One of the biggest things I’ve seen people asking about involving beauty boxes is… how do you get a better bag from your Ipsy quiz? Well, between my personal experiments, information others have gotten from Ipsy Customer Service, and some buried FAQ pages, I’ve come up with the tips I know to customize your Ipsy profile for continually better bags.

#1: Be Minimal

When filling out your Ipsy Beauty Profile, do NOT select everything you’d be willing to use. Select 1-3 of the top things on each page, and if you don’t want a particular category, do not make a selection for a ‘need’ for it. This includes brands!!!

Why not select everything I’ll use? Now… if you’re easy to please, especially in the early months of your subscriptions or if you’re only getting one subscription per month, you can probably get a bag you’ll love without going minimal. BUT, if you are the type of person that gets bag envy and was hoping for a certain thing, you want to do this. Select the things that are the most important to you to get in a bag, so they can match you to a pre-determined bag combination based on these key things that they can tell you really want.

Why skip a section? Your selections are a main element of what they use to match you to pre-determined bag options. If you have ‘frizzy hair’ selected, they’ll use this to match you to hair products, so if you don’t want hair products, don’t make a hair need selection.

Why not select all brands? I’ll use my personal experience as an example for this. I did not have eyeshadow selected on my profile… but I did have theBalm selected. So because they had a large quantity of theBalm eyeshadow samples, I got one of those, instead of likely getting the mascara or other items I really wanted. The main theory behind this is that if even one of your options fits you to something they have a mass quantity of, they’ll be sending it to you. Now I do actually really love my theBalm sample, but as I have a 180+ palette of colors, there’s not really any gaps in my collection that I need singles to fill, so select the brands that you’d be the most excited to see in your bag – regardless of product type.

Why does it feel like my quiz answers don’t matter to Ipsy? Because they ONLY know what you tell them. They don’t know that you REALLY wanted that mascara, anything you select will be rated equally. They don’t know if you don’t have hair, or if you have a hair type that it doesn’t work for. Also keep in mind that they try not to send you something you’ve gotten before, so you are eliminated from any pre-determined bag combination that has even one of those items in it.

Why did I get something in my bag that I said I didn’t want? OK let’s address this first: You did not tell them you DIDN’T WANT, or DON’T USE, anything. That’s not an option, actually to my knowledge it’s not an option with ANY beauty subscription service, except the build-it-yourself boxes. NOW, they’re matching you to a pre-determined bag combination. So they are trying to match you the best they can with with things they think you like.

If their information says you love mascaras and eyeliners, you might get matched to a bag with a mascara and eyeliner bag combo with other items that MAY fit a brand you chose or a brand they deemed similar, or maybe the stylist you selected likes that product, or maybe you were eliminated from the bag combination that would have fit you best by the fact that you already got an item in it before. They’re doing the best they can.

#2: Stereotype Yourself

If you have the tastes of someone with a high income… set your income higher. If you’re 17 but your makeup style is more like someone traditionally in their 30s.. change the year you were born. Such as, if you want to receive dramatic makeup options or fake eyelashes, don’t choose Natural, Professional, Sporty, or Simple. If you don’t want skincare, I’d also avoid anything that’s less makeup based.

Why not select what feels the most ‘me’? Because you probably already have your favorites for day to day and if getting more of those items isn’t what you’re looking for (most people get into subscription services to experiment with makeup for cheaper than retail) then choosing what you do NOW is only going to get you more versions of what you use NOW. Think of it as a MySpace profile of how you want to be seen to Ipsy. Choose what you Want, not what you Are. This is the only image of you they know, and they want to make that version of you happy.

Example Assumptions:

Classic: black eyeliner and red lipstick

Natural: skincare & bb creams

Simple: mascara and subtle makeup

Feel free to leave me more style assumptions in the comments!

#3: Judge Based On Appearance

I follow Michelle and Promise for their extreme makeup look videos… but it really seems like when it comes to Beauty Gurus, you need to choose your stylists based on their everyday style. My plan for this is eliminating everyone that looks obsessed with fake tanner. I noticed more natural makeup looks when choosing Promise and Michelle, and for me, Chrisspy is the one who’s daily style seems to incorporate what I want to achieve.

