July Glam Bag and Purchases Review and First Impressions!

There were two cleansing items in this month’s box; one was a pick and one was an add-on. The Refreshments by IPSY Radiant Micellar Water came in cute packaging and I was excited to try it, until I saw what the dispenser was. It’s a pump, but it doesn’t pump just into your hand, you pump it into a little dish like that thing Beauty Blender did with its foundations. It’s so ridiculous and I could barely get any product out. I tried to tip it over, but it wouldn’t dispense unless it was upright. There’s no reason for this. Super disappointed. I can’t even say whether I like the actual micellar water because the dispenser was so inconvenient to use I just gave up.

Not all of us use cotton rounds with micellar water, some of us use cleansing pads like the one I have from Juno. Don’t buy this unless you use little cotton rounds.

The other cleanser I got, the Glow Oasis Milkdew Ph Balancing Milk Toner, was so much better. It was a nice milky texture, and just poured out onto my cleansing cookie like I wanted. Had a nice milky fragrance too, but not overwhelming. Adorable packaging, barely stung in my one open blemish. I liked this a lot. I don’t typically tone my skin after cleansing, but as long as I have this I’ll definitely use it.

This is a $34 dollar toner, but IPSY doesn’t have (to my knowledge) a way for me to see how much I paid for my add-ons to my box unless they’re part of a separate order. So from now on I’ll note those down when I buy my box.

I also purchased a serum when I bought my box, the Aavrani Balance Restoring Serum, and I have some thoughts. First off, it’s a $60 serum and I believe I spent $25 on it. That’s not terrible. The packaging is adorable, super deep blue and nautical and reminds me of sea glass. The lid that unscrews and separates instead of pumping out or hanging off just makes it feel really luxurious. 

But the product is very confusing. It does not have the texture of a serum the way I was expecting, more like a toner. It’s very watery and feels like something you’d cleanse with. Also, the tea tree fragrance is very strong. I have nothing against tea tree oil and I know it has excellent cleansing effects, so I wonder if this is a “serum” but actually a cleansing agent. I have been applying it in my routine with my other serums and have only noticed it makes the rest of the products super watery. I might start applying it as another cleansing step to see if I feel it’s good at that. If not, I might sell it on my Poshmark. I just don’t see it doing much for my skin.

The moisturizer I got this month was from Murad – this is the second moisturizer I’ve had from them, the first one I got was a few years ago and I believe it was their Vitamin C. Anyway, this one is the Murad Acne Control Moisturizer with SPF. 

The packaging looks like all their other stuff, official, clinical, no-nonsense. It applied incredibly heavily, which I sort of expected due to the SPF. At first I was unhappy because my face felt super greasy, but after a few minutes it mattified and my skin felt super smooth and nothing like my skin, which is textured and flaky. Although it felt nice, I can’t imagine putting makeup over something this heavy and plan to use it on days I take a trip to the beach or the lake and need SPF and mattification.

This is a $48 moisturizer and I received it as an item in my box.

The next item is honestly one of the most incredible items I’ve ever received from this box. It’s the Yensa Super Serum Silk Foundation and it is amazing. I am honestly so shocked by the quality of this product from the price to the packaging and everything in between.

It comes in a long solid tube like almost a giant perfume roller looking thing, with a little squeeze top. The see-through places on the packaging are a little bit frosted and the whole thing seems so expensive.

The product itself is an excellent match for my summer skin, which I actively tan. It’s stickier and thicker in consistency than my Holy Grail but almost needed less blending. It honestly seemed so excited to move around on my skin. It also has a really nice fragrance. The first time I tried it my skin wasn’t doing that hot, but it handled my texture really well – and products applied really well over top of it, which is also amazing because if it’s sticker and you’re blending powder over it, things could go sideways.

