"Unbagging" April Dreams

This month my Ipsy bag was amazing! I didn’t really care too much for the actual bag itself, but the contents this month have been my absolute favorite! I don’t really care to the tie-dyed thing and the colors just weren’t my thing, but in the end, does the bag really matter? No, it’s whats “inside that counts”. I love that this month’s theme is “dreamers” I love to dream and sleep, especially when I’m sick.

The first product that I received in my goody bag is something that I will definitely use every day. It’s a black eyeliner from a company called Starlooks. It’s called the Luxe Longwear Eye Pencil, in Jet. It is most definitely jet black, which I love and I know I’ll use. I love that this liner is so long wearing, I couldn’t even wipe it off with coconut oil. This eyeliner glides on so smoothly. I wore it with my ColourPop eyeshadow in Sugar, an icy blue. It looked amazing and it didn’t smear in my crease. Sometimes my eyeliners will crease in the far corners of my eyes. The black stayed vibrant. I really love the way this eyeliner went on and how long it stayed looking freshly applied. The eyeliner retails for $16. I couldn’t find whether or not this particular brand is cruelty-free, so I will not purchase it on my own unless I can find out of it is CF. Gotta love those bunnies and puppies!

The next thing that I absolutely love is the Highlight Trio from City Color  Cosmetics. I have worn this quite a bit since receiving this in my bag. Oh how I love it! It glides on so smooth, like velvet. It actually feels like velvet to the touch. The three colors are gold, icy white and rose gold. So far I’ve used the white and rose gold. I haven’t used the gold, I don’t think it’s going to look right with my skin tone. I prefer to use them with primer, foundation, and blush. I make sure to always use a setting spray. I like to use the Urban Decay setting spays to help me sent my makeup. I did use the trio without foundation and primer and it doesn’t last as long. The retail price for the trio is $8.99. There are too collections, one for lighter skin tones like mine and one for darker skin tones. I read that these are cruelty-free! I’d buy this for $8.99!

Highlight Trio

I was also very excited to get the Tarte cosmetics LipSurgence Lip Cream in Wonder. This is the most amazing color for Spring! Apparently Tarte is a an approved cruelty-free line. I do question the validity of this because I have heard otherwise! Wonder retails for $24. Mine is obviously a sample, not a full size. It does glide on smoothly, but make sure your lips are smooth and moisturized because little lines will show up! The color is described as poppy (a warm pink tone) and is the darkest shade in the lip creams. Make sure to use a liner because the color will bleed. I wore this to work the other day and sure enough, the color feathered and got into the lines in my lips. I generally use the NYX clear color so that I don’t have to by a liner for every lipstick. This is not a long lasting color, so be prepared to reapply. I wore it out to eat with my mom and the color most definitely came off.  I would
purchase this product and I’m happy to have the opportunity to test it out beforehand. It’s a great everyday color for spring.

Oh this brush, how I love this brush! A crown fit for a queen! This is the C427 Duo Fiber Blush Brush from Crown Brushes and I have been using this nonstop with my blush. It does pick up quite a bit of product, so be light handed. It retails for $23.73 but on the Crown Brushes website you can pick it up for $9.49. This is another case of “I can’t find if this is a cruelty-free product or not”. I will not purchase from a company that is not cruelty-free. The bristles are so soft to the touch and feels amazing on the face!

The last thing that I got in my bag were two of the pur~lisse sheet masks. I see sheet masks at Sephora  near the register and this is something that I have been wanting to get my hands on for a while. I have heard about this brand, but I was never really interested in trying the line. But, I’m glad that I had the opportunity to give it a go. Obviously two masks were sent.  I already used the Blue Lotus + Seaweed mask. It was an interesting experience. First off I looked like Leatherface. OK, that’s to be expected. It’s what’s underneath that counts. It was a little awkward adjusting the mask to my face. Not impossible, just annoying. I felt that the mask was going to fall off, it didn’t though. It smelled pretty too. You start with a clean face, apply the mask, wait 15-20 minutes and then take it off. According to the site, you don’t rinse, just massage into your skin to let it absorb the essence. One application doesn’t equal results. After the hideous mask, my face did feel nice. You can put the mask in the freezer to calm puffy looking, tired skin or steep it in hot water to open your pores, this is all according to the site.  I have photos below of the actual mask on my face. I did neither of the options recommended on the website. The masks retail for $8 and the company claims to be cruelty-free.

This was by far my favorite Ipsy bag. Like I said above, I hope I said it above, I’m not sneaking a peak at May’s bag. I’m going to try to hold off until the bag comes to me in the mail. Some of my friends have started subscriptions too. I have a coworker who is subscribed to three boxes/bags, Ipsy, Birchbox (my 2nd choice) and Glossybox. I think I’d be too overwhelmed! For now, I’m sticking to Ipsy, as long as they don’t send me nail products! Anyway, I hope all of you are healthy,  because I wasn’t, and wise! Thanks for listening to me rant! Until next time XOXOX

Trying on the mask. One day before getting sick!

Swatch of the Lip Cream from tarte

Swatch of the eyeliner

Swatch of the Highlighter colors