Ipsy has a new points system for earning free shit (plus: swatches of Zoya Giovanna)

Disclosure: This post contains referral links.

Zoya Giovanna, from my Glam Bag this month
(see more below).

Birchbox has had a system for a long time now where you could earn points a variety of ways, the easiest of which was to rate the products you got in your box. Those points can be used toward purchasing things from their shop. It was really the only thing I liked about Birchbox. I kept getting annoyed by the crap in my boxes, but I also earned enough to get a few free full-size products from the store.

I like the Ipsy Glam Bags much better Birchbox, since I prefer the larger sizes and the fact that there is more makeup than skin care. I got so many moisturizers from Birchbox. So many. I AM MOIST ENOUGH OK? (Though Ipsy's customer service could use some definite upgrading.)

Anyway, blah blah. My point is that Ipsy now has a points-earning system in place too. You earn 250 points for a referral, and 10 points for each review. Since you get 5 items per bag, you can earn 50 points per bag. When you collect 1000 points, you can redeem it for a free gift. Right now there are three to choose from: a Benefit mascara mini, some of those stupid hair ties, and the NYX Bronze Smokey Look kit. Obviously it's going to take a while to get to 1000 point at 50 point intervals, and it's not as good as Birchbox's deal, but hey, it's better than nothing.
And here's something that makes me glad I subscribe to Ipsy. In my bag this month I got a full-size bottle of Zoya Giovanna, part of the new Fall 2013 Cashmeres and Satins collection. I never would have bought this myself, since it doesn't look nearly as amazing as it really is in photos. I'd seen a bunch of swatches, and it just looked like another shiny greenish-teal. No! This is an amazing, glowing jade/emerald green with just a tiny bit of blue-teal shift. Like 90% green, 10% teal. I can't even describe how gorgeous it is. I tried to take my own photos, and, no surprise, they suck. But here they are, anyway. It's my usual method for a duochrome: throwing all the photos I have at you to give you an idea of the range, since these things are always more impressive in motion.

Swatch of Zoya Giovanna

Swatch of Zoya Giovanna

Swatch of Zoya Giovanna

Swatch of Zoya Giovanna

Anyway, an $8 perfect nail polish along with everything else in the bag? None of which was quite so exciting, but certainly worth more than $2. I even got the coveted Buxom lip gloss in my bag. I would have been pretty excited about that, had it not been a "plumping" formula. WHY? I hate that shit. It just irritates and dries out my lips. I never notice that they look particularly full - but if they did, it would be because they were so irritated. Not a good idea.

If any of my rambling has made you want to sign up for Ipsy, it'd be lovely if you used my referral link. If nothing else, keep your eye out for that pretty fucking Zoya. You can get a free bottle if you sign up for new Zoya account using this link.