Blog Swap | USA to UK

I've done blog swaps before and I've actually already done a swap with Rena before - so last year we decided to do another. Various reasons meant this didn't happen sooner but better late than ever though! 
I tried filming the swap but a bunch of footage got corrupted, argh! But I thought I would do a little post showing some of the things I got - as more likely than not there will be some posts reviewing some of what I got. 
The box came very well packaged, and was in three layers- the top two were items Rena picked for me and the bottom layer was things I'd bought and had sent to her house (more on this in another post).

There was a fair amount of lip products in the box, a few lovely wet n wild colours that I'm excited to try, and the apricot Burts Bees Lip Shimmer looks amazing. 

SO MUCH EYE STUFF. Who knew Maybelline sold Colour Tattoo Crayons? The Wet n Wild palette looks lovely too, the colours look really pretty. The Wet n Wild liner has some glitter in it and I really really hope its a fair bit of noticeable glitter. I've so much to try out and I'm super excited. 

Final things are face products. KAT VON D! Hole-crap. This blush is hugeeee, and it looks so pretty, so many heart eyes. The Maybelline Fit Me concealer is the best concealer I've tried, the UK version of this is definitely not as good as the US version though, so I love when I can get my little mitts on the US one. 
I'll be testing these products out over the next few months, if theres anything you'd like to see a review on let me know and I'll be extra sure to review that for you! 

Blog Swap | UK & USA

I don't even remember how long Rena and I have been planning and buying for this swap but let me tell you its been a long time! We set quite a high budget, and that is maybe why we took such a long time between starting and sending. But anyway, I've been reading Rena's blog for a year or so and I really enjoy reading all her posts. Her blog is Kiss and Make-up and I highly recommend that everyone goes and has a wee look and maybe gives her a follow. She is seriously good with make-up and I'm envious of her skills.
Rena received her box before me - which just made me even more excited to receive mine. I have to hand it to the Royal Mail, they managed to get it over seas so quickly. I dare say quicker than some British parcels I've sent....
My box arrived the day after Rena received hers, it came stupidly early in the morning but I was so excited I wasn't bothered my being summoned from bed at an ungodly hour. The box was a blooming nightmare to get into, you taped this up so well! When I finally got into it I had to contain my joy and stop myself from just ripping through the box. I stupidly forgot to take a picture of all the items together (at least properly) so it'll just be lots and lots of smaller groups of items.
Can I just mention how beautiful the card she sent me is? Like, wow, its definitely getting saved - might see if it will fit in my photo album. I did try to film me opening the box but half the film was corrupted so yeah, that was a fail. Obviously the pictures are in absolutely no order, but I'll try say a wee bit about each thing - like what it is and colours and such like, nothing too detailed.

 In this pretty little black and pink striped box was a few lovely little bits from NYX, it was such a cute wee detail to put them in a box. Rena got me two eyeshadows in Golden Amber and Nude - Nude looks to be the colour I've been searching for, it just looks like it will be the most perfect base. Also in the box was a Roll-on Shimmer in the colour Almond and a lip stick in the most gorgeous red shade, Snow White. Very fitting.

 So much Bath and Body Works!! I'm so happy! The candles all smell amazing, Hulas and Hibiscus smells really sweet I can't quite figure out what it reminds me of but it definitely smells like some kind of baked good. Rena also kindly picked up for me Peach Bellini - smells exactly like peach with the cocktail edge to it - and Pomelo Grapefruit, this smells exactly how it sounds. Heavenly all of them. As if the candles weren't enough - Rena you spoil me - she also kindly sent over a couple of lotions and shower gels. She sent a few things from the Sweet Pea range - shower gel, body lotion and body spray. Its the absolute best thing I've ever smelt, she picked these out because they are her favourite so thank you a billion times over. She also sent me a body lotion in Endless Summer, not a strong scent but it is really nice and Japanese Cherry Blossom. The final Bath and Body Works product she sent me was the Aromatherapy Sensual Bubble Bath and Body Wash - this really does smell sexy. Its kind of musky? Is that the word I want... Hmm, could be. But this really is an absolutely amazing scent when this runs out I'll be so so sad.

 I love nail wraps, they are the lazy girls way of getting really cool "nail art" looking nails. The designs on these are so cool and not only do I have some for my fingers, I now have some for my toes! I don't think I've ever seen toe ones in the UK so it will be really fun to use these ones.

 This I know for a fact was the last thing I got, since it was hidden right at the bottom of the box. But this little notebook is so sweet. The colours are right down my street, chevron blues with a pink band. Perf.

Oh Rena how I love thy choices, she sent over two trios and one - shall we call it a palette - palette. The trios are in the colours On Cloud Nine - which is a blue toned one - and Sweet as Candy which is much more of a neutral kind of one. I'm not sure how much use On Cloud Nine will get but I'm sure Sweet as Candy will get a lot of use. The palette she sent me is in the colour The Naked Truth - the colours in this look really wearable and I'll definitely be trying it out very soon. 

