fivezero's Ipsy Glam Bag "Spellbound" October 2017

Ipsy — October 2017 Glam Bag “Spellbound”

2017-10-172017-10-17 fivezero2 Comments

If you’re counting right, you’ll notice that my October Glam Bag only contains four products! Yes, for the first time in 29 Glam Bags, Ipsy made a mistake. I was supposed to receive a BLAQ Mask—which totally makes me think of Jet Li, and not the Batman villain—but it didn’t arrive. I contacted Ipsy and right away they told me they are sending it out ASAP.

(By the way, this month marks my 2-year Ipsy-versary, though I did have a hiatus in the middle of it—we were on a break!)

So, here’s my October Ipsy Glam Bag (referral link) with just the four items that did arrive.

Ipsy October 2017 Glam Bag: “Spellbound”

Image: ipsy.com

What I Received

BLAQ Mask (15 mL sample; 60 mL for CA$24 / 2 × 60 mL for $29 / 3 × 60 mL for $35) [has not arrived]
IT Cosmetics Bye Bye Pores Pressed Powder (3 g sample; 9 g for US$29)
Pretty Woman Nail Medic Charcoal Infused Nail Polish in Volcanic Ash (10 mL full size; US$7.99)
tarte Lifted Sweatproof Mascara (3 mL sample; 7 mL for US$23)
TonyMoly Peach Hand Cream (10 mL sample; 30 mL for US$12)
Ipsy makeup bag

Glam Bag Cost

$10 + $4.99 (shipping to Canada) = US$14.99

Total Bag Value

CA$6 + $9.67 + $7.99 + $9.86 + $4
= US$31.52 + CA$6.00
≈ US$36.30

I had a pretty low bag value this month, mostly due to the fact I only had one full-sized item in my Glam Bag! Quite a disappointment. I do like all the products I got, though, so it’s not that I’m unhappy. Yet, if I get another Pretty Woman nail polish next month while there are other cool nail brands available, I’m going to be fairly annoyed. (Seriously, I just got another Pretty Woman polish last month! I like the brand but I want to try new things.)

fivezero’s Ipsy October 2017 Glam Bag

Image: ipsy.com

Ipsy Coupon Codes

Pretty Woman: 30% off any purchase with code NMOCT17 (through 11/30/2017)

There were no codes for most of my items, so here are a few other good ones available:

Bio Republic: 30% off any purchase with code IPSY30 (through 11/30/2017; US & CA only)
Context Skin: 25% off any purchase with code IPSY25 (through 11/30/2017; US & CA only)
fatboy: 30% off any purchase with code IPSYFATBOY30 (through 12/01/2017; US & CA only)

Sokoglam: 20% off any purchase with code IPSTERS (through 11/30/2017)

Here are some more detailed product shots:

DECIEM — The Ordinary Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% Blemish Formula Review

2017-10-162017-10-16 fivezeroLeave a comment

Niacinamide was one of the first skincare products I ordered from DECIEM’s The Ordinary, and over the course of about four months, I used up a full 30 mL bottle.

The product’s full name is Niacinamide 10% + Zinc 1% High-Strength Vitamin and Mineral Blemish Formula, and it is meant to fade blemish spots, reduce skin congestion, and brighten skin tone.

Here is DECIEM’s description of the product:

Niacinamide (Vitamin B3) is indicated to reduce the appearance of skin blemishes and congestion. A high 10% concentration of this vitamin is supported in the formula by zinc salt of pyrrolidone carboxylic acid to balance visible aspects of sebum activity.

Contraindications: If topical Vitamin C is used as part of skincare, it should be applied at alternate times with this formula (ideally Vitamin C in the PM and this formula in the AM). Otherwise, Niacinamide can affect integrity of pure-form Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid).

