Hi to any readers – last time I checked I don’t have many lol. This is possibly the best ICON box of the year, and I’m so excited to share with you! But first some updates:
I found a place to go! I can afford my own apartment now. So I’m going to go. Can’t sit by the grave any longer. There isn’t any chance of reconciling… and there hasn’t been for a few years, he says. He’s going out with someone new now. Actual dagger in my chest. For a while I was very, very sad. Cried it all out for a few weeks. The end of hope. The actual end. But also, such a huge relief. There’s nothing else I could have done and I’m free to move on. And I’m so excited to move on.
Anyway. I went all out the last few weeks shopping on Amazon and with this ICON box, even more so. I’m just buying lots of the best stuff.
But the good news is, this ICON box slays, and I bought a ton of stuff to make it slay even more. So let’s talk about it and not talk about anything else!
Also, I was so sad, that I bought myself two new squishmallows. Here are my squishmallows and also the products I got:
Bobbi Brown Cosmetics
We’ve all heard of Bobbi Brown, but I haven’t actually tried many of their products. The last one I can remember was a highlighter compact that I got. I didn’t use it much, actually, although I did like it. It was a little too pink and I like my highlighters to be very silver.
This is their Smokey Eye Mascara. It comes in a silver tube and the brush is incredibly dense. It looks like you’d need to really brush through. The formula isn’t super thick though, so it does brush out very easily. After a lash curl, this stuff really holds very well. It also does a good job getting my outer lashes, which I have always struggled to curl or brush because they’re so flush with my face. The wand tapers to a point so I can get those without too much fuss, and that’s the best for those hard-to-reach ones.
It’s not a miracle mascara, and I still like my Fenty one better, but the smaller packaging does mean it’ll be easier to put in a makeup travel bag. It retails for HOLY SHIT IT RETAILS FOR $41??????? What the actual fuck?? For this tiny thing? Are you guys high? For $41 this thing should give me lash extensions.
Welp.
Dermelect
I don’t have a lot of experience with this brand, although I know the name. IPSY chose their Rapid Repair Daily Amino Gel Cleanser, which is at least two words longer than it needs to be. It comes in a white tube with a screw top and pink lettering. I don’t like this for cleansers, I’d rather have something that pumps or twists but doesn’t completely detach.
Something very unique about this product description, though, is that it claims to also exfoliate on top of cleansing. The instructions don’t differ at all from a regular cleanser, but it could be a chemical peel! That would be the best thing ever, I haven’t used one of those in forever but it’s a much deeper exfoliation than a regular face wash.
The texture is sort of what you’d expect from a gel cleanser, it’s a clear-ish liquid and when it goes on it doesn’t foam up very much, although it does a little if I really scrub it in.
From my first use, it doesn’t feel or smell like a facial peel. I’m going to try again tonight and really rub it in and see if it just needs more time to work? But I think I’m missing something. [So I just tried it again, and I can confirm it is definitely not a facial peel. In fact, nothing on the actual bottle even mentions exfoliation, although their website does say it is a gentle exfoliator. I’m just not sure what’s up with this thing now].
This cleanser retails for $38, which is just a huge amount of money for a cleanser, but if it is a facial peel then I’m not that mad actually. [But it isn’t. So actually I am.]
Keys Soulcare
Honestly, I’m kind of over this brand. The stuff has been alright, but I feel like IPSY is leaning way too hard into it. This is their Truly Becoming Multi Benefit Peptide Serum. I do really like a peptide serum, now that I’m looking at the product … well, we’ll give it a try. It’s a really pretty package that does match the rest of their marketing. It also appears to be a pump serum, and not a dropper, which I also love! It has peptides for skin smoothness and fine lines, and also hyaluronic acid. A serum isn’t a serum these days without hyaluronic acid am I rigt?
This product is the silkiest smooth serum I have ever tried. The pump puts out plenty of product, which is a good start. One or two pumps is enough. It’s a white color and has such a smooth texture, I put it on the night I got it and then immediately sighed. I really did, I sighed. My skin was like “ahhh.” I will run through this serum like lightning. After I put it on, I can literally see that my skin is drinking. It looks brighter, smoother, happier, just an amazing feel to this product.
