Pixy Cosmetics

I have always been a big fan of Pixy Cosmetics. They're a business based in Mallow, County Cork but they have stockists scattered all over the place. Their products are SLS and parabens free, no animal testing (big yay from me!) and their products are made from natural ingredients.
They sound great, don't they? :-) I was excited when I was recently offered the opportunity to review some of their products.
Pixy sent me out their limelight bath bomb, strawberry kiss face scrub and their lime body scrub cubes.

Limelight bath bomb
I have used this particular bath bomb before so I was so happy to receive it. I love the hint of grapefruit that you get from this. There also seems to be moisturising ingredients in there too because each time I've used it my skin has felt fabulous afterwards. The bath bombs are priced at £3.45

Strawberry Kiss face scrub

This scrub is full of  lovely ingredients such as macadamia nut oil and evening primrose to soften your skin. When I first used this product the strawberry seeds were so delicate that I thought there was no way they could possibly be exfoliating. They seemed to just glide over the skin, yet when I rinsed it off my face was as soft as when I've used "harsher" scrubs. Big thumbs up! This item is priced at £9.95.

Lime body scrub cubes
Pixy call these the best fake tan remover ever. I'm not one to use fake tan so I can't comment on that but at £4.95 they're one of the best body scrubs I've used. One side of the cube exfoliates and one side moisturises. You jump in the shower and exfoliate as normal. You then use the moisturising side, rinse off and pat dry. Its such a quick process but with such good results. The zingy lime scent lingers on your skin too which is always nice.

Have you tried anything from Pixy?
What are your favourites?

Spring Beauty Swap (2014)

I follow Kat (@Talesofpaleface) on Twitter. A few months ago she started talking about a Spring Beauty Swap. I'm relatively new to Twitter and blogging but I was intrigued.

I decided to sign up for the swap. I said that I was happy to be paired with someone from the UK or international. It made me smile when I got paired with Carol (@flittychick), a woman who, like myself, is also from Ireland.

We spent a few weeks corresponding via email, talking about our lives, our interests and we spent some time reading each other's blogs. There's still so much to learn about Carol but I would love to keep in touch and get to know her further.

When her parcel arrived I felt like a wee kid at Christmas. Nowadays its so rare to get something in the mail, other than bills. Plus, how often do you receive something as an adult and have no clue what's inside?

When I opened the box I was met with the most delicious scent. It didn't take long for me to realise that it was coming from a Pixy Limelight bath bomb and a Pixy Honeysuckle soap. Both smell divine and I can't wait to use them! I knew about Pixy from before the swap. A local beautician used to stock a few of their bath products but then she stopped so I was really surprised and happy to see these items in the box.

There was also a can of Batiste Dry Shampoo. As you'll have seen from a previous Empties post, I had just finished a can and kept meaning to get another. This one is the cherry fragrance which I haven't tried yet so I'm looking forward to giving it a go.

Onto the Yankee Candle sampler candle. The scent is soft blanket, genuinely one of my favourites! We're both Yankee Candle fans, now I just need to introduce Carol to Busy Bee Candles and watch her struggle to pick her favourite. ;-)

There's a tea tree and peppermint intensive treatment hand pack. I tried the foot pack previously so I'm keen to compare the two.

Carol must have known I was a tea tree fan because she also sent one of her favourite Boots face masks, a tea tree and witch hazel peel off mask. There's something very enjoyable about peeling your face off after one of these types of face mask!

Then there was a tube of Nivea Soft. I've used this before and love it - the smell, the texture, how soothing it is on my hands. The funny thing is that Carol mentioned how she uses it on her face, neck and hands. I raised an eyebrow thinking its a bit strange to put hand cream on your face but whatever works! It wasn't until I looked at it again that I realised its for face, body and hands. How did I go through an entire tube before and not notice?! Dunce. :-)

She also very kindly enclosed a truck for my little boy. I wish she could have seen the smile on his wee face when I showed him what someone had sent him. He's obsessed with wheels of all sorts so his face just lit up.

Thanks to Carol for all the wonderful treats and thanks to Kat for organising the whole thing!