I love this foundation and have worn it since the day I tried it. I plan to experiment with other colors as my skin pales this fall as well. It’s worth $45 and although I’ll try to get it for less on Poshmark, I plan to purchase this again once I’m out. This is amazing stuff. 10/10.

The concealer in this box was the Huda Beauty Overachiever High Coverage Concealer in Marshmallow. It comes in a small black tube that reminds me of old lip balms where you’d just squeeze them out onto your lips. I really like this though because I have a lot of control over the amount that I put on my face. The shade is fair neutral, I believe, and it’s been working excellently to brighten my undereyes. It blends into my foundations really well and is just a great quality.

This was an add-on and it’s worth $30, but I only paid $15. Really good purchase.

One of my selections for this box was the Kimchi Thailor Bronzer in the shade 03. I have some mixed feelings about it. The actual product is fine, a great shade for my skin tone this time of year, blends really well, good formula on my cheeks and on my eyes too. It is a little powdery and there tends to be a lot of fallout when I use it, but overall good stuff. It’s the packaging that kind of rubs me the wrong way.

So like, it’s a heart shaped compact, heavy and luxurious, cute logo, just like a nice looking product, but the top is so curved and heavy that it tips the whole thing backwards and I can’t leave it open on my table or tap my brush and also hold a mirror at the same time. It’s topheavy, and annoying. I reach for my Complex Culture bronzer more just because it sits still on my vanity.

This item is worth $15 and I’d definitely pay that much for the product, but I probably won’t purchase these just because they’re so annoying to use. I only have a few minutes in the morning to get things right on my face before my commute, I don’t want to spend time switching hands and trying to get the product to sit still.

The most confusing and intriguing item I got in the July Glam Bag was the Dominique Cosmetics Skin Gloss. I’ve always wanted to try some products from this brand, so I was really excited to get it. 

The packaging is cute and reminds me of makeup I might have used as a kid, but like, in a good way? It’s a silvery gold compact with a nice big mirror and a big pan of product. It looks buttery and exciting to use – the only thing is, it was covered with sweat marks when it came in. I don’t usually mind that, it was just incredibly noticeable. 

Sweat Marks

    The actual gloss had a texture like lip balm, and I tapped it on my cheekbone and up to my brow. It didn’t feel super greasy and it almost applied something like coverage? Like you could almost use this to brighten in the t-zone. It was also a very natural, lowkey glow that I liked a lot. I have incredibly textured skin, so I avoid super beaming highlighters since they tend to attract attention to my scars and texture. This just felt like a nice layer of something to give my skin a pop.

I don’t think I’d purchase it again, but it was originally $25 and I got it for $12. I think it’s a great product for those clean girl makeup aesthetics.

Unfortunately I have to end this on a down note. The last item from the July box is the Roen Beauty Kiss my Liquid Lip Balm in the shade Scout. This is not a bad product, just confusing. The color doesn’t look like it does on the website, it’s more purple than that was, and it just didn’t come off like a lip balm. The packaging was like a liquid lipstick, the pigmentation was like a liquid lipstick, and the color choice was too. The only thing about this product that said “Lip Balm” was the texture, because it felt like putting a few layers of chapstick on. It felt really, really nice. But since it was such a dark purple color, it wasn’t something I could just slap on at any point throughout my day. I’d need a mirror and some time to make it look alright, you know? 

So not a bad product but not what I think when I read “Lip Balm.”

So I spent way more than I thought I did on products this month, because one of my orders just shipped yesterday, which is embarrassing. I’m just going to add those items onto the August review post since I have so much work to do with the other two boxes I ordered. I don’t feel like doing the actual math and adding it all up and being all embarrassed.

Keep an eye out for updates on the products I didn’t like, it’s possible I’ll play around with them some more and find something that works for me. I really want this Aaraceli serum to work for me, since it’s so pricey and full of what I think are excellent ingredients.

Thanks for stopping by! I’ll be back with a BoxyCharm and a Kinder Beauty Box Review soon.

<3 Dani