Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate is a monthly makeup and beauty subscription box. Each month includes 8 full-sized items & 4 deluxe samples, in addition to a beauty bag!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
About Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate
The Subscription Box: Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate
The Cost: $50 a month + free U.S. shipping. Save with an annual subscription.
The Products: 8 full-sized products & 4 deluxe samples
Ships to: The U.S. for free and Canada for $2.95
Our Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate November 2020 Review
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Look at me getting an actually informative booklet this month with all those products! Yaaaas.
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This month, our bag is made of different faux leather materials and is in shades of tan, cream, peach, and navy.
Now, on to the items!
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TRÈSTIQUE Eye Pencil in 'Santorini Black Sand' – Retail Value $19.00
Let's just get the black eyeliner out of the way. This is a pencil type that is smooth and soft. The end has a built-in smudger. I thought the texture was smooth and had decent longevity.
I
Black eyeliner.
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FILORGA Optim-Eyes, 0.5 fl oz - Retail Value $49.00
I feel like it is worth mentioning that tracking down the ingredients for this product wasn't easy. It always kind of annoys me when I can't get to them with ease from the product page. It makes it look like there is something to hide, which, for this ingredient list, is totally silly. This cream has lots of good stuff inside! A few callouts: hyaluronic acid, sweet almond oil, lecithin, vitamins E and C, niacinamide, and LOADS more. It is a good list! The only red flag is fragrance, but that is hard to avoid in most products these days, and I would say it wasn't strong. The consistency was pleasant and just a little of this dabbed under my eyes added instant hydration and firmness.
So, brands, if you have a good product, lemme see those ingredients! Don't make it a hunt.
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NOMAD COSMETICS Tuscany PaletteIntense Eyeshadow Palette - Retail Value $27.00
I knew I was going to love this palette as soon as I opened it. The color story is gorgeous and somehow both dramatic and subdued. The pans feel nice and big compared to many other palettes I have and the texture of these shades is literally so smooth! I am used to shimmering and metallic shades out-performing the mattes but these mattes are here to party. They have SO much pigment (especially Vino Nobile. Wow.). All of these worked beautifully with a brush or fingertip and with these colors you can go for holiday glam or keep it simple for a natural lid look.
Top to bottom: Fior Di Latte, Aperitivo, Vino Nobile, Rinascimento, and La Bella Vita
Top to bottom: Passeggiata, Cantucci, Vin Santo, and Tartufo.
And here is a quick look! I used La Bella Vita all over my lid, Fior Di Latte under my brow, Vino Nobile in my crease, Rinascimento in my corner, and Aperitivo over my lower lid.
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The Cottage Greenhouse Pomegranate Facial Serum, 2 fl oz - Retail Value $32.00
I have tried this serum before and find it extremely hydrating but that is about it in terms of performance. Sometimes though, hydration is all you need! It is a rather simple blend of fatty oils (pomegranate, sunflower, olive, sage, safflower) blended with essential oils from orange and lavender. I personally prefer this formula on my body to my face because it feels incredible on dry arms and legs and has a soft and natural scent that I enjoy very much. It does absorb in a snap which makes it moisturizing but also very light.
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REALHER Love What You Do Powder Brush - Retail Value $23.00
I love a big brush! This one is oversized and fluffy and perfect for powder application all over the face. It also doubles as a pretty brilliant brush for buffing away eyeshadow powder fallout. The bristles are soft and vegan, and the whole brush has a satisfying weight to it.
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Obliphica Professional Seaberry Hair Mask, 1 oz - Estimated Value $4.47 (buy 8.5 oz for $38.00)
I tend to only use hair masks on my ends because I don't like that super slick feel that masks leave on my roots. I also have an absurd amount of hair, even after a recent hair cut, so I usually run out of a sample before getting to my whole head anyway. This stuff is a pale purple shade and smells like fancy lady perfume. I applied and waited for the recommended 5 minutes before rinsing, and I loved how smooth (but not slippy!) my hair felt and how the perfume scent stuck to my strands. After I let my hair air dry, that softness was still there and I noticed my hair looked shinier and I had less frizz. I could see myself making this a weekly treat for sure.
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BYROE Bell Pepper Serum, 30 mL - Full Size! Retail Value $110.00
FYI: The packaging is slightly different on the brand's website. I actually prefer the packaging that came in IPSY! My bottle says 'Made in Korea' and both have the same ingredient list.
