| Review | Beautylish Lucky Bag XL 2020

| Review | Beautylish Lucky Bag XL 2020

I was able to snag one of the Beautylish Lucky Bag XL at the end of last year, which is my first ever XL bag. In the past, I have only bought the classic Lucky Bags, and frankly, I kind of wish I had bought one of the original ones instead. This year's Lucky Bag XL really did not impress me and I am writing this review near the very end of the year. I really didn't find myself using a lot of the products that came in my bag. 

The Beautylish Lucky Bag XL 2020 retails for $150.00 USD but is valued at a minimum of $300 worth of products. Keep in mind you also have to $15.00 for shipping for the XL bags. 

Every year, Beautylish sells these mystery beauty bags on December 26, the day after Christmas. You can get early access by signing up on their website. This means they will send you an access email at 9 am instead of 10 am when it is open to the public. I find that by 10 am all the XL bags and the medium to deep coloring are sold out. 

After attempting to get the Beautylish Lucky Bag 2020, I'm not sure if it worth hunting down these bags. It was such a huge fiasco, where their early access link was broken and when it went live, the link was still broken on the site. I even downloaded their app and attempted to purchase and it still had an error. I wasn't the only one who came across issues for so long that everything sold out. It was really ridiculous. Beautylish didn't have a queue system even though they know it is their biggest event of the year and they typically have a lot of technical issues but the uses were even more prevalent this year than previous years. 

The Lucky Bag XL's aren't catered to skin tones, like the regular Lucky Bags, which come in light to medium and tan to deep skin tones. While a great value, I found that I didn't like my XL Bag as much as I liked what the regular bags were offering. 

As this is my third year purchasing a bag, here are the big questions I often get from people regarding the Lucky Bags: 

Should I get a Beautylish Lucky Bag?

Yes, if you don't own a lot of products being sold on the website or products released this year, this bag is a great value! Also, if you've always wanted to try some of those higher-end brands like Charlotte Tilbury, Natasha Denona, and Smith and Cult you should try your luck. Plus, the value is pretty amazing for how much you pay for any of the bags. 

If you happen to be disappointed with what you get, unfortunately, there are no returns. However, many people are willing to trade products. You can find people on Instagram or in forums to trade products with. Also, give the value and the quality of the products, you can always gift them to someone.

Which Skin Tone should I buy? Does it matter?

For the Lucky Bag XL's you don't get a choice, which means, what you get is what you get. They often try to choose "universal" products but as most makeup does skew to suit certain skin tones, you can potentially get a product that does not suit you. 

As for the regular Lucky Bags, yes, unfortunately, it does matter which skin tone options you choose. 

These bags come in two options: Light to Medium Skin tone and Tan to Deep Skin Tone. This is unfortunate because if you fall in between like I do, you'll have to choose between the two. I would go for the light to medium because not only do most brands make more products for lighter skin tones but you may end up getting a face powder and you don't want to get the wrong shade. In a previous year, I received a translucent Cover FX powder but had I gone with the Tan to Deep bag, the powder would be too dark for me.

What comes inside a Beautylish Lucky Bag?\

It varies from year to year. Like I stated earlier, this is an opportunity for Beautylish to essentially get rid of all of the previous year's stock. You will often find some limited edition products from the past year along with some permanent items available at Beautylish. The majority of the products are makeup, mostly because skincare is often quite expensive, so you will most likely not find full-sized skincare products in your bag. You may find travel sized products in your bag or products that a separated from larger packs, for example, I received one Sulwahsoo Sheet Mask but they come in packs of five. You will find many of the brands from Beautylish but not all brands will be in the Lucky Bags.

What brands will you find in the Lucky Bags?

There are a few new brands to Beautylish this year, so these brands may participate in the Lucky Bag but since it is their first year with Beautylish, no one knows for sure. I have listed brands that have participated in the past but there are no guarantees on which brands will be featured each year.

Most likely (*depends on the year and on Beautylish):

Good Molecules 

HoliFrog

Sonia G

Charlotte Tilbury

Natasha Denona

Smith and Cult

Wayne Goss

Anna Sui

Sulwahsoo

Cover FX

Bioderma

RCMA

Viseart

By Terry

Oribe

Kevyn Aucoin

RMS

IT Cosmetics

Jouer

Becca Cosmetics

Anastasia Beverly Hills

Hourglass Cosmetics

Makeup Atelier

The Ordinary

Sonia G.

