Ipsy Glam Bags---What's the Deal? Are They Worth It?

Chances are if you are are on social media at all, you've heard of Ipsy! 

For years, I would constantly see this brand come across my newsfeed. 5 beauty products + a cute bag delivered to your door each month for one crazy low price. For a long while, I had seen these ads come and go, until finally I knew I had to see what all the hype was about.

That was about 4-5 months ago, and I have to tell you--- I am hooked now! I only wish that I had joined sooner. So I wanted to take the chance and share my (unbiased and unsponsored) personal experiences with all of you, so that if you were likewise on the fence, you can better make the decision.

First and foremost, what is Ipsy?

IPSY is the world's largest and most passionate online beauty community. We dreamt up IPSY back in 2011 with one singular goal - to democratize beauty, making it accessible and affordable for everyone and fearlessly representing individuality and inclusivity. That's how the Glam Bag came to life. With five products personalized for you - plus articles, videos, and more on IPSY.com - you're free to try new things and express who you are. IPSY Shopper takes our mission to the next level by making beauty more accessible, rewarding, and liberating than ever before. And with IPSY events, Open Studios, and all the creator content that we post each day, our intention has remained the same: to give every individual the tools to form their own definition of beauty.

How does it work?

When you sign up for Ipsy, you will complete your beauty profile--- a series of questions about your skin type, hair type, coloring, etc as well as your preferences on makeup and more. These will help Ipsy to better find the combination of products that work for you.

Each month around the 26th, you will be asked to go in and choose ONE product for your glam bag. This is a brand new feature that started just this last month but is a fantastic new feature. Options for October included skincare, mascara, lip color and more. I personally chose the Mauve It Baby lipstick.

On the first of each month, you will be charged for your glam bag. They cost $12 a month (a recent increase from $10), no additional shipping charges. On the second, you will be shown the other products that have been chosen for you. You will also have the chance to purchase up to 5 additional add-ons. These are products that can be sent with your glam bag--- $3 for deluxe samples (the type of products you'd find in your typical glam bags) or $12 for full size products. They are optional, and will be sent with your bag for no additional shipping. 

Once you receive your products, you are encouraged (but not required) to go in and rate and review everything. This helps to better customize your future bags based on what you've liked or disliked in past bags. In addition, this earns you points that can be redeemed for even more additional products too! 

This all sounds great, right? But of course, we all want to know:

What's really in the bag? 

All bags will of course be different, but here is a look inside my October bag.

On occasion, Ipsy will do fun collaborations and October's was a collab with Betty Boop as can be seen in the bag. In the case of collabs, not only will the bag have that theme, but all subscribers will receive one product from that collab.

Inside My October Glam Blag:

• Murad Purifying Cleanser (1.5 oz)
• COMPTOIR SUD PACIFIQUE Vanille Abricot Eau de Toilette (5mL)
• KALEIDO COSMETICS Diamond Foils Eyeshadow in Sizzle (2.5 g)
• TRUST FUND BEAUTY Nail Polish in Adulting (15mL)
• BETTY BOOP™ x IPSY Satin Lipstick in Mauve It Baby (3g)

So, is it worth it? What are my thoughts?

Taking a look just at my October bag value--- it's most certainly worth it in that regard. The nail polish I received is a full size polish, with a retail value of $15! That one product alone makes it a good deal.

For me personally, it makes sense. I love makeup and beauty products and don't have a ton of them. I don't like going out and spending money on a new style of product for the chance that I might not like it. The glam blag allows me to try out different types of products without going out and spending more on just ONE. For instance, in the past, I never would have dared to try out a highlighter. What if I didn't like it? What if I couldn't figure out how to use it? Since receiving a few in my glam bags, I've found that this a product I absolutely LOVE! It encourages me to try things I wouldn't try otherwise. My bags typically have at least 3 makeup items and nearly always include a lip color and/or nail color (my favorites), as I have my beautiful profile indicated as such. Nail polishes are always full size, and lip colors are always very good size as well. Even the samples I've received for blushes, highlighters and eyeshadows have been a good size to last a good while! $2 per product (including the bag), seems very reasonable to me. It is my monthly- just for me- splurge!

That said, it might not be for everyone. If you already have a TON of makeup and know what you like and don't, it might not be as worth it.

This post is talking ONLY about the classic Glam Bag ($12), but there are other options available- the Glam Bag Plus for $25 and the new Glam Bag Ultimate for $50. GBP features 5 full-size products and a larger bag. GBU features an even larger bag and 12 products (a combination of full size and deluxe samples). Though I cannot speak from experience having never tried them myself, it seems that value wise, these are certainly worth the cost as well. However, the frugal side of me still doesn't like the idea of spending $25-50 a month on makeup--- especially not knowing what I might receive. $12 I can justify much more easily within my personal budget!

A few helpful tips to consider:

Regardless on what size glam bag you choose, there are a few important things to remember.

First and foremost, be certain to change your beauty profile frequently. You might say you want eyeshadow frequently when you first sign up, but once you've been a member awhile, you might realize you need a little break on those can can set them to rarely. This does not mean that they won't send them (I have perfumes set to rarely and you can see I received one in my October bag), but it does seem to help in making sure you get more of what you want. Again, I receive a lip color and/or nail polish in nearly every bag that I get, and have both set to frequently.

One thing that I always do is change my beauty profile after they have done the live preview. This happens on Facebook and Instagram towards the end of each month. While they do not show EVERYTHING that is possible to receive, it does show some of the possibilities. Again using the example of eyeshadow, if I see that they have one that I absolute LOVE, I'll make sure it's set to frequently... on the other hand, if there's a shade that I know just isn't for me, I'll be sure to adjust my profile accordingly. I have done this since I signed up and have only received a few products that I didn't absolutely love!

Another important thing to consider is that you can either cancel or skip a month at any time. If you've seen the preview and weren't loving what you were seeing, OR unexpected expenses come up, it's not a problem to skip so long as you do so by the end of the month. If you try it out for a month or so and realize it's just not for you, you can easily cancel instead.


If you've seen the ads and been on the fence about joining, I hope this post helps. If you have any additional questions feel free to comment, email (randi@amoderndayfairytale.net) or message me on Facebook.

Ready to order, or learn more about the glam bag options? Click here to sign up!