The Monkey Is In.

So be prepared. Bring a banana.

I'm a writer of horror and dark fiction. I've been doing this since 1999 and believe me when I say, it's cheaper than therapy and safer for the world at large.

May Ipsy Bag

For the first time since signing up for Ipsy back in October, I was NOT home when it arrived this month. I was working a comic convention over the weekend and I like to get a hotel room nearby so I don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to drive out there before the masses swamp the highways and parking areas! So not only is this a bit later than I planned, I was also chomping at the bit to get home and tear into it! And see my husband and dogs, too, of course.

*shifty eyes*

The May Ipsy bag theme is "Jet Setter". I'm still not all that sure how the products fit in to any theme since I don't necessarily subscribe to the whole idea of only certain colors/products/etc. can be used at certain times. Do what the fuck you want, people. 

But I digress...I am excited about four of the five products I got. So let's get started!

The awesome pen and notebook behind the bag is NOT included. That's just my crap. 

The bag itself is canvas, instead of the usual plastic or vinyl. It's kinda cool but I didn't oooh and aaahh over it. The contents are pretty sweet, though. The facial cleanser and hair cream should be fun. I've tried the cleanser once and it smells like fresh oranges. Not fake ones or really sweet. It's nice and light and fresh. This is 1 oz of product (full size is 4 oz at $24) so this sample is worth $6.

 I'm excited for the hair cream but I never seem to have that much luck with products that are supposed to tame frizz or repair or whatever. I'll let you know. It's just under an ounce of product (full size is 2.5 oz at $25) so I'd give this about a $9 value.

I've heard of the brand BellaPierre but never tried anything from them. I think. The liner is soft but not so soft that it looks like a Goodyear tire just melted on your face. It also looks like it has a bit of a green undertone (you know how sometimes black is so black it looks blue? Same dealio but with green). Unfortunately, either I'm a ham-fisted strong man or this pencil is just too fragile to be out in the big wide world on its own because the tip broke off when I swatched it. I'll still use it, once I sharpen it, because I really want to give it a try. I just have to be more careful. It is full size and goes for $15.

I've also heard of the Pixi brand and I see it all the time at Target but I've never tried anything from them. So I was excited to get this bronzer. However, it looks soooper gold and shimmery on my hand so I can't imagine how I would use this as a bronzer. I only started getting into them because I'm so pale in the winter months and it does keep away that underbelly-of-a-dead-fish tone. Maybe with a light hand it'll look dewy and give me a nice healthy glow and not one of a stripper coming off her late night shift. I can't find the exact product on the Pixi site (one that's similar comes with a brush at $18) but I'm pretty sure this is full size so I'll give it a $10 value.

The lip gloss samples from Urban Decay were bonuses this month and I was really excited about that. They came in these little plastic packets that can't be resealed (suck it) but I jerry-rigged a way to keep them closed so they won't dry out too fast. The colors are Bittersweet (top swatch) and Failbait and are really pretty! They're just little dollops of product so I won't even try to figure out their value. I already own a clear lip liner so now I have a back up, which is good because it's very soft and I burn through the product quickly. It's not quite full size (which costs $20) so I'd give this a value of around $13.

That's it for May. Overall, I really like the products in this bag. My guesstimations put the value at over $50 so for $10 subscription price, it's a win-win all around! I think I have some reviews coming up of products I've used from last month's bag. It's nice to see what comes in each month but it's also a good idea to let you guys know if this stuff is even worth using.

Until next month...