It retails for $38, which is about right for a decent serum, I’m not even mad. I’d pay this to repurchase.
Origins
I like this brand but I’m not sure why… like, I can’t recall a product of theirs that I’ve tried and liked? But my brain says there definitely were some. Oh well, maybe I’ll like this one too and then I’ll remember. This is their GinZing SPF 30 Daily Moisturizer. So just like the Innisfree moisturizer, I don’t really see why I received this, especially in November. I also have a weird feeling that I’ve tried it before, maybe as a sample or something.
The texture is thick but not the way I expected. When I squeezed some out, I was like oh no, it’s going to be too heavy and greasy and leave a cast, but as soon as it went on it disappeared. Fully disappeared. So silky smooth too. It has a really pretty scent, so even though I thought I wouldn’t like it, it’s actually really good. I’m going to put it away until summer, when I’m out in the sun more.
This moisturizer retails for $38, which isn’t so bad for an SPF moisturizer. I like that it’s in a squeeze tube instead of a tub or twist cap. I wouldn’t probably purchase it again, but I might choose or add it on in the future.
Tarte
Okay, I am thoroughly excited about this one. IPSY chose the Tartelette Juicy Amazonian Clay Palette. I’m excited for it because it’s a new version of a palette that I have loved and owned for over six years. I can’t even find it online it’s been so long since I got it, and I recently decluttered it. But it was this same palette with cooler smokey colors, and now I get to try the one with warmer, pinky tones! It’s perfect.
Just like the last one, this is a mix of mattes and shimmers. There are two lighter matte shades, good for setting my eyelid, and then there are two amazing-looking midtone shades, and two deeper crease shades. For shimmers there are two very bright ones, a silvery white and a champagne, one moderately light pink, and three deeper browns and purples. I don’t really use or even totally understand deep shimmer shades, but maybe I can play around with these.
I absolutely love this palette. The matte midtone shades don’t have a ton of fallout, and I’m able to get exactly how much I want on the brush to start the look. The light shimmers are subtle but buildable. The deeper crease tones are a little heavier on the pigment, so I do have to be pretty careful.
This palette retails for $47, which is a lot for a twelve-pan palette, but I can absolutely vouch for the formula. The mattes are pigmented and work hard, and the shimmers are (for the most part) buttery soft and apply smooth and not scratchy even with a fingertip. Highly recommend especially on a deal.
Choice
Moving on to items I chose! The selection for this ICON box was okay, and I found that I did get the opportunity to pick both makeup and skincare items that I would like. I’ve tried to be better about choosing a mix of items even though it’s the skincare that really gets to me.
Fenty Skin
We love a Fenty moment! ICON is not complete without one. This is their Cherry Dub Triple Action Body Scrub. Now, I know what you’re thinking. Dani, you didn’t like the Cherry Dub Face scrub, why would you think you’d like the body one? Well, let me tell you! I don’t know. It has pretty packaging. Maybe I won’t like it.
First off, it’s good to note that it’s a sugar scrub. Along with AHA’s and fruit enzymes, it claims to retexturize, polish, and condition the skin. I get the sense that this is the type of scrub you can shave after because of that leftover oil and sugar mixture.
This sugar scrub is absolutely divine. The granules are small, and do not immediately melt as soon as they touch my skin. I can just keep scrubbing and scrubbing, and maybe it gets a little less rough as it goes, but not much. I did need to use quite a bit of the product to do the entire top half of my body, but it felt so good, and I could tell I was smoother. Now I just need to find an excellent moisturizer that I look forward to using afterwards. Hmm.
This body scrub retails for $36, which is a lot. Even the ones from The Body Shop, which is typically viewed as expensive, are only what, $25 right now? Especially where it’s only a sugar scrub and not, say, Ethiopian Salt or something. I wouldn’t buy this at retail, although it wouldn’t be bad to pick again in the future.
Elemis
The next item I chose is the Elemis Skin Buff, which I hoped to like as much as the other exfoliators I’ve been trying out. I recently re-purchased a face cream from this brand, so I have high hopes about their other products.
It comes in a twist off-cap squeeze tube instead of a flip-cap squeeze tube, which means while I’m in the shower I’ll have to keep track of the cap. Not ideal.
