Ipsy has been catering to a no-makeup look for a couple months now.  Part of that is the monthly theme, going back to basics, and part of that is because I was too honest on the quiz.  When you sign up, you take a quiz to help the stylists (database) determine what mix of products to send you each month.  You can give feedback on the items you receive, but why miss out on current month goodies?

I decided to retake the quiz, because I couldn’t remember what I’d told them about myself.  Holy hell, no wonder they keep pushing the natural look!  The first question asks you about your personal style.  Among the selections, I have Natural, Sporty, Simple and Professional selected.  All of which are true of my normal daily appearance, but I achieve that just fine without makeup.  If I want to look natural, I’m not going to waste time putting on makeup, I’m just going to go without.  UNSELECT!  Along with those, I had selected Hip/Edgy, Club-goer (not true anymore, but I want to try crazy new things), and Vintage/Retro.  I’m keeping Professional, but dumping the other simple looks, and adding Worldly to my mix for a while.

Question 2, I really don’t know what to choose for my stylists.  I have Jessica and Kandee selected, but honestly I don’t see much variety in these girls.  They all look identical, just with slight ethnic differences (very slight).  I haven’t spent much time watching individual channels to know what makes each one special.

Questions 3 and 4, I’m still Somewhat Comfortable with makeup (hoping to not receive complicated things like highlighters that require an airbrush machine to use…seriously…), and I’m always Very Adventurous.  Come on, give me something crazy and bold.  I love my lip paint and I’ve been wearing this sky blue nail lacquer for days now.  I’m not afraid to try new things as long as it can be used as a stand-alone.

The next part is a list of brands, so I have most of the sought-after product brands selected.  I don’t own any products by most of the brands on the list, but I’ve heard great things about maybe a third of the brands, and I know I always hope for MAC, O.P.I., and Urban Decay, to name a few.

Question 6 is about types of makeup products you enjoy.  I had eye shadow, eyeliner (there you are, unselected!), mascara, lip gloss, brushes and tools.  All still true, but I have so much eyeliner right now, I could reuse my Prismacolor tin to hold it all.  I’m adding lipstick and powder, but staying away from foundations and concealers.  Any kind of cream that relies heavily on skin color is dodgy for a mail-order sample.  I need to see it in person or it’s just a waste.

Question 7 asks about other beauty products, and I had treatment, masks, nail color, fragrance and lotion selected.  I’m unselecting treatments, because I’m currently working on a skin regimen of my own, but I’m adding hair tools and bath gels.  I like to smell good.  I’m not sure what sort of hair tool they can fit into a Glam Bag, but my hair can use some excitement.

I’m still keeping Mass Retail and Online as my sources for cosmetics, because there are no chains or department stores in my area.  I could go to the city, but I’d spend most of my fun money on gas getting there, and that sucks.

Next, you get skin questions.  I’m still light-skinned, and I still have issues with large pores and dryness, but not such big issues with lines and wrinkles.  I swapped that out for redness and blemishes.  My skin is really thin, so my cheeks get red frequently (not as red as my ears when I get nervous, but still pretty red).  I’m also recovering from a few big zits since I’ve been working on the dryness, and because of my light skin, blemishes stay pink/purple for a while after they’ve healed.  These are bigger issues for me than any fine lines.

Finally, eye and hair questions.  My eyes are still grey and my hair is still dark brown, and I still deal with split ends. Nothing exciting there.  Once you finish the quiz, your account is updated and ipsy can make better choices about your bag.  If the waiting list is three months, I guarantee any selections are made by a database.  I don’t know for sure, but most likely, the best way to make selections is by assigning qualities to each item (good for brown eyes, medium skin, people who like eye shadow) and then grades each item by the number of qualifying traits so you get the 4-5 highest scores.  So when I had Sporty, Natural, Simple, Eye Shadows, for Grey Eyes and Light Skin listed on my preferences, that was 6 hits for every champagne eye product in the lineup.  They thought they’d found the perfect match, and I was saying “What’s with all the skin-color eye makeup?!”  With some adjustments, I’m hoping to get more variety.  Let’s find out!