Notes: While Niacinamide and Zinc PCA reduce the look of blemishes and balance visible sebum activity, neither is a treatment for acne. For persistent acne-related conditions, we recommend the use of Benzoyl Peroxide and/or Retinoic Acid. DECIEM doesn’t recommend ongoing use of BHA such as Salicylic Acid for persistent blemishes. For temporary improvement in appearance of blemishes, Salicylic Acid would help. This formulation can be used alongside acne treatments if desired for added visible skin benefits.

Independent studies suggest Niacinamide is also an effective ingredient for brightening skin tone.

As per instructions, I did not use any Vitamin C with Niacinamide; other studies have suggested that use of these two in conjunction on the skin may not be a problem—for example, the TIA’M Vitamin C serum I am using at the moment actually contains niacinamide, as well!). However, I wasn’t introducing any Vitamin C to my skincare routine at the time I was trying out the Niacinamide, so I did follow DECIEM’s recommendation by default.

Nails Inc. Nail Polish in Rainbow Wishes (Sparkle Like a Unicorn Duo), swatch

Nails Inc. — Rainbow Wishes (Sparkle Like a Unicorn Nail Polish Duo) Swatch & Review

2017-10-132017-10-13 fivezero5 Comments

It’s Friday the 13th!

Bit of trivia: I have never seen a Friday the 13th movie! (Well, unless you count the crossover movie Freddy vs. Jason.) I think this month, I should catch up on my classic slasher films. I haven’t watched any horror movies this October, at all!

Collection: Nails Inc. 2017 Spring, Sparkle Like a Unicorn

Anyway, today’s polish is as far as you can get from horrifying. It’s from Nails Inc.’s Sparkle Like a Unicorn Nail Polish Duo. Pretty much everyone has jumped onto that shiny unicorn bandwagon, these days! I can’t say I hate it: I love me some iridescent nail polish, and purple and rainbows and stuff. Also, it’s produced My Little Pony makeup collaborations (yes, I have a mini set of the China Glaze MLP polishes, and I have the ColourPop MLP palette on order), so you’ll hear no complaints from me.

[Also, I woke up this morning to news from Nails Inc.: they’ve introduced another unicorn collection, Dirty Unicorns! (And my database link.)]

Today’s polish, Rainbow Wishes, is described by Nails Inc. as a “soft rainbow sheen.”

It is a very shimmery pearl that flashes blue, lavender, and pink.

Julep — Christi (Nail Color) Swatch & Review

2017-10-122017-10-11 fivezero2 Comments

Collection: Julep 2017 Fall, October “Trancing in the Moonlight”

It’s rare for me to find my name in a cosmetic item—even though I really do not have an uncommon English name—and I almost always buy a similar-named one when I see it. Over the years, I’ve picked up NARS Christina lipstick and nail polishes Zoya Christinna, NYX Christine, and Julep Chrissy and Christa. Only one of those is my actual name!

So, when Julep released a polish named Christi in their latest collection, I was thrilled to see that it was a color I liked, and included it in my October Maven Box. Julep calls it an “enchanted teal shimmer”. I don’t think it’s super-enchanting (somehow that evokes iridescence in my mind) but it’s hot stuff, nonetheless.

It’s a deep, vampy teal shimmer that leans a little more green—at least on me—though when I removed it, it looked very blue and stained my nails blue. These deep, rich blue shades always seem to stain horribly. Small price to pay for such gorgeousness, in my opinion.

fivezero's Julep Maven Box plus Add-Ons, October 2017

Julep — Maven Box (October 2017)

2017-10-11 fivezero2 Comments

I wasn’t completely in love with all of the new October 2017 polishes from their Trancing in the Moonlight collection, so I just got Christi (seems like that’s as close to my name as I’m gonna get, ha!) and tried out a lip gloss in a subtly shimmery burgundy, Vivid. I do like the Julep makeup brushes, so I snagged the Eyeshadow Brush; this was the first time during my subscription that I’ve seen this particular brush available for the Maven Box.

October 2017 — Maven Box

Eyeshadow Brush
Lip Gloss in Vivid
Nail Color in Christi

I’ve already tried on Christi and it is love!

