Ipsy Science: AKA How on Earth did you get that bag, girlfriend?!

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I was wondering if answering "very adventurous" would somehow override anyone who otherwise describes their look as natural, classic, etc. I don't know, I guess I'm willing to cut them a little slack because they've only recently starting using this matching system (well, advertising it so openly, that is), so I'm sure there are multiple kinks to work out. I wasn't a fan of last month's bag because the colors weren't really my style (nor my match with the Yaby), but overall it seemed to be one of their most popular ones. They definitely can't all be winners.

It's a little frustrating, sure, but with their numbers and the opportunity for profit, this variation was bound to happen.

 
I just re-checked my profile because this month is pretty much a complete bust for me. The only two products I would have used are the dry shampoo and the highlighter pencil, and do you think I'm getting either of them?? Nope. I have "Professional, Simple, and Natural" as my styles. I specifically left off all lip products and eyeliner from my profile and said I wanted hair products, and I'm getting the lip liner and the liquid eyeliner. In purple, no less! I'm not sure what professional office would be keen on purple liquid liner and false eyelashes! I skipped the stylist question entirely because I haven't had time to check them out and have no idea what each person's style actually is. I don't know if that hurts or helps? I'm leaving reviews on everything saying "please don't send me this again" so we'll see if that helps! 
I'd be more than willing to trade the dry shampoo with you for one of your items. Send me a pm if interested.
 
I was wondering if answering "very adventurous" would somehow override anyone who otherwise describes their look as natural, classic, etc. I don't know, I guess I'm willing to cut them a little slack because they've only recently starting using this matching system (well, advertising it so openly, that is), so I'm sure there are multiple kinks to work out. I wasn't a fan of last month's bag because the colors weren't really my style (nor my match with the Yaby), but overall it seemed to be one of their most popular ones. They definitely can't all be winners. It's a little frustrating, sure, but with their numbers and the opportunity for profit, this variation was bound to happen.
But see this is why they should just send everyone the same thing. It's only until they stated they would use ipsy match that problems begun. I don't think it unreasonable for people to expect them to do what they say. If they aren't going to be able to match, just don't do it. Send everyone the same thing (or not and lose members like birchbox) and we will have no justification for complaints.
 
Originally Posted by Juicesnberriez /img/forum/go_quote.gif

But see this is why they should just send everyone the same thing. It's only until they stated they would use ipsy match that problems begun. I don't think it unreasonable for people to expect them to do what they say. If they aren't going to be able to match, just don't do it. Send everyone the same thing (or not and lose members like birchbox) and we will have no justification for complaints.
I don't disagree, but I just don't see it as likely to happen. I don't really think any sub box has really mastered the customization aspect (though I only have 2 myself) just yet. Until they get there, the best thing for people to do is evaluate whether or not the risk is worth it to them individually.

 
Originally Posted by bluelion /img/forum/go_quote.gif


I don't disagree, but I just don't see it as likely to happen. I don't really think any sub box has really mastered the customization aspect (though I only have 2 myself) just yet. Until they get there, the best thing for people to do is evaluate whether or not the risk is worth it to them individually.
For me it's only 10 bucks. So if I at least get one thing I like plus the bag, I'm ok. But there are some people who won't be. Just saying Ipsy made it harder on themselves when it wasn't really necessary. 

 
Originally Posted by Juicesnberriez /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Quote: Originally Posted by bluelion /img/forum/go_quote.gif


I don't disagree, but I just don't see it as likely to happen. I don't really think any sub box has really mastered the customization aspect (though I only have 2 myself) just yet. Until they get there, the best thing for people to do is evaluate whether or not the risk is worth it to them individually.
For me it's only 10 bucks. So if I at least get one thing I like plus the bag, I'm ok. But there are some people who won't be. Just saying Ipsy made it harder on themselves when it wasn't really necessary. 

I feel the same, but any item I don't like goes on my trade list, and typically trade well.  I don't mind the extra $1.50-$2.00 I spend on shipping for trades, if the product is worth the extra couple bucks.
 
