fivezero's Ipsy Glam Bag "Volume Up" (June 2017)

Ipsy — June 2017 Glam Bag “Volume Up”

2017-06-132017-07-05 fivezero8 Comments

I usually don’t get my Ipsy Glam Bag (referral link) here in Canada until the middle of each month, at the earliest—and yet, yesterday, the twelfth, I got my shiny hot pink June bag!

This month was the first time I tried emailing Ipsy to request an item to be included in my bag—apart from the one time they emailed me to let me try out a new system (I chose a mini of Ciaté Liquid Velvet Matte Lipstick in Pin Up).

From the initial list of spoilers released by Ipsy, I thought a black Make Up For Ever eyeliner was the best option I had (it wasn’t a great list! I’m not a huge black liner person) so I went ahead and asked if I could get that in my June bag. Customer service was happy to oblige.

Of course, a while later I saw more spoilers which included some great options I’d have picked instead (see my list below of other June items that Ipsy sent out). Boo! I actually think it makes more sense for me to just let Ipsy pick for me from now on, unless I see an item in the spoilers that I truly want. They’ve actually been doing a pretty great job for me—if only I could convince them that it’s OK to send me more than one nail polish per month!

Ipsy June 2017 Glam Bag: “Volume Up”

Image: ipsy.com

What I Received

Dr. Lili Fan Probiotic Recovery Cream (20 mL sample; 50 mL full size US$68)
Kokie Nail Polish in Atlantis At Last (16 mL full size; US$6)
Luna by Luna Eyeshadow in Jace (1.5 g full size; US$15)
Make Up For Ever Aqua XL Eye Pencil in M-10 Matte Black (0.8 g mini; 1.2 g full size US$21/CA$25)
NYX Whipped Lip & Cheek Soufflé in Plush (8 mL full size; US$6/CA$9)
Ipsy makeup bag

Glam Bag Cost

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

Total Bag Value

$27.20 + $6 + $15 + $14 + $6 = US$68.20

fivezero’s Ipsy June 2017 Glam Bag: “Volume Up”

Image: ipsy.com

Ipsy Coupon Codes

Dr. Lili Fan: 10% off any purchase with code IPSY (through 07/31/2017; US only)
Kokie: 25% off any purchase with code ipsy25 (through 07/31/2017; US & Canada only)
Luna by Luna: 20% off any purchase with code IPSY20 (through 07/31/2017)

There are currently no codes offered for MUFE and NYX, so I’ll just mention these discounts for two great Canadian brands (since I would have loved another Trust Fund Beauty nail polish, or either of the two Vasanti products on offer this month, the face scrub and the lip gloss):

Trust Fund Beauty: 30% off any purchase with code IPSY30 (through 07/31/12017)
Vasanti: 30% off any purchase with code IPSY30 (through 06/30/12017; US & Canada only)

Here are some more detailed product shots:

fivezero's IPSY Glam Bag "Much Love" February 2017

Ipsy — February 2017 Glam Bag “Much Love”

2017-02-242017-07-04 fivezero6 Comments

Everyone’s doing a little better today—no more fevers, just a little congestion—and Peanut made it back to school today, yay! I managed to use some of my Peanut-free time to write up my February Ipsy Glam Bag post. There are loads of goodies this month.

Seriously, Ipsy is totally killing it for me these days—and I got another nail polish!

When I saw that I was getting one of two shades of Trust Fund Beauty nail polish, I had my fingers crossed for $12 Latte, since I already have a mini of the other color, I Give Good Tweet. When I opened my Ipsy bag on Tuesday, out fell the deep, mauve-toned brown I had been hoping for. Awesome. (I’ve lucked out once before, when I received Urban Decay’s Lounge eyeshadow instead of Fireball, which I already had.)

I’ve also recently accumulated a lot of Ipsy points, mostly via referrals, so I have to give a huge thank you to those who used my referral link to join Ipsy! I was able to redeem some of the points for a couple of things last month, so I received those with my February Glam Bag.

