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.

30% off Butter London (polishes starting at $7)

Ipsy has a 30% off code for Butter London, single use: IPSYbl. Expires Oct. 31. That makes a bottle of polish just a little bit cheaper than the $10 ULTA offer on Butter London happening this Saturday, and there is no limit to the size of your order, and you have more time to decide. Also, these products are already on clearance, so you can get them for even cheaper ($7).

I don't think you have to be a subscriber to use the code, but if you want to sign up, you're welcome to use my invite link, and you might get a Butter London polish in your bag in the future. I didn't get one this time, though. Boo hoo.

So apparently Ipsy has kind of shit customer service this month . . .

Remember how I said I didn't know anything about their customer service?

A bunch of people didn't get their May bags yet, even though they got tracking numbers two weeks ago. The tracking numbers are invalid. They're not getting help via email, and there's no customer service number to call. On Facebook they say they are "experiencing a high number of emails" and to be patient, but really, over a week's response time when they have already charged people for the bag is not cool. They should stop expanding if they can't handle the business they already have.

Anyway, I wanted to update you on that. I'm not canceling my account or anything, but I think that's pretty shameful behavior on their part. I hope they sort it all out.

ipsy Glam Bag review ($10 beauty subscription)

ETA: For an update, check out this recent post comparing Ipsy and Birchbox.

I've been getting the Glam Bag from ipsy for 9 months now, so I feel pretty confident about making some sort of general judgements about its quality. (I pay for my subscription myself, just to be clear.) In the past, I tried Birchbox (which I subscribed to for about a year) and I tried BeautyBox5 for one month, and Glam Bag is by far my favorite. I haven't been disappointed. It's only $10, and you always get fun stuff.

It includes an average of five products per bag, and there is always makeup and/or nail polish, plus a few other things including skin and haircare products. Added up, what you get is definitely worth more than $10. There has been the occasional wtf-provoking product, but they are rare, and never anything silly like cardboard coasters or protein bars, which I got in Birchbox. I also appreciate that there are very few anti-aging creams - in fact, I don't think I've ever got one. I never use those. And perfume samples are rare.

This month's bag just out of the envelope.