Ipsy January 2021 Subscription Box Review

Ipsy Bag

Cost: $12 monthly, $132 annual

Cycle: Every Month

What is it: Every month Ipsy sends out a cute makeup bag of samples and full size items. You can review your bag for points that you can trade in for reward items. The rewards change often and the range between 300 points and 1000 points. You can get around 95 points every month.

If you want to subscribe you can subscribe HERE and skip the waitlist. That is my referral link so I do get points to spend but I’m not an affiliate I don’t make any money or anything it’s just the same link any subscriber would get.

You can now customize your bag and pick out one sample per month that will get to be in your bag which is a pretty nice change even though it came with a price increase.


So we got this weird rubbery but soft and smooth sorta see through bag that is very nineties but will be very useful do to the waterproof thick material. So while I kinda hate it I also kinda love it.

Firma Beauty 403 Round Blending Brush

Full Size: Yes

Full Size Cost: $14.99

Sample Size: Yes

Value: $14.99

Very soft fluffy blending brush. I have found Firma brushes to be hit or miss some are good some are not so good but this one has alot of promise for blending out soft looks.

YC Collection Let Me First Primer

Full Size: 30 ml

Full Size Cost: $15.99

Sample Size: 15 ml

Value: $8.00

I will never use this because I have so many higher end primes to use that I have no reason to even try this. Also what the heck is up with this name? The grammar it kills me.

Clara’s New York OIl Serum Rosehip + Vitamin E

Full Size: 1 oz

Full Size Cost: $6.49

Sample Size: 0.34 oz

Value: $2.21

So I can’t use this because allergic but this seems like a really good product that should really help with scars and pigmentation and a bunch of things it has really good ingredients. I could only find this brand at Nordstrom rack for a discounted price.

Goldfaden MD Bright Eyes Dark Circle Radiance Concentrate

Full Size: 15 ml

Full Size Cost: $55

Sample Size: 4 ml

Value: $14.67

I love this brand their products actually work which makes them worth the price. Now I am interested to see how this treats dark circles since that is technically and internal problem due to blood pooling and thin skin under the eyes which is worsened with age and tiredness but is also very genetic and sorta just it is what it is kinda thing. I don’t have chronic dark circles but I definitely get them and well see if this helps.

Youth to the People Maqui + Acai Prickly Pear Goji Superberry Hydrate + Glow Oil

Full Size: 30 ml

Full Size Cost: $44

Sample Size: 3.7 ml

Value: $5.43

So this was my choice for the month. I love facial oils so I always want to try new ones even a tiny bottle like this will last me awhile as I need to use so little. This just has all the buzzwords to get my skincare heart beating.


This was a very rollercoaster of a bag 3 things I really love one thing I hate and one thing I can’t use. and then the bag itself is not cute but very useful. Such a mixed bag pun intended.

Quick Summary:

Total Value: $45.30

Skincare: 3

Makeup: 1

Tools: 1

Hair Care: 0

Perfume: 0

Other: 0

And as far as sizes:

Full Size: 1

Deluxe Sample: 1

Sample: 3

<3 Nightmare Before Makeup

Macy’s Beauty Box January 2021 Subscription Box Review

Macy’s Beauty Box

Cost: $15

Cycle: Every Month

What is it: Every month you will get a bag, a $5 off coupon (sometimes $10), 5 deluxe samples and 1 bonus sample. Why not just say 6? I don’t get it. Lately we have been getting between 6 and 8 items per month you never really know how many things you are going to get.

All the brands will be brands you can find in Macy’s which is cool since they sell Mac and a lot of other brands that are never to rarely seen in subscription boxes.

The cool thing about the coupon is that it is good in stores and online also Macy’s does have sales and $5 products so if you are strategic you can score a free product every month. Depending on your state you may still have to pay tax but it is still basically free.


So this was a hair themed box and it really good. Like way more then I would ever expect from a $15 dollar box.

Michael Kors Gorgeous! Perfume

Full Size: 100 ml

Full Size Cost: $120

Sample Size: 1.5 ml

Value: $1.80

This is a very grown floral scent with alot of smokey tobacco undertones and it is just not me at all.

Klorane Dry Shampoo with Oat Milk

Full Size: 50 ml

Full Size Cost: $10

Sample Size: 50 ml

Value: $10

I have wanted to try this dry shampoo but I have so many that there was never any reason to buy it so now I have a travel size can to try. This has been very effectively marketed to me and in my brain it is going to be so good but not make my hair feel dry. So we will see.

Drybar Southern Belle Volume Booster Root Lifter

Full Size: 218 g

Full Size Cost: $26

Sample Size: 20 g

Value: $2.39

Typically I love Drybar products but I have never used anything like this before so that should be a learning curve. But more volume in my roots could be nice sometimes. And I know it is going to smell great since all their products smell great.

