December ipsy Bag

I received my ipsy bag this Saturday. I've been so exhausted and haven't felt up to reviewing it this weekend. I was hoping that my pimple the size of Mount Everest would leave my chin, and take up it's rightful home where it belongs. In other words, not my face! But, alas, now I have given up and I hope you will commiserate with me.
The items I received were:

NYX Cosmetics - Butter Lip Balm

Swissco - Electroplated Eyelash Curler

tarte - deluxe lights, camera, lashes™ 4-in-1 mascara

Pixi by Petra - Fairy Dust

Coolway - Boost Repair Treatment 

My bonus item I redeemed my ipsyPoints for:

L.A. Colors - Chunky Lip Pencil

And they were all  in this bag. I love that ipsy gives you a makeup bag each month. So useful!

 

Since there were no foundation items I decided to use my regular skin care routine so I would look relatively presentable. I used my MaryKay moisturizers etc, their concealer, foundation, setting powder, blush, and since I had heard that the Fairy Dust by Pixi was a challenge to apply I also used my eye primer.
So this first picture here is with only the aforementioned products on. Ha, I say "only" like that isn't already a ton of stuff.

I started with:
NYX Cosmetics - Butter Lip Balm View here

I have two lip glosses from them that my beautiful makeup goddess of a friend Meyggy gave me. I was expecting to like the lip balm. However the color wasn't really my cup of tea. This is a beige/brownish nude color.

Before applying the lip balm. Please don't judge me too harshly. The resolution of my phone camera may just be too high for me. I really need to learn photoshop. On the other hand, at least you can see what it really looks like on a real person without editing.

Ack! Oh, well.

Now here it is with the tinted lip balm:

You can see it looks almost a bit goldish in the picture. I rarely use such nude tones, but it goes on smoothly and feels like it is hydrating my lips. I may get it in a different color for myself. Not too bad for 4 bucks.

Next I used:
Swissco - Electroplated Eyelash Curler View here

And unpackaged:

To be fair, I never use an eyelash curler. So it is harder for me to review this item as I don't have much in comparison to go on.

Here is the picture before I used it:

Now while using it:

And after:

Honestly I don't see much of a difference myself. I may need to use it more often or learn how to really do it properly. I guess this is the reason I've never used it regularly. I'm hoping to do a beauty day with my friend Meyggy and have her teach me all her secrets.

Next we have:
tarte - deluxe lights, camera, lashes™ 4-in-1 mascara View here

It is a small sample sized tube.

The mascara gives more length and volume. I do quite like it. The only drawback preventing me from possibly purchasing this item is, that it doesn't do a good job of separating the lashes. I don't like them to clump and go all spiderweby. I will use this mascara until it runs out though.

Time for that:
Pixi by Petra - Fairy Dust View here

Reading the reviews many people complained about this sponge applicator:

In the reviews I read people complained it was very messy to apply and that the built in sponge applicator wasn't the best way to apply the eyeshadow. So I decided to use a tissue to catch any straying powder. My poor husband had to come and take a picture of the process.

I was surprised that I didn't really have a problem with the powder straying. It went on pretty well and provided a decent amount of coverage.

 I actually like the color. It is very understated.

Usually I would apply this before the mascara. Some of the dust sparkled onto my eyelashes. I just went back over it with mascara this time around. I would however suggest adding the eyeshadow before the mascara. That's a good rule of thumb anyway. Also I checked and even after a few hours I had no issue with creasing.
From looking at the reviews I was expecting to like this least, but it's actually turned into one of my favorite items from this grab bag.

I'm going to interject my bonus item now because this is kind of the order in which I applied them. I used 500 of my ipsyPoints to have this added to my bag:
L.A. Colors - Chunky Lip Pencil in the shade wine View here

 I wanted to see what this would look like, so I wiped off the tinted lip balm and applied the chunky lip pencil.

I like the color. I also like the feel. It does go on smoothly and feels moisturizing. However the downside is, that while the pencil is retractable it starts out being too far out and mine partially broke off. It got kind of bent. I wasn't terribly happy about that. It made me be hesitant when applying it. It did dry out after a while. Considering the price tag of $3.50 and how much I liked the intense color I would probably get it again.

Here is what the look looks like with all of these products:

Last and also least is this hair product:
Coolway - Boost Repair Treatment View here

This is a type of hair mask. You apply it after shampoo and have to let it sit for at least 4 minutes.

It did make my hair very soft, untangled, and smooth. It does the trick. However I couldn't get over the smell. It smelled like gingerbread with hair dye. Yuck. I did not enjoy smelling like a hair salon. I just couldn't do it. But I'm pretty sensitive to smells. I doubt I'll even use what's left in the tube.
Here you can see my hair though, it is really shiny:

And now we're done. I hope you can find some of this information useful. As always I welcome all input and thoughts from anyone reading.

Now I'm all dressed up with nowhere to go:

I don't make any money or receive anything in return for posting about the ipsy items. However if you choose to sign up at ipsy with my link I do get points I can redeem for additional products like the lip pencil. Everything I write here is my personal opinion.