I wonder how ipsyMatch is set up. I imagined some sort of filter system but it doesn't really seem to fit what's going on.

I got my bag for this month. I thought that even if I don't use the cream palette (I got the cool shades when I look better in warm) and lashes, at least I have the blush and lip liner to look forward to. But the blush came in Pecan and the lip liner came in the shade Bare. And my skin is light, lol. So the only thing that I'll actually use in the whole bag will be the highlighter. Tbh, this is the very first month that I've had a dud bag from Ipsy. I'm disappointed but not that upset. One bad bag from the past 8 months isn't too bad.

My feedback to Ipsy this month is to 1) add skin tone warm or cool to their questions 2) allow us to pick one single item that we do NOT want in the bag ie. hair products, tanning/bronzers, fragrance, etc 3) change the very first question that asks about personal style to pick two styles only.

I was thinking how awesome it would be if IpsyMatch went something like this. Set up all the bag variations. All products get tagged with qualifiers such as warm or cool, hair/skin/eyes/lips/blush/tanning/etc. And everybody gets matched through a filtering system. The first level of question could be skin tone (warm or cool) and that can be used to eliminate all the bags that are the wrong skin tone. And then the second level of question can be the one single item that we do NOT want in our bag so the bags that do contain those items can get eliminated as well. And then the third level of filtering can be for styles. The remaining bags get chosen based on the bag that fits our personal style.

Ok, I'm done daydreaming about the perfect bag, lol.

Option two, Ipsy goes back to no variations.
laughing.gif


 
I wonder how ipsyMatch is set up. I imagined some sort of filter system but it doesn't really seem to fit what's going on. I got my bag for this month. I thought that even if I don't use the cream palette (I got the cool shades when I look better in warm) and lashes, at least I have the blush and lip liner to look forward to. But the blush came in Pecan and the lip liner came in the shade Bare. And my skin is light, lol. So the only thing that I'll actually use in the whole bag will be the highlighter. Tbh, this is the very first month that I've had a dud bag from Ipsy. I'm disappointed but not that upset. One bad bag from the past 8 months isn't too bad. My feedback to Ipsy this month is to 1) add skin tone warm or cool to their questions 2) allow us to pick one single item that we do NOT want in the bag ie. hair products, tanning/bronzers, fragrance, etc 3) change the very first question that asks about personal style to pick two styles only. I was thinking how awesome it would be if IpsyMatch went something like this. Set up all the bag variations. All products get tagged with qualifiers such as warm or cool, hair/skin/eyes/lips/blush/tanning/etc. And everybody gets matched through a filtering system. The first level of question could be skin tone (warm or cool) and that can be used to eliminate all the bags that are the wrong skin tone. And then the second level of question can be the one single item that we do NOT want in our bag so the bags that do contain those items can get eliminated as well. And then the third level of filtering can be for styles. The remaining bags get chosen based on the bag that fits our personal style. Ok, I'm done daydreaming about the perfect bag, lol. Option two, Ipsy goes back to no variations. :laughing:
I complettely agree. I also got the same EXACT bag as you. II hate the variations especially when soome people gget significantly more expensive items than others. last monthh wwas a complete miss for me and i wrote ipsycare an email about that. i also adjusted my profile. well again this month it seems that my profile has been completely overlooked as i'm light skinned, how has adhesive sensitivites so NO lash glue which means no lashes. and the pecan blush isn't even a blush, but a bronzer that i cannot use on my skin! i am unable to tan so i am as light or lighter in the summer than in the winter and i live in so cal. while i love the chella highlighter i wanted the cailyn eyeliner sooo badly have been wanting to try them for months now and was sooo excited to see them in the bag only to receive an item of significantly lower retail value along with being unable to even try it if i wanted to. i wiish they wouldn't have so much variation, that is why i left birchbox because of "box envy" aand feeling like i always got the lowest value box. which has now happened twice with ipsy.. its not as if i don't like the products they are sending out, becase i do, i just strongly dislike the ones sent to me. and i feel that they should have at least given those getting the laashes the mosiac blush that is of slightly highly retail value to compensate a bit for the huge difference in bag values. i am glad they are starting to allow reviews, but there was no space to write anything about why i might love or hate a product, company, item, etc like birchhbox has. so instead i wrote a nice email to ipsy explaining all this and giving my feedback that way since i don't know of any other way to do so as of yet.
 