I have a thing for slightly weird ingredients. Anything with snail, a random ferment, algae, mushrooms, and I am IN. This serum is built around bell pepper extract which is full of brightening vitamin C. Another brag is that this stuff also features cica! My love! This green plant is wonderful for red or sensitive skin. Panthenol, lecithin, turmeric, hyaluronic acid, and carrot root were other ingredients that caught my eye as goodies. So what does a serum with this unique list of things inside smell like? Not really like anything. This product is fragrance-free. The texture is a clear runny gel that is cooling on the skin and absorbs beautifully. With an ingredient list like this I can expect to see smoother and more hydrated skin over time, hopefully with a little brightening and texture smoothness too.
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MILK MAKEUP KUSH Lip Glaze in 'Chronic', 0.45 oz - Retail Value $18.00
I absolutely adore MILK products. They make me feel extra cool and hip for some reason. (This is important to me since I am in my mid-30s.) That being said, I still want my super cool products to perform! I liked this lip product, though I easily prefer their solid lip balm. This was a green goo that didn't show up green on my lips (thank you MILK) and while I found that it felt great on and hydrated my lips, something about it just felt too thin and it never really clung to my lips. The metal top was pretty cool and added a chilling effect, but a lot of the product kept ending up under the lip and behind the applicator. So did I like this? Yeah! Would I buy it? No. I would buy the solid version (I recommend the Plushberry shade! I have it and love it!).
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MILK MAKEUP Matcha Detoxifying Mask, 30 g - Full Size! Retail Value $26.00
FYI: I picked this item!
The first thing I thought when I opened this tube was: "Why arent all masks in stick form?" Seriously, a mess-free mask application? What a game-changer. This is a clay based mask, hence why I chose to only use it on my chin and jawline, where breakouts have been frequent. This means I looked really great with a green beard for the 8 minutes I left it on. The ingredients here are certainly detoxing: clay, green tea, salicylic acid, and witch hazel. These detoxers are balanced out by glycerine, sweet almond oil, and prickly pear extract. This stick does have alcohol in it, so if you are sensitive, beware. It was pretty far down on the ingredient list though, so I think most people could use and enjoy this, even if it only as a spot treatment. I liked it a lot and it totally helped zap a few specifically frightening spots by minimizing their size and soothing irritation.
"Alexa, play 'Defying Gravity'."
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MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in 'Sweet Sakura', 3 g - Retail Value $19.00
I love me some MAC lipstick! And this red is actually one I almost bought previously but then decided I really had no business buying lipstick. Well, the universe sent it anyway! This is a just barely sheer red with a soft pearl finish. You could totally treat this as a blotted look by just applying a little, or go in with a few swipes for opaque coverage. The shimmer isn't really apparent on the lips but gives a lot more dimension than a matte or satin. Like all of my MAC lippies, the wear is comfortable and long-lasting, and the whole tube has a soft sweet, vanilla scent.
Here is a swatch!
And here it is on.
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Milani Make it Last Matte Charcoal Setting Spray, 35 mL - Estimated Value $5.83 (buy 60 mL for $9.99)
My last item is a matte setting spray. I don't love setting sprays because they are usually full of alcohol, as this one is. It also has charcoal, so this might be a nice setting spray for someone who is oily, but that someone isn't me. It also contains honey and some ferments, but I think this is a pass for my personal makeup bag.
Verdict: My Ultimate this month has a total value of $333.30 without the peach hand cream that I couldn't find the value for. That is a great value for a $50 bag. Honestly, the $110 BYROE serum alone is worth 2 times what I paid for the box, so the value was easy to see this month. I also loved the eyeshadow palette, MILK mask, MAC lipstick, and eye cream. The setting spray, liner, and hand cream were the only real misses here, and they were also likely the least expensive items in the bunch, so I am cool with that! This was a fun assortment with some real value!
To Wrap Up:
Can you still get this box if you sign up today? No. The next Ultimate shipment will be in December! As of publication, there was no Ipsy waitlist. Check here to see what month you’ll get first.
Value Breakdown: This box costs $50 so here is the approximate cost per item:
- Eye Liner $2.85
- Eye Cream $7.35
- Eyeshadow Palette $4.05
- Pom Serum $4.80
- Powder Brush $3.45
- Body Cream $ ???
- Hair Mask $0.67
- Bell Pepper Serum $16.50
- Kush Lip Glaze $2.70
- Matcha Face Mask $3.90
- Lipstick $2.85
- Setting Spray $0.87
Each of the 12 items has an average cost of $4.17. (This calculation does not include the bag!)
Check out all of our Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate reviews and the best beauty subscription boxes of 2020, as recommended by our readers!
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What do you think of the November Ipsy Glam Bag Ultimate? Which items did you get?
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