IPSY is a beauty box subscription created by Michelle Phan. I've had a subscription to IPSY for over three years and for $10 a month you get a mini bag (which are a hit or miss design wise) and 5 samples sent to you. All of the samples are deluxe/full sizes and come from brands like OFRA, Mellow, Too Faced, Crown Brush, The Balm, Bare Minerals, etc... It's a similar concept to other beauty box subscriptions (like Sephora Play, Boxycharm, BirchBox, etc). The only other beauty box subscription that I recently subscribed to is Sephora Play.
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| September IPSY bag 2016 |
Signing Up
When I first signed up for IPSY I was on a waitlist. Now I've seen them do certain days where they have "no waitlist" and anyone can sign up and other times you have to submit your email and get notified when there's a spot.
It's available in the US and Canada and my bag is usually shipped towards the middle of the month. You get a tracking number so you can see when your bag will be arriving and my bag has only ever not tracked once (said undelivered after I waited a couple weeks) and IPSY replaced it when I let them know.
When you initially sign up you take a short beauty quiz and that's supposed to help them match you to products you might like. Personally I've found the quiz isn't that helpful because sometimes I'll retake it and put I don't like any nail polish only to get nail polish in my next bag.. but for the most part I think it helps them to match makeup to your shade.
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| Ipsy Bag May 2016 |
PROS and CONS
IPSY only works with certain brands and I feel like I kept getting products from the same brands over and over (like NYX, Formula X, Starlooks, Elizabeth Mott, Mellow, TreStiQue).
At first trying out a brand I've never heard of is fine but when I keep getting that same brand over and over again AFTER I've given a review that I don't like it gets annoying. That's something IPSY needs to fix.
One thing that I do like about IPSY is that you can leave reviews and earn points to redeem for extra products. However, these points expire and their website used to not tell you what/when points will expire, so I've lost a lot of points that way. Now their website will tell you "5 points will expire 11/1/2016" but I still find it difficult to manage my points and see exactly how long I have points for... You can save up points for larger items but with points expiring (and the site not being super clear on points) means it's kind of a gamble saving for larger items and I usually just end up getting smaller samples as my reward.
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| Ipsy Bag June 2016 |
Worth It?
Honestly when I first started IPSY I loved it. Now I feel like a lot of the bags I've been getting only have a couple things in it I'm actually excited for. I'm going to keep my subscription for now and hope it gets better.
I've also been noticing that IPSY often promotes one high-end deluxe sample that you'll get (such as a UD shadow, The Balm shadow, Bare Minerals lip product, Smashbox primer, etc) but you only get one of these and the rest of products in your bag are kind of bummer items. My other box has been giving me a lot better samples and from brands that I've actually heard of. The only item that I really love each time is when IPSY gives brushes.
Here's a list of items I've gotten in my past two IPSY boxes:
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| Click here to watch my July IPSY unboxing |
July 2016
- OFRA Lipliner (full size)
- Delectable by Cake Beauty Lotion (deluxe sample)
- Mellow Cosmetics Baked Eyeshadow (full size)
- Too Faced Hangover Primer (deluxe sample)
- Luxie Beauty Brush (full size)
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| Click here to watch my August IPSY unboxing |
August 2016
- Dermelect Nail Polish (full size)
- It Hair Care 12-in-One (deluxe sample I think)
- Lord & Berry Matte Lip Crayon (deluxe sample)
- Jose Maran Whipped Mud Mask (sample)
- It Cosmetics No Tug Waterproof Gel Liner (deluxe sample)
I subscribe to IPSY with my own money.
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