Why don’t the Ipsy Stylist’s videos matter? Because Ipsy feels (to me) like they want to be an older sister recommendation when it comes to stylist choices. I do know that CS has told people the stylists matter, but in general they direct you to watch hours of videos and that doesn’t seem to help many people. The photos of them that are shown should give you enough information about their day to day style to help you make decisions on who you think fits the look you want to create.

#4: Make the Deadline

According to a buried FAQ page I came across when searching for more resources on Ipsy Quiz Tips, what your profile is on the 25th of the month is the information they’ll use to create your bag for the next month. That means if they release a preview on the 26th or 28th and you try to change your profile quick, there’s not much chance it had ANYTHING to do with whether you got it or not.

Why can’t I make changes later, if my Ipsy bag hasn’t shipped? Because all companies need processing time and until you can magick things into a box for thousands of people instantly, you can’t expect Ipsy to.

#5: Review Everything

Reviewing your items is known to be even more effective than your initial profile. Pay special attention to every question that says “ipsymatch” when reviewing items, because these questions specifically will impact whether you receive more of that brand, product type, and even shade.

Please give the brands and products the respect they deserve, and always write your reviews and ratings for the item and product SEPARATELY from whether it matched for you. This also means try to wait until you’ve tried a product (if you’re able to, obviously allergies etc should be avoided) to rate it, because it’s really not fair or encouraging to the brands including their products in the Ipsy system to be pissed off because it doesn’t match your profile. Now if it doesn’t work for you, state that, but keep in mind the product and the match are SEPARATE things and Ipsy includes the ability to rate things separately.

Why does reviewing Ipsy items help? Because if they can see patterns, they’re likely to match you to the brands, product types, and shades that you rate highly.

Examples:

I rated Luxie Beauty, eye brushes, and tools, all highly, and I regularly receive brushes.

I rated a neutral eye-shadow “Not for me” on the Shade question because while I use that color, I do not want to receive more of that color, but I rated the brand highly, and eye-shadows “just OK”

I rated Mr. Write Now eyeliner low because I highly dislike the product, but I rated theBalm “just OK”, the shade (purple) highly (i don’t remember if it was like or love), and eyeliner “love it”.

They now know a LOT more about my preferences and I’m MORE likely to receive eyeliners, eye brushes, and Luxie items, while I’m less likely to receive neutral brown/taupe shadows, and while they know it’s OK to send me eye-shadows, they know it’s not my preference.

Bonus Ipsy Quiz Tip

Be realistic. I can’t repeat this enough. Think about how many times you’ve gotten an item that you picked for yourself and didn’t end up liking it. Do you realize how amazing it is that a system of analytics that also has to deal with pairing you to products based on how much stock they have, and if you’ve gotten it before, can give you even 1 or 2 things that you love?

If you have something that makes you hard to please, like very fair or very dark skin, or olive undertones, I recommend skipping things like concealers and other color-match options, because they have such a low chance of giving you a match.

Before you criticize your bag and whether Ipsy is personalized, look at what they know about you and ask yourself if you might have made a recommendation to someone based on that too, and give products a chance, even if they don’t match you perfectly. But more than that, if there’s something you REALLY can’t use, either save it for a holiday or birthday gift, bring it to work and give it to a coworker, pass it on to family, donate it unopened, participate in the r/BeautyBoxes stocking stuffer event where people send in samples to create gift packages… Don’t trash items for no reason when someone else could enjoy it. You can also try exchanging with other subscribers.

Your Tips & Theories

If you’ve got any Ipsy tips, leave them in the comments below and I’ll add them to the collection!

SUBSCRIBER THEORY: Avoid base items like foundations and BB creams by setting your skin to the darkest skin-tone, as most brands don’t include the far edges of their range in sample boxes.

SUBSCRIBER THEORY: If you’re very stuck in your ways, say that you are NOT adventurous, and they seem to send more exacts – but you’re likely to miss out on new formulas & product types that are launched.

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