Recently I wrote about Ipsy in my “My Love For Mail” blog post. Like I told you in that post, my reasons for wanting to be a part of Ipsy were because I was new to makeup, so I rather have products sent to me to try out as opposed to looking confused in a foreign makeup isle, left to my own devices.

And let’s be honest, I’m a thrift store bargain shopper, the products I would naturally be inclined to buy wouldn’t be the nicest.

Ipsy sends you a makeup bag with four or five products a month. You can either pay $10/month or $110 a year. You can click here* to be sent to Ipsy’s web site for more information or to sign up.

But now, without further ado, let me show you what came in my September Glam Bag. (I do believe it’s called a Glam Bag, I keep calling it an Ipsy bag. Potato potah-toh.)

When I first open the package, the first to stand out, of course, is the metallic faux leather and silver studded makeup bag. It was a welcome variation from the orange polka dot August bag.

I do remember thinking the bag smelled strange, but I figured it was a mixture of plastic, makeup, and postage service.

The first item is a Mitchell And Peach luxury hand cream. I love the packaging, and I hardly think that about products, but this tube is pretty. It’s black and cream and all around sophisticated. It’s made in England. (Cue all the Americans going, “ohhh. Makes sense now.”)

In a meeting, it would definitely be more acceptable to pull this classy lady from a purse, as opposed to a bright and screaming Bath and Body Works travel lotion, for example.

It does feel nice on the hands. It isn’t greasy and softens your skin.

But the smell.

It smells like plastic caught fire in the factory so they attempted to spritz it with some sort of fruit or peach juice. I really don’t like it. When I opened the package, I thought it was the plastic that smelled like plastic, not a lotion.

I looked up reviews for this. One girl loves the smell. Another one said it smells strange, not bad, but strange. So at least I’m not crazy when I say it smells strange.

The retail price for this seems outrageous but ranges around $26 to $34 for 60ml. The tube I received is 30ml, so I think we can agree on $13 being about half. That’s unbelievable in my opinion.

I was beyond happy to receive a makeup brush in my bag. I recently went out and bought two Elf brushes. Both for eye shadow, a crease brush and a shadow brush.

It’s like the Ipsy fairies knew. This one is obviously more high end.

It’s a Crown brush. Let us not be surprised that I didn’t know what this meant, but I knew it had to be something wonderful.

Retail price for this brush is $17.50, but you can buy it on the Crown site for $6.99.

Going by retail value alone, I’ve already exceeded the $10 spent on this Ipsy bag.

The brush is awesome. It doesn’t feel cheap, and the bristles are kitten soft. I may or may not be stroking them against my cheek right now.

Next was a silver/gray eye liner from Pacifica called Gun Metal. To be honest, this wasn’t appealing to me until I tried it on, which wasn’t until this morning, with no makeup on, because I swatched it on my hand yesterday, but somehow overlooked the fact that I need to put it on my face as well.

I was surprised that I liked the color, though you can tell by the pictures it isn’t very pigmented, but it is buildable for a darker line after about three strokes.

I feel that green eyes would really stand out with a silver or gray eye liner pencil. If you have green eyes, let me know if this theory holds water.

It smells like a pencil in case you were wondering. It’s not creamy, more of a soft chalk consistency, but glides nicely and doesn’t snag.

I will definitely be using this most on my lower lash line.

My swatch is being difficult, but it is a dark metallic gray with some shimmer, just like the color on the bottom of the pencil.

Retail for this is a pencil twice it’s size for $11.

Second to last is a Nourish Organic Moisturizing Cream Face Cleanser, big name for a little guy. It’s 100% natural USDA-certified organic. The back says chemical free, cruelty free, concern free.

I’m always weary about using things on my face. My mother has instilled the fear of God in me not to use too many products on my skin since my skin is fairly clear, and I don’t want to ruin it. Good advice in the long run.

Because this product is natural and for all skin types and claimed all these wonderful things, I felt comfortable scrub-a-dub-dubbing my face after I removed my makeup last night.

A little bit of white lather formed, but not much, then I rinsed it off, and my face did feel nice and smooth.

Retail value is $13.99 for 6fl. The tube I received is 1fl, so we can say about $2. This product is also vegan and gluten free.

Last but not least is a Cailyn Art Touch Tinted Lip Gloss in Love Affair.

When first applied, the lip gloss is very streaky, but rub it in a couple hundred times with your finger (exaggeration). .

And it finally decides on a beautiful rose color.

Same goes for application on your lips.

Your lips start off looking like a renaissance, painting with water colors experiment.

Then you rub it in until it comes back to one color.

I personally like to soften the edges, because I don’t tend to go for a dramatic look.

Then next thing you know, you have a perfect fall lip color.

The gloss is taste-less and doesn’t feel sticky on your lips. The brush for this lip gloss is really strange, though.

Don’t know what that’s about.

All in all, I am very pleased with my September Glam Bag and as always I’m looking forward to the next one.

I’m going to go reapply this lip gloss now.

* Using this link earns me something called Ipsy Points, if you use it, please let me know if you receive a reward as well.