Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel- Swatch and Reveiw, Ipsy Beauty Bag Review!

Hello everyone! Sorry about last week, lots of stuff happening in my life and things get lost in the whirlwind (like my internet bill... oops!). Everything's good now though, so yaaay!

Earlier this week, I got my Ipsy bag! And in it, I got full size bottles of Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel, Red Eye and the topcoat. So I decided to swatch them and tell ya what I think! I'm also gonna show you my Ipsy bag and experience. Because I seriously want you to know about it!


So to start, Red Eye:

Look at this gorgeous color! I am not generally a fan of red nail polish, but after a few hours, this one grew on me. The pics are pretty true to the color, a bright red with a bluish hint. I really like the color.

The instructions read: "Apply 2 coats of Miracle Gel color. Activate curing with Miracle Gel Top Coat. No base coat needed."

For the color, the formula is great, not streaky, and it self-levels really well. The bottle says 2 coats, but honestly if you've got a smile line you might want 3-4 coats. You can still see my smile line after 2 coats.

For the top coat, it's not my favorite. It's also good at self-leveling, but you weirdly see some brush streaks. Also, after only one day, you can see some shrinking, which is very frustrating, particularly since this is supposed to last up to 14 days.  I'm not thrilled with the performance of this duo.

The duo retails at around $15 and the individual colors are around $8.

Not pictured: Beauty Without Cruelty Sweet Lavender Hand & Body Lotion. 
I don't like lavender scented things, so I gave it to my bestie. 

So, in my bag: Sally Hansen's Miracle Gel set, Pacifica's Natural Water-Proof Eye Pencil in gunmetal, Be a Bombshell Smooth Criminal Powder, and Hikari lipstick in Cabernet.

I. am. SO. THRILLED with this whole bag. The bag is adorable, the nail polish is great, the lipstick is my new favorite, and the eye pencil is just amazing. I have not had the opportunity to try the Be a Bombshell Smooth Criminal Powder yet, but it's a finishng powder. You use it to minimize fine lines and pores (I had to look this up lol).

I spent $10 on this bag, and the value is so much more than that. I tried Birchbox before this one and there's really no comparison. THREE of my items are full-sized items. The nail polish duo itself retails at about $15, the lipstick is $13 and the Smooth Criminal Powder is $12. I never got full-size with Birchbox. 

I also have to say I've had some pretty awesome customer-service experiences with Ipsy. My original bag got lost in the mail, so I contacted Ipsy and they sent me a second one, which is the one that I'm showing you. They were pretty understanding about it too, just asking that I review that I had the correct address.

If you're interested in trying Ipsy out, heads-up, there's a wait list. But it is sooooo worth it. Want a referral? Here's my link: http://www.ipsy.com/r/dadk?sid=ipsypoints&cid=general Give it a try, and let me know what YOU think!