I absolutely love this formula. The first thing that hit me is an intensely sweet fragrance. Like perfume, like hugging someone wearing a lot of perfume. It’s overpowering. But it’s not a bad scent? So maybe it’s not that bad? Maybe a little dusty.
Then, the actual product: it has a cream base and then some incredibly sharp granules. Seriously, as I was rubbing this over my face, I was honestly like damn, I could really scratch myself up. But at the same time, it felt so good, so I just went super gently. Then after rinsing off, I went back in and did it again. It reminds me of the Seaweed Scrub from The Body Shop, like very big exfoliation, possibly painful if you go too hard.
The marketing says it uses tiny granules to buff out the skin, and that the bilberry and chamomile extracts help to soothe and nourish the skin. It says to use twice a week, which is totally doable, I typically exfoliate that amount. After using the product, my skin felt exfoliated but also conditioned from the cream formula. So not the plastic-y feeling. It honestly felt really good I just had to be careful.
It does retail for $49. That’s about $1/ml. That’s definitely a lot of money for a facial scrub, the ones I’ve been using are more in the $28-$35 dollar range. But maybe it’s absolutely magical? A good scrub can change your life.
Dominique Cosmetics
I’ve tried a good number of products from this brand at this point. I have one of their eyeshadow palettes, their setting powder, a concealer, and one year I got one of their palettes that had a huge defect in it that I couldn’t get in touch with anyone about. Also, the skin gloss! Do you guys remember the skin gloss?
This is their Silktone Cream Bronzer in the shade Light Tan which I’m hoping works for me. I would love to try out a new bronzer. The packaging is adorable, it’s the same as the skin gloss, so clear in places, with the logo huge on the front.
This bronzer just isn’t what I’m looking for in my makeup routine, at least not in the middle of November. I just prefer to go for cooler/grayer contour than the really warm bronzer type products. I might have to put this off for next summer to give it a try when it would make more sense.
It retails for $26, which is pretty reasonable. I’d probably pay that to have one that matches me perfectly.
Add-ons
So those were my choice selections, and the following are all my add-ons! Don’t judge me, I’ve just had the worst week of my life. For add-ons selection, there was a lot of great choices. I was able to get a great mix of skincare and makeup again.
Laura Mercier
I haven’t had a lot of items from this brand before, but I remember last year my sister had something like this Petal Soft Lip Crayon and I’ve been looking to find something like it for myself. I get all my ideas from my sister. This is in the shade Simone, it’s a cool rose. I would have chosen a more beige/nude tone but I’m happy to try this one.
It’s way too red for my taste, although it is a very soft, pillowy formula. I think I might like this if I applied it with a brush just on the inner bits of my lips maybe? But since I got it, I honestly haven’t reached for it.
It retails for $35, which makes me instantly regret even giving it a go. $35 is absolutely disgusting for a lip product that contains POINT ZERO SEVEN OUNCES OF PRODUCT. It’s a no from me. The ingredient list is just words I don’t know.
I’m so turned off by this product, I wish I hadn’t picked it.
Welcome back Yensa!
It’s been way too long since I tried something from this brand. BUT it appears I’ve made a mistake and added on a deluxe mini to my box, which I really try not to do. So I’ll be able to try this for a few days but not the full month-long tried I usually give it.
This is their Super Serum Silk Foundation in the shade Fair 3. Now it’s been so long that I’m not even 100% sure whether I’ve tried this product before. Like, this might just be the foundation of theirs that I had tried a few years ago, repackaged? Or maybe it’s a new product. Either way, I’m happy to get to re-introduce this. I used to be obsessed with this brand, like obsessed.
So yeah it’s the same product as before. Loved it at the time! Not great for me any more though, too oily and heavy feeling.
IPSY unfortunately doesn’t list the actual size of the mini, so I can’t compare prices or anything. But from the photos, it’s pretty tiny. The actual foundation retails for $45, which is alright for a foundation. Pretty on-par right now. I wouldn’t probably buy it full price, I’d look for it elsewhere first, but it’s not a terrible price.
Byroe
Another brand that ICON can’t be complete without! Byroe is quickly becoming my dirty secret. I can’t afford it. I can’t even afford it through IPSY where it’s on a huge discount. But I love it, I absolutely love it. And I get to try something else from them! Twice actually! I added two Byroe products to this box.
