Birch Box v. Ipsy Glam Bag... which is better?

Those of you who know me know that I have never really been into makeup, beauty products, etc.  In fact the girl who did my makeup for my wedding was appalled when she asked me what kind of face wash I use and I said "Umm... I just use hand soap and water."  She then proceeded to try to impress upon me the importance of using face wash and said that although my skin looks great now, continuing to use soap and water will hurt it in the long run.  (Side note: I did go out and buy some face wash after the wedding... which was in October... and I think I still have 3/4 of the bottle left because I just can't remember to use it on a daily basis... Sorry Bre!)

So back to this whole makeup/beauty products thing.  Since I have never really been into it, one of my friends suggested that I try Birch Box... I looked into it and decided that for $10 a month I would give it a try.  This was I could find some makeup that worked for me without having to actually purchase full sized products.  Then if I liked it, I could buy it through the Birch Box website, earn points, get stuff for free, etc.  In the beginning Birch Box was A-MAZE-ING.  I got so many great makeup products plus a few beauty products that I immediately purchased through their site.  They were even great when I had a problem with the stuff that I bought not being packaging properly so the hair stuff spilled all over the box... within a couple of days I had a replacement... talk about fantastic customer service.  Then somewhere around the time of my wedding my box started to change a bit... instead of getting different makeup and hair products to try I started to get all this anti-aging and anti-wrinkle stuff.  Personally I think it was a sign because Bre had tried to talk to me about the importance of skin care, but that is besides the point.  Now, I never changed any of my Birch Box settings so I am not sure why there was a push all of a sudden for stuff I wasn't interested in, but I decided to stick it out for another month... well another month turned into about 6 months and after this past box I FINALLY decided to cancel my subscription because well it just wasn't helping me out anymore.

This was my March Birch Box... Shampoo, some body cream, sun screen, and some face stuff.  Plus I did get a green eyeliner this time around... first time I have gotten a makeup product in a LONG time.  It was this box that did it in for me and made me realize that I was spending $10 a month (that's $120 a  year) on a Box that was no longer fitting my needs.  It was no longer introducing me to make up products that I would come to love... so I decided that money would be better spent doing something else.

Now, during my wondering if i was going to keep my Birch Box subscription, one of my other friends told me that she too had been discouraged by them, but had found a new place IPSY Glam Bag that was the same concept, $10 a month for a bag full of beauty products to try, so I decided to give them a shot.  It was a couple of months before I was able to get my first IPSY bag as there is a waiting list to sign up... but I have to say that so far I am impressed.  My IPSY bags seem to contain solely makeup, which is what I wanted in the first place, from brands that you can buy at places like Target or brands that you have to go to a specialty store like Ulta or Sephora for.  I love that these bags have a mix of products that I can buy various places... I don't always want to spend a million dollars on eye shadow... although I have learned that I need to spend more on mascara because my eyes are apparently really sensitive to various brands.  

Now this was my March IPSY Glam Bag.  For the girl who is looking to try out various types of makeup, this bag is definitely for me.  It came with an eye shadow set, a face primer, lip stick and an eyeliner.  Plus it came in that really cute little makeup bag.  This is more of what I am looking for in something like this.  I absolutely LOVE the eye shadow pallet and use it all the time.  The eyeliner is blue and I really am still unsure of how I feel about it... I gave it a try, but for some reason I think blue might not be for me, or maybe I just didn't pair it with the right eye shadows? I also think the lipstick is a bit too bright for me, but then again, this is coming from a girl who RARELY wears makeup, so pretty much any lipstick with color is a bit bright.  

For now I think it is the IPSY Glam Bag for the win!  I have cancelled my Birch Box subscription and will be keeping the IPSY subscription until further notice as these past few months it has really provided me with some makeup products I have come to love!

What about you? Have you ever used either of these services? How do you find new makeup products?

*Note* I did not receive any type of compensation for this post... I purchased both of these products on my own and this review contains my own personal opinions of both products.