I'm about to re-take the quiz and I have a really stupid question - are the pictures that are in color (as opposed to the B&W ones) the things we're picking? Or are the B&W ones the things we're picking?

 
Originally Posted by Xiang /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I wonder how ipsyMatch is set up. I imagined some sort of filter system but it doesn't really seem to fit what's going on.

I got my bag for this month. I thought that even if I don't use the cream palette (I got the cool shades when I look better in warm) and lashes, at least I have the blush and lip liner to look forward to. But the blush came in Pecan and the lip liner came in the shade Bare. And my skin is light, lol. So the only thing that I'll actually use in the whole bag will be the highlighter. Tbh, this is the very first month that I've had a dud bag from Ipsy. I'm disappointed but not that upset. One bad bag from the past 8 months isn't too bad.

My feedback to Ipsy this month is to 1) add skin tone warm or cool to their questions 2) allow us to pick one single item that we do NOT want in the bag ie. hair products, tanning/bronzers, fragrance, etc 3) change the very first question that asks about personal style to pick two styles only.

I was thinking how awesome it would be if IpsyMatch went something like this. Set up all the bag variations. All products get tagged with qualifiers such as warm or cool, hair/skin/eyes/lips/blush/tanning/etc. And everybody gets matched through a filtering system. The first level of question could be skin tone (warm or cool) and that can be used to eliminate all the bags that are the wrong skin tone. And then the second level of question can be the one single item that we do NOT want in our bag so the bags that do contain those items can get eliminated as well. And then the third level of filtering can be for styles. The remaining bags get chosen based on the bag that fits our personal style.

Ok, I'm done daydreaming about the perfect bag, lol.

Option two, Ipsy goes back to no variations.
laughing.gif
You would think that it wouldn't be too difficult to set this up properly with computer systems! I know you can't please everyone, and even a system like this might still miss here and there, but for it to be so consistently off-base from what people are looking for, it really feels like they aren't trying very hard at all! I think I wouldn't even mind bag variations if it was completely random. But when they tell you that they are trying to give you what you want based on a profile and then just ignoring the profile completely, it makes for unhappy campers all around. 

 
My profile: Looks- classic, vintage/retro, natural Stylists-skipped this question Very comfortable Somewhat adventurous I chose a lot of brands. NYX was not one of them, but everyone received that. Types of products- powder, blush/bronzer, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, lipgloss Other products: moisturizer, treat,net, mask/exfoliant, hair styling, fragrance, lotion, shower gel Light skin Skin concerns: hyper pigmentation, redness, dehydration/dryness Brown eyes Red hair Hair concerns-needs volume, dry/damaged My activity: when I saw the NYX spoiler I liked NYX and other brand cream blushes about 5-6 times because I really wanted a cream blush. I'm new so had not "liked" anything else on the site. My bag: Cailyn eyeliner in Iron. This makes sense for my vintage style and being very comfortable with makeup since gel liners are considered a little more difficult to use than pencil. Glitter cream in Volta. I think these were random for everyone. The warmer shades would be much better suited to me but Ipsy doesn't ask for undertones. Starlooks lip liner in Bare. I know this is supposed to be more neutral and not the purple/brown that it actually is so makes sense with my natural style and I selected only somewhat adventurous so they may think red and bright pink might be outside my comfort zone. NYX cream blush in Bronze Godess. It looks like my "liking" cream blush worked! But this is a terrible color for me. Bronzers look muddy on my light skin. I think any other shade would have worked for a classic/natural look. Chela highlighter pencil. This works with my style choices as well as my high comfort level. I feel like these types of products aren't in the average girls makeup bag so they may want to send them to people who said they were "experts". Overall I think Ipsy match did work for me. I'm not super happy with some of the colors but I think if I spend some time liking the shades I want on their site, my bags will become better matched. However, I do think the dry shampoo would have matched my profile because I expressed an interest in receiving hair products and noted that my hair lacked volume, which dry shampoos are said to help with. I also think the eyelashes would have matched my vintage/retro style as well as my high comfort level. It should be noted that I received the crowd pleaser/generic bag. Maybe I am just that average?