 I was sent a few more bits from NYX. Although we are able to get NYX in the UK its harder to come by and tends to be a lot more expensive than it would be in the States. Rena sent over two of the Jumbo eye pencils, a blusher, an eye shadow palette and a pair of eyelashes. I love eye shadow pencils so I was really happy to have received these - and in two lovely colours as well! The colours I received were Iced Mocha - a lovely bronze-y colour - and Cottage Cream - possibly the perfect silver colour for the inner corner? The blush she sent me is in the colour Dusty Rose, I was actually really close to buying this not too long ago so good job I didn't eh? The eye palette - in Adorable -  is the perfect kind of neutral colours, there is a pink shade in there as well but the palette is so so so wearable. Now for possibly the most beautiful eye lashes ever? These look so fluttery and feathery and just out right perfect. I can't wait for a night out so I can wear these bad boys.

 Two more eye shadow palette type things, my eye shadow collection has grown so much. lolz. The Almay trio is so pretty, the colours look perfect for everyday wear - not too shimmery either - and its the one designed for brown eyes. The ULTA palette is very bright but the colour that I homed in on was the blue colour - wow it is such an amazing colour, I've never seen a blue like that before.

Next up is some bits from Milani, the last swap I did I got a blush and a lipstick from Milani and I quite wanted to try some more from them. Wait a minute... Quite wanted? That is such bad English, but you know what I mean. Rena kindly sent over a shadow eyez pencil, an eye shadow, a lip gloss and a liquid liner. The shadow pencil - your feeding my love - is in the shade Sand Dunes, it looks to be quite a gold toned brown colour. The shadow is in the colour I Heart You and my oh my, can we just take a minute to appreciate how beautiful this colour is? I adore red eye shadows like this - I have a few cream ones in my collection - so this is going to get a fair bit of use. The lip gloss is in the colour Sweet Grapefruit - unfortunately it doesn't smell like grapefruit - and looks to be a really pretty pink shade. The liner really intrigues me, this seems like an odd thing to say but I've never owned a liner in this colour and I very rarely buy liquid liner, I really want to use this but since its blue I'm not sure where I'll find the confidence to wear it out.

 I've come to the conclusion that American beauty products use a lot of packaging in comparison to British ones. With that side note, two new mascaras to try. I'm not sure if we have these in the UK or not but I'm really excited to try them. The L'Oreal Volumious Carbon Black mascara looks amazing - so hopefully it will be as good as it looks. And the Maybelline Volum' Express Mascara looks really cool as well, this is one of the Mega Plush ones and is purple so it'll be quite cool to see what it looks like on the lashes.

Rena had said she would be able to get me a sample size of the Benefit Bad Lash and she did! The They're Real just doesn't work on my lashes so fingers crossed this does a better job. I'm assuming these are all sample sizes? Why don't we get samples when we shop? Tarte recently came the the UK on QVC and I was quite interested in the mascara so now I get to try it before I pay full price for it! Okay so I'm not 100% sure if this is for your brows or for your lashes but it is the Anastasia Beverly Hills Lash Genius, I think I'll look up what its for then go from there.

 Liners, liners, liners! Pencil and Liquid. Rena sent me over two Essence liners in Teddy and Love Me Lavender, along with a Wet N Wild black liquid liner. The applicator nib bit for this looks like it could be pretty easy to use, it seems to be pretty thin so in theory no crazy thick lines. Right?

Rena also sent me a Stila lip glaze - I think I had one of these years ago - in the colour Strawberry Lemonade and a Pacifica Color Quench lip tint. This is in the shade Guava Berry and it looks really pretty, I love lip balm things and I'm always on the hunt for the perfect one so this will for sure get lots of use.

 Next up is a few products from ELF, we do have access to this in the UK but only if we order online and sometimes I'm a bit wary of ordering makeup online if I'm not sure of my colour. Rena sent over a set of three lip glosses - the darkest one looks pretty darn cool! She also sent over two Jumbo Eye shadows in Little Miss Thing - a lovely gold - and Midnight Rendezvous - a really pretty brown. The final ELF product was a Shimmering Face Whip in Lilac Petal, it looks like it will be a really pretty light highlight.

 I'm not sure if we have this concealer in the UK, but I'm excited to try it anyway. The colour Rena sent me matches my skin so well. The Maybelline Fit Me range seems to be a really good range.

 Face wipes are the thing I use when I'm too lazy to take my make-up off properly, I'd ran out of wipes but I now have these Green Tea ones to use.

 I know we do get NYC in the UK but its not a brand I've ever really been interested in. Until now though - the bronzer (in Sunny) looks like it could be even better than my NARS Laguna!!! She also sent over a Sparkles Eye Dust in the colour Amber Glitz.

Final thing now from the swap box! Miniature shampoos/conditioners by Paul Mitchell - I think we have this brand in the UK, although I honestly wouldn't even know where to get it from. I was sent the Awapuhi Shampoo and the Detangler Conditioner - after I wash my hair it gets very tuggy so it'll be interesting to see if this helps.