Verb Ghost Oil

Full Size: 60 ml

Full Size Cost: $18

Sample Size: 17 ml

Value: $5.10

I love this hair all it is very sleek and very light and very shiny. I have used up at least two of these in the past.

Rahua Classic Shampoo

Full Size: 275 ml

Full Size Cost: $34

Sample Size: 22 ml

Value: $2.72

Rahua Classic Conditioner

Full Size: 275 ml

Full Size Cost: $36

Sample Size: 22 ml

Value: $2.88

I have not had good luck with plant derived shampoos and conditioners in the past. But this is just a small travel size so I will use these up on some trip at some point.

Velvet Scrunchie

Full Size: 5 scrunchies

Full Size Cost: $9

Sample Size: 1 scrunchies

Value: $1.80

I linked to a similar scrunchie set since this was made specifically for the box. While I hate the color this weird baby blush pink it is a good scrunchie it isn’t too wide or two big so it holds well with out needing to be twisted a bunch and making a giant lump.

Sutra Beauty Mini Flat Iron in Lavender

Full Size: Yes

Full Size Cost: $59.99

Sample Size: Yes

Value: $59.99

So I can’t find it in Lavender so I linked to the Purple one. How amazing is it to get a travel flat iron in a $15 dollar box and an expensive one at that. it feels like good quality it is light and small so perfect for slipping into a bag like even a small suitcase or large toiletry bag would fit this. I love the points on it because that makes it so easy to slip your hair around and not have it pull or get stuck.


What a really great box to start the year off with. I sorta really loved the themed box and I hope they do more of them through out the year.

Total Value: $86.68

Skincare: 0

Makeup: 0

Tools: 1

Hair Care: 5

Perfume: 1

Other: 1

And as far as sizes:

Full Size: 3

Deluxe Sample: 0

Sample: 5

<3 Nightmare Before Makeup

What’s in My Trash? 2020 Year End Wrap Up

So my goal was $3,500 in products so I would be encouraged to use my more expensive products as well as my full size products and I am happy to say that I did reach my goal and I used up $3,621.72!

Final Totals:

So I used significantly less items this year. I don’t know if that is because I focused more on full size items of it was because of lockdown and generally just using less stuff because I was doing less stuff. But Compared to last years stats I used up nearly $600 more stuff and decreased my percent paid ratio by 8% so I was getting much better value out of my products this year. My cost per item was 6 cents higher but that seems pretty negligible considering the massive amount of items difference this year 394 vs last years 568 items. I also increase my Avg Month Value and decreased my Avg Paid Per Month.

Overall I can say that this year was a pretty big success. Woot Woot.

Final Totals By Category:

I decluttered so much less this year. I don’t know if that is good of bad but it is the stand out difference in item totals between 2020 and 2019. And I used 50% less perfume which makes senses considering the year and a decent amount more in candles and such which also makes sense. Other then decluttering the average of each category used up each month is with margin of error the same so that’s pretty interesting to see that even when the number of products involved changed the ratios pretty much stay the same. That really helps pinpoint what I can buy extras of vs what I really shouldn’t.

Now for some fun nerdy pie charts:

So Skincare came in at the exact same percentage as last year, a whole third of my used up products. I am really glad to once again see that Makeup doesn’t come in last place even though half of my categories all tied at 3rd least used. It just find this mostly equally spread out break down this year so interesting and not what I was thinking it was going to be.

I leave declutters out of this because I don’t want the values of items I am not using up to taint my data.

As we can see here I pay the most for HomeScents, Skincare, and Haircare in that order; But I get the most value out of Skincare, HomeScents, and Makeup.

I know Last year I really wanted to spend less on candles and use up alot of what I had and reduce my collection. While I wasn’t really successful in accumulating less candles ands and things I did seriously reduce my collection of items. They fully fit in my storage for them again with space and this time last year I had totally outgrown the storage area I have for them. That is a win for sure. And I have gotten better and only buying as many or less than a used so it is an improvement.

I also wanted to work on using up full size perfumes but that seriously got derailed this year so I am not going to beat myself up about it. I was not motivated to use my expensive perfumes to sit around the house so I was mostly using up less expensive body sprays because I still like to have a scent even if I am not going out.


So 2021 goals. After the year we have had it feels hard to commit to anything in the future because who knows what is going to happen but I want to use up 400 products and have a value of $3,000. I really neglected my non full size products this year and they have certainly started to pile up and need to be moved out but I also want to stay motivated to use my expensive full sizes so by having both goals I feel like I have two things to work towards and will be forced to switch things up more because having the same routines for things for such long stretches was kinda boring for me.

This breaks down to about $250 and 33 products per month which feels more then doable. The more subjective goal is to just get more use and try more things in my collection rather then committing to full size products this year.

Happy panning this year every one.

<3 Nightmare Before Makeup