November 2013: Ipsy vs. Birchbox

I was really happy with both of my subscriptions this month! If you don't know about Ipsy and Birchbox, they're both subscription services in which you can pay $10 a month (or $110 a year) to receive a monthly box/bag containing 5 products. It's a mix of samples, deluxe samples and full-sized items.

I was really happy with both boxes, and both boxes had 6 items this month.

I'll start with Birchbox because it arrived first. Out of the 59 options, there were a few other Birchboxes I would've liked:

Birchbox #25

Birchbox #37

Birchbox#13

I got box number 48.

 The item I am most excited to try was the The Balm Stainiac lip stain. The sample size is tiny, but I'm still really excited to see how this is. I've heard great things about it!

Full size : $17
1.2mL sample : $2.30

 The second thing in my box was DDF Amplifying Elixir. The sample isn't all that large, but it's 1/3 the size of full size and the full size is $70, so this one product paid for the box. I'm always excited to try new skin products, so I can't wait to try this one.

DDF Full Size : $70
0.5 Sample : $20.59

My third item was Folle de Joie eau de parfum. I'm never excited about getting perfume,  but I'll find someone who wants it.

Full size : $98
0.06oz Sample : $1.73

 My fourth item was Tiossan Dakar body cream in Fatale.

Full Size : $38
1/4oz Sample Size : $1.19









The fifth item in my bag is Color Club polish in Baldwin Blues. I haven't always heard great things about Color Club, but it's a gorgeous color. I've got Temptingly Teal from Mary Kay, which is really similar, so I'll probably gift this.

Full size : $8
Half-size : $4

 The sixth item I got was a set of three Ahmad Teas. I always love tea, so I'm actually pretty excited to try these.

40 teabags : $7
3 teabags : $0.53

Total value of Birchbox for this month $30.34. To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed with this month's box, but the DDF by itself (one of the items I am really excited about) has more than paid for the box. 

Next is Ipsy. My bag was suuuuuper awesome this month! We got six items, and of the two either/or items I got the two items I would've picked. 

The first thing I got in my bag was a Nailtini nail color in Caviar Cocktain. I'm not really a polish person, but I really like the color. This'll make a great gift for someone. Plus, I've heard great things about the brand.

Nailtini Polish: $13

 The second thing in my bag was GlamGlow Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Tingle Mask. I love masks so I'm really excited to try this. Of all the items, I wish the sample size was a little larger, but after getting all of this for $10 I really can't complain. Plus, it's 0.5 oz and the full size is 1.7oz and is $69.

Glamglow 0.5oz size : approx $20.29

This was one of the either/or items. The other possibilities were a BH Cosmetics Baked Eyeshadow, Kiss eyelashes, Tresemme Hair spray, HSI Argon Oil (which would've been the other thing I'd like to try), or Cailyn Mineral Shadow.  Of all the possibilities, Glamglow was one of the two things I wanted.

 The third item I got was Em's lengthening mascara in black. I'm excited to try a new product from EM, and it was full-size, which is always awesome!

Em Mascara, full size : $20

Everyone got a full size Em product in their bag this month, but you could get either the Mascara, Pillow Plush Lip Balm, a Waterline Eye Liner, or a Lip Gallery Creamy Color Lip Color. I was really hoping for the black mascara in either Lengthening or Volumizing, so this was exactly what I wanted. I would've been really unhappy with the waterliner, and wasn't super excited about the lip colors.

 The fourth item in my bag was a Be a Bombshell lip crayon in Hot Damn. I usually like lip crayons and I'm always looking for new reds.

Be a Bombshell Lip Crayon: $14

The fifth item in my bag is a Starlooks gem liner in amethyst. I wasn't excited about this at first, but I saw a swatch of it on facebook and now I'm really excited. It looks GORGEOUS!

Starlooks liner in Amethyst: $14







The last item in my bag is Pixi bronzer in Subtly suntouched. I don't use bronzer, so I'm not all that excited about this, but it's full-size so I'll gift/swap it.

Bronzer: it's $18 with the brush and it came without the brush, but similar products on the site are $15-$17, so I'll call it $15.





There were only two either/or items in Ipsy (the other four were the same for everyone), and of all the possible products I'm happiest with the two I got, so that worked out!

My total bag value this month was $96.29. Not bad at all for a $10 bag.

It's always really hard to match things up, but I'll do the best I can.

Skincare:
DDF Amplifying Elixir vs. Glamglow Youthmud Tinglexfoliate Treatment

This is the hardest one for me to decide on. The sample sizes are about the same, and I'm really excited to try both of them. I'm slightly more excited about the DDF, so I'm giving this one to Birchbox but honestly, it could've gone either way.

Birchbox = 1
Ipsy = 0

Lip Products:
the balm Stainiac Lip Stain vs. Be a Bombshell Lip Crayon

I really like both of these. I'm more excited to try Stainiac, but the Be a Bombshell is full-sized. You can't beat full-sized items from good brands in a $10 bag. This one goes to Ipsy.

Birchbox = 1
Ipsy = 1

Polish:
Color Club in Baldwin Blues vs. Nailtini

Of the two colors, I like the Color Club's Baldwin Blues better, it reminds me of Tempting Teal by Mary Kay. That said, I already have Tempting Teal and I've heard not so great things about Color Club. I've mostly heard good-ish things about Nailtini and that one is bigger, so I'm giving this one to Ipsy.

Birchbox = 1
Ipsy = 2


The next three pairings are going to be a bit random (body cream, perfume and tea from Birchbox and mascara, an eye pencil and bronzer from Ipsy), so I'm going to pair them up based on how excited I am about them.

It's probably a little sad that the tea is the thing I'm most excited about trying, but it is. Tea versus a full-size mascara? Mascara wins.

Birchbox = 1
Ipsy =3

A tiny sample of body lotion, or a really awesome liner? The liner. Obviously.

Birchbox = 1
Birchbox = 4








I'm never excited about perfume samples, but I'm also not excited about bronzer. Of the two, the bronzer is way more giftable, so this one goes to Ipsy.

Birchbox = 1
Ipsy = 5

This one goes to Ipsy, by a landslide. I'm happy with my Birchbox this month (though not nearly as excited as last month) Ipsy just kicked its butt. You can't beat four full-sized items (plus two samples, and a makeup bag that I can gift to someone) in a $10 bag. After comparing the monetary value of each sub this month, it's not at all surprising that Ipsy won. 

You can enter here to win 5 palettes from Too Faced

Random note, I just started using ebates, and it's awesome! I'm getting $15 back for clicking through them when I shop at walmart.com, sephora.com, and amazon.com (mostly sephora). Plus, if you sign up using my link, I get $5 (so I'll love you forever)