Makeup (Photo credit: MaCaEs)
Makeup. It tends to be a weakness to a certain percentage of women out there and I fall victim to this particular vice as well. I almost always check clearance sections in stores like Target for prizes like Seche Vite’s Dry Fast Top Coat or any of the SexyHair products. After a while, these sorts of behaviors can definitely have an adverse affect on your bank accounts.
So what’s a great way to get to try different beauty products on a regular basis (thus satisfying that vain urge inside) without breaking the bank? I turned to the idea of makeup subscription services for this and discovered Ipsy.
There are many different subscription service out there for varying prices. All the services work the same: You pay a monthly fee and you’re mailed a certain number of products that you get to test out and keep. To be completely honest, I chose Ipsy because a friend of mine was already subscribed and had positive feedback. I did a quick, casual search for reviews and the reviews I did find were all positive, so I signed up and I haven’t regretted it.
Ipsy sends 4-5 sample to full-sized products every month in a little makeup bag (your “Glam Bag”) for the cost of just $10 a month. The name brands range from Maybelline to NYX and Urban Decay. All you have to do is go to Ipsy.com and sign up (you can even sign up using your Facebook account) and cross your fingers that there’s no waiting list at this time. Yes, it is popular enough that sometimes, you wind up on a waiting list for a couple of months.
Once you’ve signed up, you fill out a quiz that describes your personal styles (formal, classic, sultry, simple). Next, you’ll be shown eight beauty gurus on staff so you can select whose look you relate to the most. You can pick as many of them as you want if you tend to bounce around on your style a bit. Then you’ll need to rate how comfortable you are with makeup at this time. Some people use this to ease themselves into the world of beauty enhancers and others (like me) use it to keep up with it. This question is followed by one I think is very similar: “How adventurous are you when it comes to trying new beauty brands, products, and shades?” (Um, I wouldn’t be signing up if I wasn’t comfortable with going outside my usual practices.)
