New Subscription: Ipsy vs. TopBox! February 2014 Review

Okay, so you may be familiar with my Topbox FAIL that took place over the second half of 2013. Well, when I finally quit Topbox, I put myself on the wait-list for Ipsy, another beauty product subscription service. The wait-list for Ipsy is about 2-3 months, and I actually forgot that I'd signed up for it with a credit card until I got the ship notification in the old in-box.

Had I been required to actively sign up for the service, I likely would have declined the offer at this point. After a couple months of sober second thought away from the recurring disappointment that was TopBox, I have concluded that I really don't need any make-up and skin-care samples. At all. I have tons of make-up, skin-care products, and a whooole wall of nail polish, all of which I chose and purchased for myself.

BUT, I did miss having a regular blog subject, so...I'll stick with it for a bit, at least. Especially if the next few months are as good as this one!

So, you ask, what is the deal with Ipsy? Well, it is an American product subscription service, and it costs $14.95USD/month, including shipping. This works out to about $16.50CDN (Topbox was $13.65 all in). When you sign up for a "glam bag" (yes, the products actually come in a tiny make-up bag), you complete a survey that provides lots of details about your looks and preferences, so each bag is supposedly customized for the person who gets it. This is in contrast to Topbox, where everybody gets the same crap they could have just gone to Shoppers for. As a result, there is no product card included, but you can log onto their website for details about the products you receive.

Here are the things I got from Ipsy this month:

This is the bag! It is cheap and pink, but definitely re-usable.

I think I'll put dog treats in it.

Here are all the products, gathered together, relaxing on the edge of our deck. (It's winter!!)

This is a full-sized bottle of Zoya light pink nail polish. I can always use more nail polish! This, to me, is more of a summer shade, though, so I haven't tried it yet. It might be nice for a French Manicure base. For now, it will find its home on my nail-polish wall.

I would also like to note how happy I am that this is a normal colour, unlike the Gumby-green TopBox foisted on me last August.

This is a lip-gloss in a crowd-pleasing shade of cherry-pink. It has a "lip plumpers" in it, so it is a little fizzy-feeling. Still, it is pretty nice and I'll use it.

False eyelashes!! I have never used these ever in my life. However, fellow blogger megansgotmoxie (check out her A-Z Resto Tour on tumblr) is a real pro in this area, so perhaps I'll hit her up for a little help with them.

These kind of scare me, actually.

I looove this! It is a full-sized cream eye shadow from Eyetini. It has a nice smooth texture and it is a colour I will use.

Much nicer than the Loreal one-use foil pods TopBox was tossing around...

This is the only product I got this month that would qualify as a "sample", AND it is not a sample that you can readily get for free down the street at your local cosmetics counter. (Are you listening, TopBox???)

This is a 2-stage mask: clay base, and "activating gel". I haven't tried it yet, but it looks cool and I'm looking forward to slapping it on and looking like a swamp-monster for 10 minutes later tonight.



So, all things considered, I'm definitely sticking with Ipsy for a little while at least. This collection was way more interesting and useful than anything I ever got from TopBox. I'm glad I didn't cancel the subscription, too, because now I get mail! And have something to blog about!

Is anybody else out there getting Ipsy? Or another subscription box? Or has TopBox gotten better in the last couple of months? Let me know in the comments!

Thanks for reading! xoxo