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!

Empties #1

I've read quite a few of these "Empties" blog posts. I'll admit it, I'm addicted to reading them. Its a novel way to see what products people are using and what they rate/don't rate. I have decided that I'll post a few of my own and see if I enjoy writing them as much as I enjoy reading them. :-) Plus, it will force me to finish products instead of throwing them aside after another shopping spree!
For the first post I have four products:

No7 Intelligent Colour Foundation (Light)
£15.50 in Boots
I am constantly picking up and trying different foundations. I'm naturally quite pale so a lot of foundations can instantly make me look very caked or too dark. For a period of time I went through a love affair with this foundation. Its the perfect shade for me. I love how easily it goes on and how it requires very little blending. As a childminder and mum the less time I have to spend putting my face on, the better! :-) It also has SPF 6 which is a wee added bonus. The only thing I don't like about it and wearing it today reminded me of this, I end up with shiny patches after a few hours of wearing it. It doesn't matter if I wear it with or without primer, the shiny patches still appear.






Batiste Dry Shampoo
£2.99 in Superdrug
I've heard about this for years but I washed my hair daily so never needed it. When I went into hospital last year to have my boy I had no idea how long I would be in there so I popped a mini bottle of this into my hospital bag. The smell of this is amazing! I love all things coconut scented and this is no different. Even on my dark hair it doesn't make it look "powdery". You just need to make you brush/rub it in well.






Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Oil Free Moisturiser
Normally £4.99 in Superdrug
This stuff unfortunately doesn't work particularly well for my combination skin. Why did I keep using it? It smells AMAZING! Its the nicest moisturiser I've ever smelled. I won't be buying it again though.






Avon Advance Techniques Moroccan Argan Oil Hot Oil Treatments
Normally £5.50 on the Avon site
I was initially given these because I had used a colour remover which didn't remove the colour! What it did do was destroy the condition of my hair. :-( I have since purchased a second box myself. My hair always feels better after a treatment. Unfortunately my hair is so thick that I have to use two tubes, meaning that a box of four doesn't go very far. I'm sure there are other hot oil treatments out there that are just as good but this is the one I've had the experience of using.

Have any of you used the above products?

What did you think of them?

Much love. xx

Lisa

@latte_fiend on Twitter.