Z Palette

Jeffree Star (*possibly not in the regular Lucky Bags, since this year they have one exclusively for just Jeffree Star products)

Probably Not - these brands have never been featured or are very unlikely to be featured in the Lucky Bags because they are luxury brands:

Tom Ford

Chikuhodo

Sisley- Paris

Kajer Weis

What is in the Beautyish Lucky Bag XL 2020?

I must say that with this Lucky Bag XL and maybe it's also a better year for these, most of the products don't feel like Beautylish is just trying to get rid of overstocked products. Many years it feels like they just take all the failed new releases from the year and dump them into the Lucky Bags but this one feels like you're getting some good products. 

Viseart Grande Pro Volume 3 Palette ($175) - This colorful matte palette is beautiful and has an excellent quality but after owning it for a year, I have barely used it. This is a great palette for my professional kit but for personal use, I just don't really wear colorful eyeshadows that much anymore. Since it's just not my style, this palette has been collecting dust in my collection. This is probably the most exciting product for most people but I just was a little disappointed because I knew I wouldn't get a lot of use of this palette. 

Oribe Gold Lust Repair & Restore Shampoo ($49) - This was a very nice addition to the bag but since at the beginning of this year my hair was purple, I didn't want to use a shampoo that wasn't color-safe. This is where these Lucky Bags kind of fall short because they try to be universal but of course, there will always be a case where someone can't use a product or it just doesn't suit them. 

Charlotte Tilbury Latex Love Long-Lasting Lip Gloss in Belle du Soir ($34) - I actually bought these lip colors and I didn't like them so I returned them. You can read my review on these here. This is a great example of when these bags aren't for someone who buys a lot of new releases from that current year. If I had kept my lip glosses, I would have a duplicate and since I returned it, I don't want this gloss anyway. This gloss is actually collecting dust in my box I reserve for gifting to friends and family but the funky smell of these is what really put me off and I'm not sure if anyone will want these funny smelling glosses. 

Cover FX Shimmer Viel in Celestial ($28)  - This shimmering liquid eyeshadow is a beautiful shimmering champagne shade that should suit a wide variety of skin tones. It actually works well in this bag because of the large palette of matte eyeshadows that comes in the bag. This is a nice product but it just got lost in my collection and I didn't get much use out of it. 

Good Molecules Niacinamide Brightening Toner ($14) - This is one of my more used products from the bag. I really liked this toner and used it fairly regularly throughout the year. It has a nice thicker essence-like texture, making it very hydrating and refreshing. Also, I really liked the brightening effect this had on my skin. 

HoliFrog Kissimme Vitamin F Therapy Balmy Wash ($42) - This cleansing balm is almost completely used up from the past year! I really enjoyed this product so much and is one of the products I would consider repurchasing. This cleansing blam is really creamy and breaks down all makeup. 

Sonia G Pencil 2 Brush ($28) - This brush is one of my favorite inclusions to this bag. This is a beautifully soft and wonderfully crafted brush. It is very luxurious and a brush I continue to reach for to this day. 

Ardell Individual Lashes ($4.20) - This seems like a complete afterthought but I'm sure Beautylish just has a ton of these eyelashes hanging around. It's a nice addition but again, I never used these this entire year. I may use it some time... but it's nothing to get excited about. 

Total: $374.20 value 

Are Beautylish Lucky Bags XLs worth it?

If I'm being completely honest, I probably only used about $133 worth of product from this bag. If you count the other products I lightly used, you might be able to round it up to $150, which is what I paid for the whole bag. So, in the end, I guess you could say I got my money's worth. That's kind of the gamble with these bags, sometimes you get a bag with some amazing products and you got your money's worth and sometimes, you just get stuff that sits in your collection collecting dust. 

Based on the items I saw people receive in the regular Lucky Bags, I think I would have rather purchased the regular ones for a lot less but what can I say? I love a good surprise and I like low stakes gambling. So, I would repurchase the Lucky Bag XL again. The real problem is being able to get through the checkout with one before they all sell out. I would say any of the Lucky bags are worth it, you really get so much product for a very reasonable price. Plus, you get some really great name brand products. You can see my reviews for the regular Lucky Bags from 2019 and 2018 here and here. I think these little mystery bags are just a lot of fun and you seem to get a lot of value for the price.