It’s been a long time coming, but the day has finally arrived. I’ve decided to pull the plug on Ipsy – at least for now. Let me make this perfectly clear, I think the Ipsy Glam Bag is fantastic and have largely enjoyed receiving that metallic pink mailer every month but after nearly two years, I’ve come up with ten reasons why I’m quitting Ipsy and ten reasons why you should consider subscribing.

Reason One:  Makeup Bags

• Subscribe:  If you love small makeup bags, Ipsy is for you. Every single month your treats will come in a handy little makeup bag. They vary in style from cute and whimsical, to harder and darker styles. The quality is good, and they are purse friendly.
• Cancel:  Based on bags alone, there are a few reasons to cancel.
  1. If you are not a fan of small makeup bags, you are guaranteed to dislike one of your six items, every-single-month. A makeup item is preferable.
  2. At the end of the year, you have twelve makeup bags, which is a bit excessive.
  3. If you are at all particular about style, color, size, and shape, you are out of luck. You don’t get to chose. The bags are chosen for you. You get what you get and you may not like it.

Reason Two:   Makeup Tools / Brushes

• Subscribe:  If you love beauty tools, Ipsy is ideal. Every month, I’ve received a makeup tool, usually, a brush, occasionally something else and they are usually respectable tools. You’ll amass a small collection of tools. It’s a great way to start a collection and figure out what you like and what you don’t like.
• Cancel:  Based on tools alone, there are many reasons to cancel.
  1. Again, if this is an item you dislike, then you are going to be disappointed by one of your items each month.
  2. At the end of the year, I realized that many of the brushes weren’t the best quality. They certainly don’t hold their own against the professional brushes I have in my collection and most of them go unused.
  3. Some of the brushes are really child-like. Don’t get me wrong, I have a place in my heart for cutesy things, I adore Hello Kitty and Toki Doki, and appreciate their aesthetic but as a general rule, I prefer to have tools that look like they belong to an adult or a working professional.
  4. Some of the tools were just plain awful. I’ve received a couple of items that weren’t usable and ended up in the trash.

Reason Three:  Nail Polish

• Subscribe:  If you like nail polish, you’ll be glad to know that you will receive nail polish. I’ve discovered a new brand or two because of Ipsy.
• Cancel:  Nail polish is another item that I just don’t enjoy. After months of giving Ipsy feedback on what I like and what I don’t like, I finally seemed to have stopped the never-ending train of nail polish, but amassed a small collection before that happened.
  1. Nail polish is cheap and good. Granted you can spend as much as you want on nail polish, but I find for a couple of dollars, I can get my hands on a good bottle of polish in whatever color I want. I don’t need to be sent nail polish in a subscription service.
  2. I never got a color that I truly loved. I love nudes and blood reds, I received everything but.

Reason Four:  Brand Recognition / Generic Brands

• Subscribe:  If you like trying new and lesser-known brands, you’ll be thrilled to know that Ipsy sends a lot of items from brands you’ve never heard of.
  1. You can discover new brands.
  2. You can support smaller, mom-n-pop brands.
  3. Having something new and different is exciting and fun.
• Cancel:  If you want the best-of-the-best, brands that are tried and true and have brand recognition, you’re going to be disappointed everytime you get a product from an unknown brand. It happens a lot. You’ll either love it or hate it.

Reason Five:  No Unusual / Exciting Items

• Subscribe:  If you want a subscription service that sends you practical, usable items, you’ll like Ipsy. Every month, you get a bag, a tool, and typical items such as nail polish, lipstick, eyeliners, and mascara.
• Cancel:  Ipsy never has anything exotic in it. It’s straightforward, and never really surprises me.

Reason Six:  No Iconic Items

• Subscribe:  If you prefer receiving a mix of items from an assortment brands, Ipsy will please you. You’ll receive a combination of lesser-known brands, future rock-star brands, and brands you’ve heard of.
• Cancel:  As much as I like getting new and different items, I also love getting iconic items, ones that are tried and true, that I know I will love. Ipsy doesn’t really do that.

Reason Seven:  Every Bag Is Different.

• Subscribe:  The fun thing about Ipsy is that each bag is different.
  1. Ipsy works to cater your bags to your likes/wants. If you give Ipsy feedback, they will use that feedback to design your bag.
  2. You can subscribe to multiple bags and get a different assortment of items in each bag.
  3. You can see what other people got from reading blog posts and watching YouTube videos and converse about items.
• Cancel:  I want the best of the best each and every month. When I see what others have received, I walk away knowing that I haven’t received the best.

Reason Eight:  You get a lot of makeup/beauty over the course of a year.

• Subscribe:  If you want to build a small collection of makeup and tools, this is a great way to do it.
  1. At the end of a year, you will have twelve makeup bags, twelve tools and forty-eight pieces of makeup, skincare, and hair care. That’s a great way to try a lot of makeup and build a small collection makeup.
• Cancel:  At the end of the year you end of with a lot of makeup that isn’t of your own choosing. You may love it, but you also may hate it. $120 isn’t a lot of money where high-end makeup is concerned but it certainly is a lot of money and if you’re not liking or using what you receive, it’s money down the drain.

Reason Nine:  Deluxe Samples vs Small Samples

• Subscribe:  Sample sizes, particularly deluxe sample sizes are a great way to test out makeup brands.
• Cancel:  Subscription services in beauty-land are largely comprised of deluxe-sized samples, and occasionally a full-sized item. My problem with Ipsy is that I’ve received a few items that were so itsy-bitsy, that I felt like I was being gypped.

Reason Ten:  Other Subscription Services

• Subscribe:  I think Ipsy is fantastic for a lot of people. If you are one of the following, you should strongly consider Ipsy.
  1. A Young Person:  You’ll be able to build a nice collection and you’ll likely like the makeup bags, tools, and nail polish.
  2. A Person Building a Makeup Collection:  If you don’t have much makeup, and don’t have an interest in studying up all that’s out there, Ipsy is great. You’ll get a curated bag with lots of usable makeup and beauty items.
  3. A Person Looking To Build a Cheap Brush Collection:  You will end up with approximately twelve makeup brushes, which is a great way to start a collection and see what you like.
  4. Someone Who Wants a Monthly Treat:  If you want a little surprise each month, Ipsy is as good as any. You will enjoy getting your treats.
• Cancel:  If you are looking for something different, you should consider your other options, if for no other reason than to mix up your collection. There are a lot of comparably priced subscription services and you might prefer one of those. I like Sephora Play! for many reason, the biggest of which being that they are filled with high-end and luxury items that are tried and true. Every single item is quality, and that’s what I’m looking for.

So there you have it, my (more than) ten reasons I’m quitting Ipsy and (at least) ten reasons why you should subscribe. To view the video version of my thoughts on Ipsy, watch my video below.

 

My Nine Reason Why I Quit Ipsy / December 2017 Bag Reveal Video can be seen here.