I’m not 100% sold on the lip gloss, but I’ll have to use it a bit more to see for sure. The color is pretty, though.

And I added on a few extra items. Alonna was the other October polish shade I kind of wanted, and it was available in a Nail Color Trio add-on for just $12.99. Then I picked up two other shades I’ve been eyeing up for $4.99 each.

Nail Color Trio in Ainsley, Alonna, and Janae
Nail Color in Jaydra
Nail Color in Nell

With the purchase of three add-ons, I also received a free mystery polish, which unfortunately ended up being one I already received in a 10-polish mystery box:

Nail Color in Ani

I’m starting to save up my Julep dupes for a future giveaway…

Here are some more detailed pics of the goods:

Rebecca Minkoff, Small Soft Love Crossbody with Guitar Strap, in Beet

Happy National Handbag Day! Rebecca Minkoff — Small Soft Love Crossbody with Guitar Strap Review

2017-10-102017-10-10 fivezero3 Comments

Happy National Handbag, everybody!

Last month, I shopped a sale at Rebecca Minkoff (referral link—plus, code HANDBAG25 gets you 25% off selected styles, plus free duties and taxes to Canada, for today only!) and picked up two bags for my upcoming birthday (yes, yes, it was three months early, but sales this good don’t happen every month, y’know). The RM team had apparently been having customer service issues at the time—which I didn’t find out until after I placed the order, naturally—and I admittedly did have some issues with their website functionality. However, the order did go through properly, and my bags arrived promptly in Canada via BorderFree shipping. Maybe they’d gotten their act together by the time I ordered, but my order went smoothly.

I will mention one thing for Canadian customers: RM.com offers free international shipping with a US$300 order. But, when you switch over to the Canadian site with prices in Canadian dollars, they don’t tell you how much you need to spend. Now, it’s obviously my fault for submitting my order without checking to see if I was getting free shipping (d’oh!) but it turns out I had spent exactly US$299. I ended up paying CA$35 for shipping when I could easily have added a low-value item (not that there are loads of those at this store) to my shopping cart and gotten free shipping. Bleah! But, lesson learned. At least I did get CA$12 back via ebates.ca (referral link).

The sale was pretty awesome: I paid CA$197.06 for a Small Soft Love Crossbody with Guitar Strap in Beet, which had an original price of CA$295.04 (US$225), and CA$193.14 for a Geo Quilted Love Crossbody in Mushroom, which was originally CA$386.83 (US$295.)

I’ve not generally been a fan of many of Rebecca Minkoff’s newer styles, which are often a bit too inspired by popular luxury bags, and usually I just don’t think they look anywhere as nice as her more original designs (MAC, MAM, etc.).

The Love Crossbody is one exception. It’s clearly inspired by the immensely popular and immensely expensive Chanel Boy bag. But there’s something about RM’s take on it that really appeals to me, and much more so than the original bag does. Every time I see a Boy, I admire its luxe look, but gosh darn it, it looks ridiculously heavy! The Love Crossbody is a lot less expensive, and as such it doesn’t have that heavy, chunky hardware and thick leather. It has a more lightweight, playful vibe that I personally prefer. (It also doesn’t have the large in-your-face logo that the Chanel has.)

Londontown Lakur Enhanced Colour in Emerald Tower, swatch

Londontown — Emerald Tower (Lakur Enhanced Colour) Review

2017-10-06 fivezero5 Comments

Brand: Londontown

Londontown is, like butter LONDON, an American nail polish brand inspired by all things British, complete with British spelling and slang.

I recently came across a few Londontown shades, and picked up a couple for review. I’d heard of them before, as I they were offered by Ipsy a while back, though I sadly did not receive one.

Emerald Tower is described as a “creamy hunter green.” It’s a rich, ultra-dramatic shade of vampy green in a cream finish.

fivezero

a tiny bit obsessed with nail polish

Author: fivezero

Ipsy — October 2017 Glam Bag “Spellbound”