arm. I soaped. It stuck. I wiped. It stuck. I make-up removed. It stuck. I frantically rubbed my sparkling arm on my bath towel. It stuck. I rubbed my arm with my finger and this is how it came away, even after all the scrubbing –
Frustrated, I have resigned myself to sparkling in the sun like Edward Cullen. Maybe if I want to be a gypsy, fairy, or other glittery creature for Halloween, I will bust this palette out again. Until then, it is going to the dark recesses of my makeup cabinent. Should you still choose to purchase this glitterbomb, you can purchase it in Volta or another shade combination through JCat’s site for $4.49.
I don’t know if I genuinely like the next product because it followed the JCat disaster or just because it’s good, but the next product up to bat was Chella’s Ivory Lace Highlighter Pencil.
This fresh and pretty neutral pencil will brighten and visibly lift your eyes when lightly applied on the brow bone, dark circles, blemishes and redspots. Draw a line under the brow bone with this creamy pencil and then pat gently into place using your 3rd (“ring”) finger.
Disregarding the directions because I already had a little highlighter shadow on, I swiped some onto my bare forearm. I swiped the pencil back and forth for several passes, then did the same and blended it out immediately to the right of that first swatch.
Flash
Indoor
There is no way I could use such a pink formula over red spots, but I can certainly see myself using this on my brow bone to highlight or to brighten up dark circles. The pencil glided on and blended out easily (maybe too easily? if that makes sense). You can purchase this highlighter or other eye/brow pencils from Chella for $18.00.
Last but not least was a familiar face – NYX. To be more specific, NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Bronze Goddess.
More delicious than peaches and cream? We like to think so. Our velvety smooth mineral Rouge Cream Blush offers a sheer wash of radiant color. The glorious payoff is dewy, sultry and long-lasting.
This oily girl usually avoids “dewy,” as that does not help tame my oil-slick look. I have also never used a cream blush because I set my foundation with powder. However, I’ll try anything once. This “blush” (let’s be real, it’s a cheek bronzer) was super smooth and creamy. It had a sheer payoff, but that let me build up the color in my swatches.
Natural light
Indoor w/ flash
I think I’ll give this a shot in the summer when I’m at the beach and just rocking some tinted moisturizer when I go out at night. I think it will give me a little glow and color. Other than that, I’m not tan enough yet for this to look natural. I feel bad for any pasty girls who may have received Bronze Goddess – they will need a light touch for sure when using this product. NYX’s Rouge Cream Blushes retail for $6.00.
Overall, June’s bag was so-so for me. I didn’t really see how any of the products besides the cute bag fit the “Wild” theme, except maybe that crazy-@ss JCat sparkle cream. And, honestly, I’m not wild enough to pull that off. Nor am I willing to wear it as part of any body art like the staffers over at Ipsy (go check out their FB page to see what I mean…). The liners were more subdued than wild.
I love the bag, like the liners, think the blush could turn out okay, and hate the sparkle palette. I do have to keep in mind though that, with my year-long subscription, I only paid about $9 for this bag. Had I bought each item at full price, it would have cost me about $66.50. Holy cannoli, right??
What do you think of June’s Glam Bag? Do any of the products catch your eye or do you already own any of them? In keeping with the “wild” theme, what’s the wildest thing you’ve done lately (provided it’s PG13-esque in case of younger readers!)?
Wayfaring Beauty 