 
My profile: Looks- classic, vintage/retro, natural Stylists-skipped this question Very comfortable Somewhat adventurous I chose a lot of brands. NYX was not one of them, but everyone received that. Types of products- powder, blush/bronzer, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, lipgloss Other products: moisturizer, treat,net, mask/exfoliant, hair styling, fragrance, lotion, shower gel Light skin Skin concerns: hyper pigmentation, redness, dehydration/dryness Brown eyes Red hair Hair concerns-needs volume, dry/damaged My activity: when I saw the NYX spoiler I liked NYX and other brand cream blushes about 5-6 times because I really wanted a cream blush. I'm new so had not "liked" anything else on the site. My bag: Cailyn eyeliner in Iron. This makes sense for my vintage style and being very comfortable with makeup since gel liners are considered a little more difficult to use than pencil. Glitter cream in Volta. I think these were random for everyone. The warmer shades would be much better suited to me but Ipsy doesn't ask for undertones. Starlooks lip liner in Bare. I know this is supposed to be more neutral and not the purple/brown that it actually is so makes sense with my natural style and I selected only somewhat adventurous so they may think red and bright pink might be outside my comfort zone. NYX cream blush in Bronze Godess. It looks like my "liking" cream blush worked! But this is a terrible color for me. Bronzers look muddy on my light skin. I think any other shade would have worked for a classic/natural look. Chela highlighter pencil. This works with my style choices as well as my high comfort level. I feel like these types of products aren't in the average girls makeup bag so they may want to send them to people who said they were "experts". Overall I think Ipsy match did work for me. I'm not super happy with some of the colors but I think if I spend some time liking the shades I want on their site, my bags will become better matched. However, I do think the dry shampoo would have matched my profile because I expressed an interest in receiving hair products and noted that my hair lacked volume, which dry shampoos are said to help with. I also think the eyelashes would have matched my vintage/retro style as well as my high comfort level. It should be noted that I received the crowd pleaser/generic bag. Maybe I am just that average?
I keep getting the crowd pleaser bags. What in my profile says "hey she's easy"?? ;) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
 
Originally Posted by alterkate /img/forum/go_quote.gif


You would think that it wouldn't be too difficult to set this up properly with computer systems! I know you can't please everyone, and even a system like this might still miss here and there, but for it to be so consistently off-base from what people are looking for, it really feels like they aren't trying very hard at all! I think I wouldn't even mind bag variations if it was completely random. But when they tell you that they are trying to give you what you want based on a profile and then just ignoring the profile completely, it makes for unhappy campers all around. 
You know, I kind of wonder if the problem isn't so much the computerized matching system as it is how many of each item they have to send out. Let's take the lip pencil, for example. I do NOT think they are trying to match colors yet (though I'm hoping they will some in the future) and everyone got this product, but, let's just pretend they did try to match colors for the sake of argument. Bare is the least popular for people to receive by and large, both according to MUT, and according to what I've seen on Ipsy sites. If it is so universally unpopular, doesn't it also make sense that Starlooks would likely have more of that color in stock to hand over to Ipsy than they would the more popular Tipsy or Tickle Me Pink? The result, many more Ipsy subscribers get Bare instead of the color they wanted, no matter what their profile indicated. You could do similar analogies with other product and color variations. The PSSSTT, for instance, costs less than the Cailyn liner. So even though Cailyn may have more purple and iron on hand than other colors to give to Ipsy to send out, they are still probably going to send Ipsy fewer in numbers than PSSSTT is going to send them because the PSSSTT is a much cheaper product. PSSSTT is probably going to give Ipsy more dry shampoos to send out precisely due to the lower cost of the item. Of course, for those who did not get an eye liner, from our perspective, it sucks!