The first one is the Truffle Eye Serum. It’s a 20ml product, which is about right for an eye serum since you need so much less product to get the same result. The packaging is very on-brand, a little squeeze tube with a twist cap just like the Elemis one from last year.
It contains ingredients from black, white, and summer truffles which they claim help to smooth, firm, and plump the eye area. The formula feels very rich and exactly what you’d expect from a “firming” eye cream. It feels like you barely need anything.
It retails for $76. Like I said, can’t afford it even on sale. That works out to be almost $4/ml. That’s absolutely crazy. But I love it. No, I can’t say I’d buy it again at full price, because I can’t justify it. One day when I have a lot of money, though, or when this blog kicks off maybe I’ll get their stuff for free!
The other item I added is the Passion Fruit Yogurt Soothing Serum. I absolutely fell in love with this product when I saw the packaging. It’s in this beautiful jar, kind of like their facial oil, with a dropper and everything. it’s just the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen and I needed to have it just to have it on my vanity, you know?
And then when I opened the package and tried it out, it absolutely matches that energy. The dropper is the only thing; it’s a very thick formula, so the dropper seems to struggle to get a lot of product. But after a few tries I was able to figure out a way to make it work. It’s very smooth and has a fruity scent. I am going to try to make it last because once this is gone it’s unlikely I’ll ever get to try it again.
It contains Tangerine, Spearmint, Moringa, and Passiflora Seed and Fruit extracts, which it claims help to calm redness and even tone. Can confirm that the formula feels like putting aloe on a burn. Just ahh… sizzle. It retails for $89, which is about on track for their serums and other products. I’m excited to see how this works to soothe the breakouts I give myself when I pick at my skin. Not that I plan to, but it happens…
Fresh
Oh, Fresh. Nice to see you, Fresh. What a luxurious, glorious skincare experience. This next item is their Floral Recovery Calming Mask. I love a good gel, cream, or otherwise nourishing mask. It comes in their classic white packaging with floral lettering. The mask itself is a white cream formula.
Something I noticed in my research is that this is actually an overnight mask, or it’s designed to be used while sleeping. It’s interesting that the actual name of the mask doesn’t indicate that, but it might be because they don’t want to turn anyone off? The formula is just like a very thick face cream, almost to the point of a body butter. It doesn’t really feel like a mask perse. The instructions also don’t say to remove it when done, just to pat the rest of it in. So, kind of a mask.
For what it’s worth it does feel like a very luxurious, rich cream. Just more of a night cream than an overnight mask. You get that feeling, when putting it on, like your skin can’t breathe.
It retails for $69, and boasts that it contains passionflower, peony, cherry, and cornflower, which all help to soothe and brighten the skin. I definitely can’t afford to pay that amount for a night cream (unless it’s like… tatcha or something, then maybe) but I’ll look for this in choice in the future and maybe even on Poshmark!
KVD Beauty
KVD is back, it’s been a while since I’ve tried anything from this brand. I think the last one was a concealer. This is their Good Apple Full-Coverage Transfer-Proof Serum in the shade Light 008 which I’m hoping is light enough for my skin tone as winter is approaching. I’ve wanted to try the Good Apple foundations – obviously they went viral when they first came out, but then people were actually saying they were kind of greasy. Anyway this isn’t exactly the same foundation as the one that went viral but it’s the same line and I really liked the matching concealer.
The packaging is very ornate and on-brand for KVD, with the little metallic cap and metallic accents. It still comes off like, tattoo vibes, big winged liner, edgy, etc. But then you find out the cap is just plastic lol.
This formula is so unique and stunning. I wore it out the first few days after I got it and immediately fell in love. First of all, my redness – what redness? There’s no redness anymore. This formula is both watery AF and also one of the most buildable coverages I’ve ever run into. So I pump it out onto my hand and then dot it onto my face, since it does not go on with my hand like other formulas. Then I have a thick foundation brush from Sephora Collection and at first I was trying to tap it out but it turns out you actually have to blend this one the traditional way, like wiping it around and stuff. But nothing else works.