Ipsy Glam Bag, February 2017, Much Love — Image: ipsy.com

Last time, I complained about how Ipsy’s point rewards always sold out too quickly, and that there weren’t enough of them. Lately, I’ve found it easier to jump onto the new rewards: they seem to upload refresh them on Friday nights (my time is EST). The point amounts required seem to have increased a little, but they’re also kind of inconsistent with regard to the dollar value of the rewards, too. I’ve seen an item retailing ~$6 cost ~400 pts, and an item retailing ~$40 cost ~800 pts. Who knows? Anyway, I don’t know if they really did anything or if I am just checking the rewards more often and lucking out, but it does feel like it’s been improved!

So…I love, love, love my Ipsy bag this month! Here’s what I got (four out of five are full-sized products!):

What I Redeemed 800 Ipsy Points For

Ren Evercalm Global Protection Day Cream (200 Ipsy Points for 30 mL deluxe sample; 50 mL full size US$45 / CA$56)
Wet n Wild MegaGlo Highlighting Powder in Crown of My Canopy (300 Ipsy Points for 5.4 g full size; US$4.99)
Wet n Wild MegaGlo Highlighting Powder in Precious Petals (300 Ipsy Points for 5.4 g full size; US$4.99)

What I Received

Juice Beauty PHYTO-PIGMENTS Last Looks Cream Blush in Flush (3 g full size; US$24)
Naked Cosmetics HD Finishing Powder in Banana (0.35 oz full size; US$23.99)
NYX Butter Lipstick in Lifeguard (4.5 g full size; full size US$6)
True Botanicals Resurfacing Moisture Mask (7 mL sample; 50 mL full size US$90)
Trust Fund Beauty Nail Polish in $12 Latte (17 mL full size; US$15)
Ipsy makeup bag

fivezero's Ipsy Glam Bag, February 2017, Much Love — fivezero’s Ipsy Glam Bag, February 2017, Much Love
Image: ipsy.com

Ipsy Coupon Codes

Juice Beauty: 25% off any purchase + free shipping on $30 orders with code ipsy217 (through 03/31/2017)
Naked Cosmetics: 30% off any purchase with code IPSY30 (through 03/31/2017)
NYX: 25% off Butter Lipstick with code BUTTERUP (through 03/31/2017, US only)
True Botanicals: 15% off your first purchase with code TRUEIPSY15 (through 03/31/2017)
Trust Fund Beauty: 30% off any purchase with code IPSY30 (through 03/31/2017)

Here are some more detailed product shots:

Ipsy — August 2016 Glam Bag “Sugar Highness”

2016-09-242017-07-05 fivezero1 Comment

Obviously, I’m quite late with my August Ipsy (referral link) bag. (The September Glam Bag post is on the way!) August was a busy month, with visitors coming and going, and baby Olive still in her second month of life.

She’s a total sweetheart, though. Looks just like her brother did at the same age, but with a dose of pixie. She’s got a bigtime appetite and loves to smile and coo from only one month. Plus, she’s already sleeping through the night at just under three months, which is why I’m no longer a zombie.

Back to Ipsy. August’s bag was a bit disappointing. It was a nice mix of products, but none of them were things I am especially keen to use. Some of it is quite expensive stuff, too, but still…eh.

Ipsy Glam Bag, August 2016, Sugar Highness — Image: ipsy.com

What I Received

111SKIN Bio Cellulose Facial Treatment Mask (23 mL 1-use full size; GBP£20, or GBP£85 for a 5-pack)
Beauty for Real I-LINE 24-7 Waterproof Eyeliner in Black Magic (0.28 g full size; US$14)
Lord & Berry 20100 Maximatte Crayon Lipstick in Intimacy (1.8 g mini; full size for US$20)
NYX Born to Glow Liquid Illuminator in Gleam (13 mL mini; full size 18 mL for US$7.50/CA$11)
Peter Lamas Supreme Radiance Complexion Booster (10 mL mini / full size 30 mL for USD$44)
Ipsy makeup bag

Here are some more detailed product shots:

New Release: NYX — 124 Hour Coverage Woke Up Like This Setting Spray

2016-04-01 fivezero5 Comments

Hmm, not quite as good as last year’s effort, but NYX definitely put a heckuva lot of work into their April Fool’s pranks!

