Ipsy Glam Bag: July

The theme of July's Glam Bag was Beach Beauty.

I know, I know. Nothing like getting the July post up on the 1st of August! I could tell you that I've had a lot going on but the truth is that I'm ridiculously lazy. I don't have an ideal setup for taking pictures (still trying to get my boyfriend to build me a lightbox ;) so when I was unhappy with these pictures I kept wanting to take new ones, but the chance never arose.

Finally I decided to say screw it and post it anyway. So, yeah, I can see that these pictures aren't the greatest. But hey, it's a learning curve. I'm still new at this :) 

The July Ipsy bag arrived in a much more timely manner than last time, even if my post doesn't reflect it. Another thing I did this time was refrain from looking at other posts about it, or looking at my glam room before I got it. This time, everything in the bag was a total surprise!

While I definitely enjoyed having it be a surprise, I'm not so sure if I will do this in the future. It was so hard!

July beach beauty glam bag

The bag this month was a neon pink transparent-type plastic bag. It definitely reminded me of a beach bag, particularly the material which seems to be water resistant. The color is a little bright for me but again, it seems quite beachy. I especially like that the Ipsy logo is printed on this bag.

Read about the contents of the bag-listed from least favorite to favorite- after the jump-->

Coola tinted moisturizer

The first item in the bag is a tinted moisturizer CC cream sample from Coola. (.23 oz) I have never heard of this brand and in fact I have never used a tinted moisturizer or CC cream. It is mineral sunscreen with an SPF of 20. The bottle says it is organic. This product is hypoallergenic, paraben free, anti-aging, and water resistant.

Coola tinted moisturizer swatch

Here is the moisturizer swatched on my hand. As you can see once it is rubbed in it is fairly light coverage. I haven't yet tried this product on my face, but I'm excited to. I just hope it matches me as a shade. It looks like it might be a shade too dark, but because it is so light, it might not matter. 

This product also is labeled "rose essence" but I did not detect a strong rose scent.

The full size version of this product (1.7 oz) retails at $36.00 and can be found here.

There is no sample size available for purchase but oz per oz it would amount to be about $4.87

Pop pouty pop crayon in fuschia flirt

The second item is a Pop beauty brand pouty pop crayon in fuschia flirt. This is another brand and product that I have never tried. I mostly stick to lipsticks, particularly long wear ones. 

When I first swatched it I thought wow that looks like a pretty bright pink. Perhaps it would go with the lipliner found in the June Ipsy bag?

So, I compared them side by side. As you can see: nope! It's kind of funny. When I first swatched the lipliner I thought the color was great. After I put it on my lips I realized it was way too bright pink for me. Seeing it next to this lip  crayon makes me think that I will not like this lip crayon on my lips. If that's the case then this will be a product I won't be using.

This lip crayon can only be found in a set of 6. 

It retails for $25 for the set of 6 here 

making the price of one around $4.16

SexyHair beach spray

This is a trial sized bottle of HealthySexyHair Soy Renewal Beach Spray.

This is a texturizing spray meant to give you those beach waves everyone covets, without damaging your hair with salt water or other drying products. It contains argon oil and other ingredients to keep your hair healthy while giving it texture and style.

Here is a picture next to my hand for size comparison. The sample bottle is 1.7 oz

I really like this product. I have always wanted to try a beach spray but didn't know which to try first! I have pretty straight hair naturally, and when applied dry (even though it is recommended to apply when wet) it gave my hair some nice beach waves texture!

This product retails at $19.99 for a full size  (5.1 oz) at Ulta

Making the sample size worth about $6.66

Nailtini nail lacquer

The next product is a nail lacquer from the brand Nailtini. I have never heard of this brand, but I love nail polish. I like the packaging and 'gimmick' of the martini a lot. Also it is 3-free which is great!

Here is what the bottle looks like. It is a burnt orange shade.

I got the shade Mai Tai. I also like how the shade names correspond to the "drink" theme.

Nailtini's website describes Mai Tai as a "vibrant sunrise coral". I think this leads far more orange to be truly 'coral' but it definitely reminds me of a sunrise!

Nailtini Mai Tai swatch

While this is not the first color I would go for, I still think it's a decent shade. It's a tad too bright for me. However, I was extremely pleased with the formula! This swatch is with only one coat. It is a tiny bit streaky so it definitely could have been evened out by either a second coat or a top coat. It's so shiny on it's own without a topcoat! And the formula is really a dream to me. So creamy and thick, but not too thick to work with. I think I will definitely consider buying from this brand in the future! 

This polish retails for $13 on the nailtini website.

While I really enjoyed the formula of this polish, I can't say I will be buying it again due to the price. This is a budget blog and I don't think it would be right for my budget to spend $13 on a nail polish. Maybe if there was a shade that really caught my eye AND I saw it swatched first and still loved it- then I would go ahead and buy it, and I encourage you to do the same. 

Now, the best for last. While I can't say this product ended up being my favorite, it was certainly the product I was most excited about seeing.

This is a sample pack of eyeshadows from Bhcosmetics from their new California Collection

This is a brand that I have heard a lot of good things about but never tried.

They are infamous for their large, affordable palettes

This sample has one eyeshadow from each of their California Collection palettes- Hollywood, San Francisco, and Malibu

 On the left there is a dark purple shade representing Hollywood. This looks to have shimmer, and almost a  green-tinted shimmer to it, but you will see in the swatch that that did not translate to skin.

In the middle is a bronzy brown with gold glitter representing San Francisco.

And on the right is a bright yellow gold representing Malibu.

Alright let's break down this swatch and once again I apologize for the picture not being the greatest.

The colors appear in the same order they appear in the palette

The top row is eyeshadow only

The middle row is Urban Decay primer potion  + eyeshadow

The bottom row is Urban Decay primer potion + Nyx eye pencil in Milk + eyeshadow

As you can see, the eyeshadows on their own are not that pigmented or eyecatching, particularly the purple shade.

the primer definitely helps the golden shades pop, and when layered on top of the white eyeliner, the purple shade finally pops!

After reading some reviews I found that some people were intimidated by the purple shade and were actually glad that it wasn't that pigmented. I am not one of those people. I like bold, pigmented colors. I was a little disappointed by these. I really do like the gold shades though and definitely plan on using the Malibu shade quite often.

The California Collection palettes are on sale right now here! 

They include 8 eyeshadows and 4 blushes

They regularly retail for $17.95 

but are currently on sale for $8.95!

Plus, if you are an IPSY member you get an additional 10% off

Instead of trying to figure out the price based on the palettes I am going to compare it to their single shadows (which are also on sale!) but normally retail for $1.95

So the retail price of this sample palette would be  $5.85

Overall, I am pretty pleased with this bag. I am excited to try brands that I might not have before, however I know that I will probably never use the lip crayon. I wish it would have included more full size products, or at least products that you could buy on your own (without buying a set or a palette).

The retail value of everything in this bag was  around $34.54

As always the monthly price of Ipsy is just $10!

Once again the monetary value of the bag completely exceeds what you pay, which is what I love about Ipsy!

Be sure to sign up, you don't want to miss the chance to have everything from indie to high end brands delivered right at your doorstep every month!

click here to sign up! 

For full disclosure that is a referral link and I will receive extras in my bag if I refer friends

I can't wait to see what the fall will bring with Ipsy! I am sure I am going to love the color schemes a lot more than summer :)

Follow your bliss,

Ember Darling