Also, it’s very buildable. So the first layer is good and starts to even me out, and that’s fine, but another drop over the cheek area really completely covers me. And it definitely doesn’t feel like wearing anything, and doesn’t start to transfer later in the day. It will let some of my oil through, which I can touch my hand to and it’ll transfer, but the actual foundation stays put, which is really cool.
As far as blending over it, since it’s way more matte, products sit and don’t budge as much. I need to apply my contour with a spritz of face mist or something to help it spread out.
The actual shade I thought would be too yellow, but once it’s blended and “dried down” like their website says, it was absolutely workable. I’m very relieved I don’t have to mix it.
This foundation retails for $42, which is not crazy for a foundation although a little high. Their website doesn’t talk much about the ingredients so much as just talking about how it’s formulated for very oily, acne-prone skin, which I actually don’t have. I would purchase this again in a closer shade to my tan skin tone, like for summer.
[Coming back a few days later to say that this product fucking slays. I have gotten so many compliments about my complexion over the last week of using it, I’ve recommended it to all my coworkers, and I definitely plan to purchase it again. It has not once pilled up with my skincare, gone patchy through the day, dried down to a weird color, or started to sweat off my skin. It goes on with this brush absolutely flawlessly, and it’s buildable if I feel like I need more. It’s like paint made of skin. It has my vote.]
Fenty Beauty
I like a little bit of Fenty with my Fenty! The best-est brand. This is their Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer in the shade Fenty Glow. I think it’s named “universal” because it’s like, one shade for all. I’ve tried the gloss bomb heat, the one that’s spicy and makes my lips all puffy, but this one will be a lot less painful lol.
It’s a mini, so the packaging is a little different from what’s on the website. But it’s just a little twist off lip gloss. It’s cute. It goes on exactly like the gloss bomb heat, without the heat. I like it, I’d put it in like a travel bag. It’s funny because it has the exact same feel and also the exact same smell as the one that’s spicy, so when I put it on I always have to double-take just in case.
The full size retails for $21, nothing too bad for a lip product. Within the realm of acceptable. I probably wouldn’t purchase at full price but I’d choose it again or get it at a discount.
Dew of the Gods
Wow I almost forgot about this brand. DOTG has come through for me though! There was a face wash, and a retinol cream, and I’m sure there were other things I’ve forgotten about. This is their Amalfi Gold Hair Serum. I don’t know if I mentioned, but I’ve started going to a hair salon again near my apartment and started taking better care of my hair. So I was actually pretty excited to see a hair product I might like!
The packaging is pretty cute, it comes in a jar with a flip cap to take drops out, but also comes with a dropper as well, I think for treating the scalp? It has a beautiful fragrance, and I have used it a few nights before bed and woken up without all that grease you get from some hair products. I’m going to use it as much as I can remember to, since hair isn’t really in my routine.
It retails for $30, and I honestly have no idea if this is a good price for a hair serum. I’m going to assume yes? But I definitely won’t remember to use it enough to need to purchase it again.
Updates
You can tell that it took me a few weeks to write this post. We’re into December now, and I’ve finished writing this. I’ve just signed a lease for a tiny little studio I can’t afford a few towns over. He goes right to his room now when he gets home and won’t look at me. Mad that I’m leaving, I guess… Somewhere along the last few weeks I stopped wondering where he met her, and when it all started. And if he had actually started looking around a long time ago, and I just didn’t catch on.
Some time over the last few days it stopped mattering. I’m feeling more tired and optimistic than sad. At first the sadness felt like it was going to twist the air out of me. Then it stopped twisting and just sits over me like a blanket. And I have to go.
I went on a date last night in the city. He’s a neuroscientist. He’s gorgeous. The imposter syndrome has me in a vice. I run a little shop. He has his Ph.D. I play videogames. He does hackathons. He’s successful and attractive and going places. I’m just getting up to speed. But I have no business talking myself out of this – even when I’m batting way over my average.
I skipped the December Boxycharm and a couple of other subscriptions. I’m heading home this afternoon to start decluttering and getting ready for the move. My new apartment has a lot of closet space, and one big window. One tiny kitchen. I’m so excited. I’m so upset. No more big trips to the cafes and buying myself everything I want. I actually need to step out onto the ledge here.
Wish me luck!
~Dani