I LOLed at the Glam Guard, though!

Happy April Fool’s Day! Here’s Illamasqua’s April Fool’s joke this year, if you missed it.

Haulage! November, Part II & Christmas

2016-01-182016-09-23 fivezero7 Comments

This post has been a long time coming!

I’m sure many of us have been insanely busy over the last month or two, and for me, I’ve finally reached a point where I can heave a sigh of relief and, hopefully, get back on track, blog-wise. I hope you haven’t been terribly bored by my recent non-nail polish related posts on perfume, more perfume, washing your hair in reverse, and handbags! While I enjoy collecting perfume and handbags, I’m no full-fledged perfumista or fashionista.

So, back in late November, I posted Part I of my birthday beauty haulage. In this post, I’ll combine Part II with my Christmas haulage.

I splurged on beauty products for my birthday; less so for Christmas. I tend to receive money for Christmas (our families like do that, including DH and myself simply exchanging Christmas budgets so we don’t have to go through the rigamarole of picking out unwanted gifts for each other), and while I spent a bit of it on beauty products—on sale post-holidays, of course!—I spent a lot of it on two non-beauty products, which I’ll post about at the end.

Unwanted Christmas gifts — Unwanted gifts! Image: gq.com

Without further ado, here’s Part II + Christmas:

November (Part II) & December Haulage

AMOUR & BARIELLE

Haulage: AMOUR June Is Here / MORGAN TAYLOR Mint Chocolate Chip / IBD Dolomite / BARIELLE Jess’ Champagne Toast — Amour Nail Lacquer in June Is Here, and Barielle Shades Nail Color in Jess’ Champagne Toast (yeah, I don’t get the name, either! Purple champagne?). Always like trying new brands! I actually have one other Barielle (Jordana’s Skinny Jeans) that I picked up from Winners some time ago, but it’s untried, so this brand remains new to me.

Shopping in Canada: NYX Canada is now shipping!

2015-11-032015-11-03 fivezero7 Comments

[Image: nyxcosmetics.ca]

The online store at NYX Canada (not affiliated) is now open for business! Shipping is free in Canada with purchases over $45. (So…$45.01 and up? That seems odd…)

Sadly, there’s no nail polish, nor even the new palettes and eyeshadow/blush pans, but there’s plenty more NYX products for Canadians to finally try out. My local Rexall doesn’t have the best selection of the brand, so it’s great to have more options online.

I personally like quite a lot of NYX products (maybe not love, but they’re definitely cheap and cheerful products that are so hard to resist!), especially the Butter Lipstick in Pops and the Matte Lipstick in Sierra. I also have several blushes and a ton of eyeshadows, for which I have to post pics and swatches sometime.

Incidentally, I noticed in late summer that Well.ca introduced NYX for a very short time, but inexplicably took it all off the site within a week or two! I emailed them about it, and they said NYX would be back on the site in 2016. I guess the launch of NYX Canada is probably the explanation.

Happy shopping! What will you be picking up at NYX Canada?

New Release: NYX — Custom Pro Palettes and Refill Pans for Eyeshadow, Blush & Contour

2015-10-192015-10-19 fivezero12 Comments

So NYX has fully jumped onto the MAC Pro bandwagon and released their versions of magnetic refillable eyeshadow and blush palettes, as well as refill pans!

This is fantastic news to me, as I hate having to depot eyeshadows, and love to have them all in reorganizable palettes. I also love that the new NYX palettes have a little notch by each pan (like the old school MAC palettes had) so you can easily remove pans. You know, instead of having to warp your poor palette every time you want to pop out a pan—thanks, MAC.

I definitely have my eye on the 9-pan eyeshadow palette, which retails for US$15. Not as cheap as I’d have liked from NYX, but if the quality is up to snuff, I won’t have any complaints. Now I rue all the time I spent depotting NYX eyeshadows with an Xacto and a flame, and sticking them into MAC palettes / cheapo palettes from eBay.