+Logo.jpg "Why I Cancelled My Ipsy Subscription") |
| Ipsy August 2013 |
Ipsy? What's That? - For those who don't know, Ipsy is a monthly beauty subscription service that provides you with 4-5 products (usually makeup) for $10/month that are either deluxe sample-sized or full-sized. If you decide to sign up after reading this month, you are welcome to try subscribing via my referral link, though I'm not totally sure it will work since I am no longer a subscriber.
After receiving last month's bag, I decided to cancel for a multitude of reasons. Some of them are due to my personal preferences, while others are issues I have with the company itself.
1. It's a primarily makeup-based subscription
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| Ipsy April 2013 |
Although Ipsy occasionally sends out hair or skincare products, they are mostly makeup-focused. Which is fine (every subscription needs its niche) but I have decided that I want more variety. Makeup is fun, but I don't wear it every day. However, I do use skincare products every day, so to have more access to those kind of products is what I'm looking for right now. However, I still don't want to stop trying new makeup products, because where's the fun in that?
I've signed up for Birchbox (referral link), so my $10 is simply going elsewhere. It supposedly has more skincare, hair, and lifestyle products, so I am very excited.
2. Brands are easily accessible and widely-known
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| Pixi Waterproof Mascara (Ipsy August 2013) |
I like beauty subscription services because they allow me to learn about and try products I wouldn't have otherwise. However, when Ipsy sends out products that I can just as easily find in Target (the mascara shown above), I 'm not too impressed. Plus, this mascara is waterproof (which I don't wear), takes forever to dry, and just got bad reviews all around.
Also, Ipsy has sent out NYX on many occasions. If I wanted a full-sized NYX product, I could get it at Ulta (and now Target!) for $6. I'd rather get a smaller amount of a lesser-known, higher-valued product to test if I like it, rather than getting a full-size of a product that I may not even use (ex. a full-sized NYX eyeshadow in blue serves no purpose to me, so it would just sit in my makeup drawer).
3. Ipsy staff's unprofessionalism and overall carelessness
This is one of the really big reasons from this list. I would have been fine with receiving multiple NYX products if it weren't for this. This will kind of be an umbrella explanation, but I could go on and on.
Ipsy often sends out "Resubscribe and get _____" emails! However, they are very misleading.
This email causes you to believe that everyone (or at least, those who resubscribe) will be receiving this product. However, that is not the case. In the July 2013 bag, this was one of many products subscribers could receive. That is a sneaky strategy, Ipsy, and people probably bought into it, too, because they wanted this product. I imagine they were very dissatisfied when they didn't get what they thought they were promised.
Unprofessional Customer Service Emails
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| Click to enlarge |
This one is more of a personal pet peeve than anything else, but I just don't know what to say about this. How many professionals have you emailed, only to have them sign their name "xoxo" and have a quote from Miss Piggy in their signature? Ugh, that just bothers me. If you're taking people's money, you should at least have a professional email. Maybe that's just the stage manager in me talking, but it just adds to the list. I laughed when I saw this, and didn't take her seriously.
Poor Conduct
The girls and I over at Subscriptions Annoymous (yes, it is supposed to be spelled incorrectly) get great enjoyment from reading the comments on the Ipsy Facebook page. Sometimes it is a women complaining that red lipsticks makes you look like a hooker (where do they get this stuff?) and others, it's genuine complains. Ipsy has recently changed their rewards system, and people have been asking about it. Apparently, people who referred others within the last month or two will not be receiving points for it, since Ipsy switched to the new system. How unfair is that?
Also, I'm not impressed with the way they've been handling comments on their Facebook page. There are stories about them deleting unfavorable comments, and one girl even had her subscription cancelled on her without her consent, shortly after she posted a comment! And comment was simply asking to do a giveaway--not something that warrants an immediate cancellation! Her account was completely erased. Normally, when you unsubscribe, it still recognizes you as a member and you can go look at the previous bags you've received, but hers was just completely wiped away. I'm in shock. That is absolutely no way to treat a paying customer. The unprofessionalism of their staff is astounding.
