Damn, that bag is cute!  It’s my second favorite next to my glittery November bag.  This one smells like a brand new backpack on the first day of school.  My January bag gave me wicked grade school PE flashbacks, but I enjoyed other aspects of school.  This bag makes me happy.  I rated the last bag, so I’m rating this one too: 5 out of 5 for being cute, big, and bringing me happy thoughts.

GLAMGLOW BRIGHTMUD Eye Treatment – full size $69.00; ipsy sample $11.50. I had pretty high hopes for this treatment.  I have dark circles, fine lines, puffiness, all the things that this miracle mud is supposed to fix.  Instructions say to tap the contents of one bubble under the eye or on the orbital area, leave on for 3 minutes and wipe off.  I prepped for this by washing my face and getting some before shots of my eyes.  The bubbles contain so much mud that I actually applied above and below my eye, but as thick as I laid it on, I can’t imagine it being more effective if I used it all in one place.  It looks and feels like mashed up banana with Italian dressing mixed in, and sort of feels like a mashed up banana too.  I enjoy the smell. Not necessarily getting the peppermint scent off this; it smells like an artist studio.  Within a minute of tapping on, it definitely has a cooling feel, but that fades before the time is up.  Wiping off is easy, and my eye area did feel refreshed, but I couldn’t see a whole lot of difference in my after photo.  The puffiness has gone down and I don’t see the lines at the corners of my eyes, but the dark circles are still there.  If you have the full-size case of mud treatments, you can reapply as many as 3 times per week, so maybe it takes a few sessions for dramatic results.  Near as I can tell, I could have gotten the same results from popping my used teabags in the fridge and putting those over my eyes.  Hard to say from a first impression, but my eyes feel less tired.  I’ll give it 3 out of 5.

ModelCo BLUSH Cheek Powder (color: Peach Bellini) full-size $22.00; ipsy size 0.12oz $9.43. I really enjoy this blush.  I have to learn a lighter touch with a blush that actually shows up.  I flashed my jerkface and slapped this on my cheeks like I would any other blush in my box.  BAM! I looked like I’d just lost my pants while giving a speech.  I’m not used to that at all, but luckily the brush I received this month is super soft and delicate.  This blush isn’t as shimmery as the Hard Candy blush I’ve settled on lately, which is good news for disguising my pores, but still has a trace of shimmer to set it apart from most budget blush.  I really have nothing bad to say about this one.  It’s a great product.  5 out of 5.

Luxie Beauty Large Angled Face Brush 504 (synthetic bristles 100% vegan) $16.00.  Love!  The Luxie brush is not quite as soft or as large as the Ecotools large angled brush, but very close.  The size and slightest coarseness give good control. The handle is a beautiful soft pink, and it is thick and solid.  The white bristle tips show any product that has been used so you know for sure if your brush is clean.  I love that it’s made with synthetic materials too.  I’m actually considering a set of these.  Also 5 out of 5.

Rob Scheppy for ‘Tini Beauty Powder Shadow (color: Pearl Fizz) $12.00. What?  What the hell is this?  It’s invisible.  Like, what the absolute hell?  Rob Scheppy has been working on the Kardashians so long, he’s forgotten that pale skin exists.  I read somewhere that this shadow can actually be used as a highlighting powder, so I tried that.  That seems to be its only true use, but the sad truth is that I have drugstore powders for half as much (and more than twice the size) that do the highlighting thing even better.  And while I’m at it, I’ll just mention that this goes a bit beyond the monthly nude eye product they send me.  I could at least come up with a coordinated look with the other products, but can you even see this one?  Pacifica wins, ‘Tini Beauty loses. 1 out of 5.  (For reference, I did actually use it on my eyes and face. The results were the same as my arm and paper swatches)

City Color Creamy Lip Stain (color: Flirtini) $4.99 This was a surprising product.  I’m never really blown away by lip products in wand vials.  They’re usually sort of sticky, and the color isn’t very bold.  Damn!  This definitely has color.  I brought out the amount I would use for any other lip stain wand. The moment it touched my lip, I knew this was going to be excessive.  It’s a creamy opaque with high pigment, and thankfully the pigment is a good color for me.  It isn’t sticky, nor is it prone to bleeding.  The only strike against it is how oily it feels.  After spreading out the application, I waited to see if it would dry on my lips.  Nope.  I did a straw test and found an embarrassing amount left behind.  I blotted, which seemed like it helped, but still left major residue on my straw.  Blotted again.  The second blot did the trick, and the color and coverage was still about 80% intact.  This shade wipes away from lips easily, but on my arm swatch it did actually stain the skin (which you might see above at the tail end of my Pacifica swatch).  I’ll give this 4 out of 5.

Total value: $53.92, Ipsy price: $10

Overall score: 3.83 – almost an A. You really deserved an A.  I was surprised and excited about more things in this bag than I have ever been, but Scheppy blew it.  No pizza party this month.  Scheppy didn’t turn in his homework.

But who am I kidding? The brush was worth more than the price of the bag.  The eye treatment was worth more than the price of the bag.  The blush was almost worth the price of the bag.  This was a great bag.  If the shadow hadn’t been included, this still would have been a $41 bag for $10, and it would have scored 4.4 with me.

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