August Ipsy glambag: Glamour Academy

This month's theme for Ipsy was back to school, glamour school that is!

The bag itself is really cute in my opinion. It's a great wine shade and has gold "coat of arms" decorations with beauty products. Pretty fitting for glamour academy! 

August Glambag

Keep reading after the jump for all of this month's content, and LOTS of pictures!

So I am going to start with my favorite item from this month's bag, which I don't normally do.

I know that this was a controversial product because not everyone got it and frankly, everyone wanted it. I'm talking about Urban Decay's Revolution lipstick sample. 

It came inside a little booklet that advertised  and talked about the lipstick line, then had a chart of all the shades in this lipstick line. I liked this touch because it gave you the chance to see what other shades they made, in case this one wasn't your cup of tea. As you can see, it also circles the shade that is included that way you know before you open it up! 

The lipstick itself is nestled into the spine of the 'brochure', it is a small metal lipstick. It is so cute because although it is a sample it is really just a miniature version of the full sized product.

I got the shade '69' and I am so glad. While it wouldn't have been my first choice from the collection, it is definitely something I would have indeed picked out for myself. I also saw that some people got the shade 'anarchy' and I must say I'm glad I was not one of them. I got two bright pink lip products in my last 2 Ipsy bags and I'm not really a bright pink type of person!

This color is definitely red, but it also leans raspberry. It is not a true blue-toned red or even coral. But I really like it!

Urban Decay Revolution lipstick in 69

I just love how cute it looks!

Here is a swatch on my hand. As you can see, it is very pigmented, bright, and creamy. I don't have any swatches on my lips yet, because my lips were very dry when I received the bag and didn't want to accentuate it. But I will definitely be writing a full review of this lipstick and relaying whether or not I will be purchasing a full-sized version of this product! I love Urban Decay so I have a feeling I already know the answer!

I love that on the bottom there is a sticker in the corresponding shade and name. 

A full size version of this lipstick retails here for $22 for 2.8 grams

This sample version is approximately half of that, making it worth roughly $11

The rest of the bag wasn't wow-worthy. However, I find that the UD lipstick definitely makes up for that. This month more than any other, I saw huge differences in what people got in their bags. Let's see what I got in mine:

Mica Beauty Cosmetics shimmer powder in bronze. I discovered through their website that this is mineral makeup, even though it doesn't say it on the packaging. The website says it is free of preservatives, chemicals, dyes, talcs, oils, and other fillers. Which is pretty cool! 

This is a full sized product at 2.5 g I have never heard of this brand before but I was pretty impressed by the packaging. Seemed very professional.

Inside there is a sifter with a few holes that make it easier to seperate product and not spill it everywhere. And no, that's not a spill! I did that on purpose ;)

Mica cosmetics swatch

Here you can see it swatched on my hand, without any primer. As you can see it is quite shimmery and pigmented. It was very easy to get this product to show up. While I wouldn't say that bronze would be my first choice, it is a nice color to have in my arsenal, especially in a mineral shadow.

And yes, that is the Revolution lipstick still clinging even after I tried rubbing it off. I decided to leave it to show that it stays put!  Hopefully it does the same on the lips!

This product can be found here and retails for $14.95

Most people got one of two Michael Todd True Organics products. I got the Pumpkin facial mask.

 It says it moisturizes and nourishes, and is okay for all skin types except sensitive. I don't think I have sensitive skin so I should be good to go on this.

This is a brand I have never heard of or tried, on top of the fact that I don't usually use face masks. That doesn't mean I won't use it, though! Face masks aren't apart of my normal routine but I am down to try things.

The website claims that it dissolves impurities such as dead skin and clogged pores. It also claims to add brightness and significantly improve fine lines & wrinkles after just one use.

Those are some pretty heavy weighted claims! I can't wait to try it out and see if it really lives up to all the claims it makes. 

I have to admit I was excited when I saw pumpkin. However, the pumpkin smell is more like raw pumpkin, like that you would find it baby food or something. Not too appealing. But, it could be worse!

Even though this is a fairly big bottle, it is actually a sample size. It says to apply a thin layer and only to apply once every 1-2 weeks, so I think this sample will last me a little while! 

The full size of 3.4 oz can be found here and retails for $34.00

The sample size is 1 oz which amounts to roughly $10

I realize I should have had some sort of size comparison to make it obvious that this is a "premium sample size". In fact, I just entered a sweepstakes they were having on facebook to receive a premium sample of this product, and won! So now I have two samples of this.

Of course, I have heard of Smashbox even though I don't own anything by them. I have tried samples of their infamous primer before, and it worked great.

However, I am one of the girls who uses Monistat Anti-chafing gel if I need to use primer under my foundation (which I rarely do). The ingredients are the same and in my experience (and plenty of other bloggers- just google it!) it works roughly the same amount.

With that said, I will happily use up this sample! It just won't be a product that I will be purchasing in the future. 

I didn't bother with a swatch seeing as it is clear.

The full size bottle can be purchased here and retails at $36.00

Nowhere on the site do I see the size of the full version, and as you can see the sample is .25 fl oz

I am going to make a ROUGH estimate (I could be completely off) that this sample is about a 5th or so of the full version. Making this worth ROUGHLY $7-8. It could be way less, or it could be way more, I am really bad at guessing that type of thing, sorry!

The last thing in this month's bag was this Lash Boostter Mascara in blackest black by Pixi

I have never tried this brand but I see it every time I am at target. This seems  to be a full sized product but I can't be sure.

Honestly I was so excited to receive a mascara that I immediate put it on- without curling my lashes first and I was sorely disappointed. The website claims to define, lengthen and thicken. The only thing I saw was thickening. I am going to give this one another go but so far, I am not a fan.

This can be found here and retails for $17.00

All in all I am pleased with the products I got to try, and the WOW effect of the Urban Decay lipstick make up for the rest of the bag, completely.

In terms of value, once again I am impressed!

Retail value: $60.50

As usual the monthly subscription cost: $10

That is huge! Especially considering the fact that you can't BUY samples, so if you wanted to try these things you'd have to shell out the full price, which ISN'T included in the retail value!

Once again I come away recommending everyone to try Ipsy. Especially if you are like me and don't try new brands very often, it's a great way to try out brands you may have never considered!

If you do sign up, I would sure appreciate it if you did so through my referral link!

Follow your bliss,

Ember Darling

p.s. I'm quite proud of these pictures, as I put more effort and time into them. Let me know if you noticed a difference! I'm probably the only one but I'm satisfied! :P