4. Unequal value of bags
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| JCat Eyelashes + Eyelash Glue (Ipsy June 2013) |
Back in June, this $4 pair of eyelashes were an either-or item. I was pretty displeased that two products from JCat (maybe if the cream palette hadn't been so horrid, I wouldn't have been), but I was hopeful that maybe I might receive the other product since I don't like to wear false eyelashes. However, what bothered me the most was that the other product that you could receive instead of this was a full-sized Caitlyn Gel Eyeliner, which retails for $20! I understand all boxes cannot have an equal value, but to have one item that's worth double the cost of the box, and the other only $4, that's completely imbalanced.
5. Too much repetition
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| BigSexyHair Powder Play (Ipsy April 2013) |
6. Bad shipping practices
Months ago, Ipsy switched from using UPS (a shipping company that generally gives good service) to DHL (possibly the slowest shipper on the planet). For some reason, last month's experience was worse than all the others. So many people weren't receiving their bags. Mine took nearly two weeks to get to me after it was shipped, and they're only in North Carolina. I've gotten packages there in two days in a trade, so what's the holdup? My tracking didn't come out until a few days after it was shipped, and then it didn't even work--it's supposed to take up to 48 hours, but mine took nearly a week to activate. What's the point in even sending out tracking information if it won't even work?
Many people have had problems with missing products. Yes, this happens in other subscriptions, too, but the sheer volume of complaints about this on Ipsy's page in August was astounding. Not only that, but Ipsy was sending out replacement bags, but then, they ran out, and started sending previous months' bags! After they ran out of those, they started promising people two of September's bags! Who wants two of the same bag? They want their actual bag! According to their Facebook page, some people had even received two August bags in the mail! Ipsy, get your act together!
7. Inaccurate descriptions
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| JCat Cream Palette (Ipsy June 2013) |
Back in June, Ipsy was promoting this Cream Palette on their Facebook page, as a cream eyeshadow.On Ipsy's website, their spoiler picture for it was listed under Eyeshadows. People started commenting about how the glitter was thick and chunky, and couldn't possibly be safe for the eyes. Others were stating that they'd gotten it too close and almost scratched the cornea of their eyes. Shortly after, Ipsy started stating that they'd never said it was an eyeshadow palette, and released pictures of them drawing on their bodies with the glitter. JCat's website never said it was an eyeshadow palette. Ipsy made a mistake and refused to hone up to it, and if someone had done serious damage to their eye, they could have sued someone for damages, I'm sure. It's just disgusting. Do your research, Ipsy.
8. No consideration for beauty profile
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| NYX Blush in Pecan (Ipsy June 2013) |
I received this blush in June. No, I am not joking. If you would like to see how pale I am, please click here. Now, when filling out my beauty profile, I said I was fair-skinned. This blush is so pigmented, it's even too dark (and shimmery) to use for contouring. Who thought this was a good idea? I had to trade this, not because I disliked the blush, but because Ipsy sent me something that completely went against my beauty quiz. This happened to many people, so I wound up swapping with a woman who's skin was too dark for her light blush. It worked out in the end, but that shouldn't be necessary. People make mistakes, I get that, but this happened all the time. Frankly, I was just done.
I'm sure, after I finish this post, I'll be able to think of even more reasons I should have included, but these are definitely the top 8. I'm not saying Ipsy is a bad subscription service, but after realizing that there are other ones have their act together, I decided I would take a break. I just received my first Birchbox (BB)--my $10 simply went somewhere else--and I am really happy with it. Maybe my tastes have changed, but I can't help but admit that Ipsy is doing some serious struggling. In case you were wondering, Ipsy's overall bag values tend to be better than Birchbox's, but BB also tends to give higher quality products in smaller increments, while Ipsy gives bigger sizes of more inexpensive products (or products I just personally wind up not liking). I'll be doing a review on my September BB on it for Monday, so stay tuned!
Are you an Ipsy subscriber? If so, what did you think of this month's bag? I, personally, was not impressed, and am glad I opted out when I did.
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