This post was massive! I hope you enjoyed reading it and thank you so so so much Rena for doing this with me I love everything you sent me! Any items you would like to see reviews on let me know and I'll try get them up soonish :) x

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Lipstick Love

Hi, my name is Sarah and I'm a lipstickaholic. My love affair with lipsticks is one that is making my bank balance rather sad. Over the last few months I have considerably increased my lipstick collection. I have sticks, stains, pencil style ones and glosses. I will admit that the majority of my lipsticks are red. I own both high end and drug store lipsticks, though most of them are drug store. I'm the type of girl that would rather buy 2 or 3 cheaper lip sticks rather than buying one high end one.

I'm going to show the ones I have by splitting them up into brands, I think that will be the easiest way to show them and that way as well I wont be all over the place, also if I have multiple colours I can talk about them all in the one go rather than doing each of them one after another. 

Revlon Lip Butters

I have only have two lip butters, one of which may have gone missing from my mums make-up bag and some how found its way to mine. Cotton Candy is the colour I would reach for if I were only wanting a slight wash of colour. Its a really lovely light pink colour, I adore it especially for those days where I can't really be fussed trying to apply lipstick carefully. One of my favourite colour that I have is Candy Apple, its a beautiful red colour, I think it maybe has slightly orangey undertones. Its a beautiful red colour, I think its more wearable than some of my other reds since its not quite as bright. 

Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain

I got this awhile ago when they originally came out, and recently I have rekindled my love for them. I only have the one colour from the collection since at the time that I got this the colours were quite limited. I really like the smell of these, the smell very minty some people don't like that but I love it. The colour lasts for a very long time and I find that you don't need to touch it up very often. I have the colour Romantic, its a red - who would have guessed -its a lighter red, so again is more wearable than most other reds. 

Revlon Colour Lustrous Lipsticks

I've never had one of these lipsticks before, at least until recently. I bought this because of the colour, Kiss Me Coral, it is such a beautiful burnt orange colour. From what I can tell it is quite long lasting. Honestly though because of the colour I couldn't care less how long it lasted, since this is maybe the most beautiful colour I own. 

Maybelline Colour Sensational 

I have the colour 540 Hollywood Red, this colour is a dusty pink colour. I think it is maybe the most sophisticated colour I own, its a very grown up colour. I don't wear it very often but when I do I feel so grown up and happy. Its one of the lipsticks I wear to feel a little more confidant with out being bold in a red lip. 

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick

This is one of the newer additions to my collection. I would say that the colour is a dark berry red, the colour is really pigmented and lasts a fair while, I would say you only need to touch this up once of twice through out the day.  

Rimmel Apocalips 

As soon as these came out I was desperate to get my little paws on them, and boy am I glad that I did. My mum has some of the colours and I got a couple. The ones I have are Stellar and Big Bang. I have a whole blog post on these since I loved them so much, so if you are interested you can go check that out if you like. Stellar is such a beautiful colour, its very much so a pink colour but I think it has red in it to- as my mum was convinced that it was a red shade. Big Bang is an amazing bright red colour. They last a long time since they are like a gloss and stain hybrid. They are very creamy and they are surprisingly moisturising. 

Barry M Lip Paints

I have 3 lipsticks by Barry M, the first of which I've had for a couple of years - maybe not as long but I've had it for awhile. I used to use this religiously, every day for months. I've only got a little bit left of it, I don't know what the shade is since the name has rubbed off, but its the green on that turns pink. I loved using this since it would get darker throughout the day - it also takes a heck of a lot to take it off (I think its like a stain).

Another I have was a complete fluke buy, I don't know if I like the colour or not. The colour is shade 53, it is a pinky coral colour and it is unlike any colour I have ever bought or worn. I think that may be half the reason I'm unsure of it, due to the fact that I more so wear reds. 

The final Barry M lipstick I have is in the shade 121, this is a bright red colour. I think the amount of red lipsticks I have is ridiculous. I this is quite a matte colour, and it is quite drying - which is sad since its such a lovely colour ( I have really dry lips normally so this really isn't good for my wee lips).

Benefit Lip gloss 

This is the only proper gloss that I own, I have dandelion. I wear it over matte red lipsticks, just a little in the middle of my lips to give just a bit of depth and shine. 

YSL Rouge Volupte Lipstick

Another of my many eBay purchases, this is maybe one of my best purchases. I got it for a total bargain, I still class this as a high end purchase - I paid £12 for it so its kind of a joke - this is like my baby. The packaging is beautiful and the formula is so creamy and lovely.

MAC Lipstick

Yet again another eBay purchase, for a few pounds I got my hands on one of the limited edition Lady GaGa lipsticks. The one I have is in the shade Sheer Plum. This looks nothing like a plum colour when you just look at it, when you apply it though it looks slightly more plumy. I would say this is not a plum colour and more so a  pink with orange undertones. I've not used this in a fair while so I've not got much of a clue when it comes to its lasting, but it is a very creamy lipstick. 

ELF Matte Lip Pencil

I have not used this in a very long time, the colour is natural, it is a nude lip colour. I've become much more of a red and orange colour lipstick gal, so nude colours have been pushed aside and hidden away in the back of a box.

Are you a lipstick addict like me? 

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