After these questions, you get a screen filled with different brand names and you can select as many as you are comfortable trying. Some people have already discovered issues with different brands and know they’d prefer to avoid them in the future, so this is a wonderful option. Then it goes on to ask about which kinds of makeup you like, which skincare, nailcare, etc. you prefer,where you tend to shop for your beauty products.
Once you’ve answered these more general questions, it takes you a little further into the personalization by asking about your skintone, your skin concerns, eye color, hair color, and hair needs. This seems to cover everything and so now….we wait.
Billing for Ipsy comes out automatically around the 1st of every month (sometimes it’s just a couple days before, so make sure you keep that minimum in the account just in case). Even though the billing comes out at the first of the month, you may not receive your bag until much later in the month. People seem to begin receiving theirs any time after the 7th.
This month, I received 6 different products and all of them seemed to be full sized products. Usually just one of these products alone costs nearly what I pay for my subscription if I were to go purchase it in stores, which is one of the reasons I’ve kept my subscription for over a year now.
I have discovered just a couple of downsides with Ipsy and it makes me wonder whether I should test out another company such as Birchbox for a couple months. First, avoid changing your billing information if at all possible! I used to receive my bag about the 10th of each month, but after I changed my information, mine started getting sent out on a different schedule and I don’t seem to receive it till the about the 16th now. Yes, I know it’s only about one week more, but it’s a small disappointment that I’ve encountered.
Secondly, the personalization process seems very indepth when you first go through it, but as you receive more and more bags and notice that some of these products just look awful on you, you wonder if they even pay attention to your questions. I think one simple aspect gets passed up in the questionnaire: skin tone. See, skin tone doesn’t just mean fair, medium, dark, etc., but it also involves warm, neutral, or cool, which is not being taken into account. Actually, this can be simplified in one simple question, in my opinion: does your skin have yellow tones or pink tones?
I have pink tones to my skin which, in conjunction with my incredibly fair complexion, makes it incredibly difficult to find products that match me properly. Most tend to be formulated for more yellow tones (since we seem to be a tan-happy nation) and if I try putting those on my skin, I wind up looking fairly orange-y. Not only that, but there are some colors that look fantastic on a friend of mine but just make me look a little sickly.
However, I refuse to let this get me down because when it comes right down to it, even if I just get 2 products that work for me out of every bag, then it’s been worth it (seriously, I’ve checked the prices to confirm this). The ones that don’t work for me? Well, I shuffle those off into another box and hold onto them for when gifts are needed! My grandmother is getting a brand new Nailtini polish ($13 value) because I just don’t wear neutral shades of polish.
As if this weren’t enough, you can earn Ipsypoints for reviewing each product at the site, uploading videos (you know all those makeup ideas on Pinterest?), and friend referrals. Oh, and each month, you get an exclusive discount with each company that you’ve gotten a product from, so if you really enjoy it, you can buy more, but only to the end of that month.
All in all, I love it. I get makeup to try, gifts to give, and my inner vanity satisfied. Check it out.