I do think the system needs to be improved. For instance, some people actually WANT the less popular items or colors. So, Ipsy should do their best to make sure those items and colors go to the people who want them. But once those who have the unpopular items have them and there are still unpopular items left for Ipsy to send out, how do they decide who to send it to? It is a problem. That said, did they really have to put the Bare lip pencil and the Copper blush and the Volta palette together? I think that was a BIG, BIG mistake! Those who got Bare (and did not want it) should have gotten a more popular blush. Likewise with the Copper. Likewise with the Volta over the Susie. Now, I am sure they could never get to the point of matching each color combo per person. However, I think they probably put together so many bags of the same colors/kind before they run the matching system to decide who gets which bag. (The same way that Birchbox has numbered boxes, except that Ipsy has fewer variations and probably fewer bag combos). So the solution would be simple--do NOT create a bag like this one which has 3 really unpopular colors. Whatever you need to do, make sure that those who get a color or item they probably won't like will get a more sought after product or color. Even if they don't want the popular product or color themselves, it will make it easier on them to trade for something they want. But that stupid Copper blush? It is poison! Everyone is trying to get rid of it and pretty much no one wants it. (I got one of these bags, by the way, and I cancelled the account that was linked to that subscription, telling them the reason I did so was because it I got the Bare lip pencil AND the Copper blush AND the Volta instead of Susie. I hope they listen!)

 
Originally Posted by joanholloway /img/forum/go_quote.gif
My profile:

Looks- classic, vintage/retro, natural

Stylists-skipped this question

Very comfortable

Somewhat adventurous

I chose a lot of brands. NYX was not one of them, but everyone received that.

Types of products- powder, blush/bronzer, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, lipgloss

Other products: moisturizer, treat,net, mask/exfoliant, hair styling, fragrance, lotion, shower gel

Light skin

Skin concerns: hyper pigmentation, redness, dehydration/dryness

Brown eyes

Red hair

Hair concerns-needs volume, dry/damaged

My activity: when I saw the NYX spoiler I liked NYX and other brand cream blushes about 5-6 times because I really wanted a cream blush. I'm new so had not "liked" anything else on the site.

My bag:

Cailyn eyeliner in Iron. This makes sense for my vintage style and being very comfortable with makeup since gel liners are considered a little more difficult to use than pencil.

Glitter cream in Volta. I think these were random for everyone. The warmer shades would be much better suited to me but Ipsy doesn't ask for undertones.

Starlooks lip liner in Bare. I know this is supposed to be more neutral and not the purple/brown that it actually is so makes sense with my natural style and I selected only somewhat adventurous so they may think red and bright pink might be outside my comfort zone.

NYX cream blush in Bronze Godess. It looks like my "liking" cream blush worked! But this is a terrible color for me. Bronzers look muddy on my light skin. I think any other shade would have worked for a classic/natural look.

Chela highlighter pencil. This works with my style choices as well as my high comfort level. I feel like these types of products aren't in the average girls makeup bag so they may want to send them to people who said they were "experts".

Overall I think Ipsy match did work for me. I'm not super happy with some of the colors but I think if I spend some time liking the shades I want on their site, my bags will become better matched.

However, I do think the dry shampoo would have matched my profile because I expressed an interest in receiving hair products and noted that my hair lacked volume, which dry shampoos are said to help with. I also think the eyelashes would have matched my vintage/retro style as well as my high comfort level.

It should be noted that I received the crowd pleaser/generic bag. Maybe I am just that average?
I'm glad you got a cream blush, but I honestly have the feeling liking cream blushes had nothing to do with it. I liked all the mosaic blushes I could find on all my accounts, but I got 2 powder blushes and 1 mosaic. I think which type of blush you got as well as color was just random.

I do think having eye liner checked got you an eye liner. I lucked out as that was checked on all 3 of my accounts and I got 3 eye liners. But, I also think you could just as easily have gotten the PSSSTT shampoo for checking hair styling products. However, maybe Ipsy did realize most people would prefer a higher priced eye liner over the dry shampoo. So maybe they had enough eye liners to send out to those who had eye liner checked??? Just guessing/wondering. Also, I am thinking about how the quiz was when they matched you with a bag. That happened before they previewed the Cailyn liner, I think, so I could see where some might have added eye liner as an item they wanted after the fact, but it was too late to get them the Cailyn.

 
Originally Posted by Heather Hicks /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I'm glad you got a cream blush, but I honestly have the feeling liking cream blushes had nothing to do with it. I liked all the mosaic blushes I could find on all my accounts, but I got 2 powder blushes and 1 mosaic. I think which type of blush you got as well as color was just random.

I do think having eye liner checked got you an eye liner. I lucked out as that was checked on all 3 of my accounts and I got 3 eye liners. But, I also think you could just as easily have gotten the PSSSTT shampoo for checking hair styling products. However, maybe Ipsy did realize most people would prefer a higher priced eye liner over the dry shampoo. So maybe they had enough eye liners to send out to those who had eye liner checked??? Just guessing/wondering. Also, I am thinking about how the quiz was when they matched you with a bag. That happened before they previewed the Cailyn liner, I think, so I could see where some might have added eye liner as an item they wanted after the fact, but it was too late to get them the Cailyn.
I don't know, I have hair styling products checked and eyeliner unchecked. I didn't get the Psssst but I did get the Cailyn in purple. 
rolleyes.gif


 
Originally Posted by alterkate /img/forum/go_quote.gif


I don't know, I have hair styling products checked and eyeliner unchecked. I didn't get the Psssst but I did get the Cailyn in purple. 
rolleyes.gif
Hm...I think I'm about done trying to figure them out. I don't think there was anything to figure out and there is no logic to it, not yet anyway. Ipsy Match needs a serious redo. 
laughs.gif


 
Hm...I think I'm about done trying to figure them out. I don't think there was anything to figure out and there is no logic to it, not yet anyway. Ipsy Match needs a serious redo. 
laughs.gif
I totally agree Heather! It was so random...
 
Originally Posted by Heather Hicks /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Hm...I think I'm about done trying to figure them out. I don't think there was anything to figure out and there is no logic to it, not yet anyway. Ipsy Match needs a serious redo. 
laughs.gif
Definitely agree that Ipsy Match needs a redo and there was no logic behind this month's bags.

And tbh, I don't think liking the eyeliners had anything to do with people receiving them in their bags this month. From what I remembered, the only sneak peek that came out in May were the NYX blushes. All other sneak peeks came out after Generation Beauty (beginning week of June). The bags were shipped pretty early too. I got my shipping info around the 7th. So I'm pretty sure the bags were all getting packed before anybody had the chance to like anything this month except for the NYX blushes.

Plus I loved the mosaic blush on Ipsy's site the day the first sneak peek came out in May and I ended up with the powder blush... in Pecan of all colors.
madno.gif


 
Originally Posted by cari12 /img/forum/go_quote.gif

I don't think they *really* used the Ipsy Match this month. I've noticed that there seem to be very specific bag combos with certain blush/lip liner/glitter colors. Like all the Psssst bags have the warm toned glitter palette, and they also all seem to have brighter blush & lip liner colors. I've also noticed that all the bags with the lashes seem to have the cooler glitter and the bare lip liner. It's like they put together certain bag variations ahead of time and maybe tried to match you to one thing, even if that meant the rest of your bag was a miss. Hopefully I'm wrong and there are more variations it just seems really specific and not actually customized like they claim to be. 
Oddly, I got the warm glitter, the lashes, and the bare lip liner.

 

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