American Swap #3

I feel so lucky to have the opportunities to do lovely things like package swaps with friends from America who I have met and spoken to a lot through Instagram. This package swap was with the lovely Frederica, who I have blogged about before in regards to a swap which you can see here. This is the second swap with her that I have done and, as per usual, we stick to a budget that we set ourselves. Here are the lovely things she sent me.

I've always wanted to try one of the Amazonian Clay Blushes from Tarte and Frederica kindly sent me one in the shade fearless. It's a gorgeous pink with glitter and is super girly and pretty, and the pigmentation is amazing too.

Also from Tarte, she sent me something I've been dying to try every since essiebutton was raving about it - the Amazonian Clay Mineral Foundation. I have the shade fair-light neutral which was a risk as not being able to test it against my skin could have gone wrong but it's actually the perfect shade for me! When I apply it with the Tarte Airbuki Brush, my skin looks flawless.

As a little surprise, she popped in one if the Revlon Parfumerie Polishes in Wild Violets, which I love. The colour is perfect for me as I love purple nails and it has a gorgeous red and blue glitter running through it, but it also smells slightly floral. It genuinely smells like those sweets Parma Violets (if you guys remember those?!) and I love it! Very floral and fresh. And unlike the Models Own Scented Polish, this one actually makes your nails smell good for ages! I really hope they bring these to the UK soon.

Also in the package were two Revlon Colorburst Lip Crayons in the shades Audacious and Unapologetic. They are the matte balms, and oh wow is the pigmentation amazing. They don't dry out my lips and the colour they give is incredible! They're really smooth to apply and definitely keep my lips soft and moisturised.

I only recently found out that Next actually sell NYX products but I don't know if their range is any good. When I saw the stand it was behind the counter and there weren't any testers so I'm not sure how it works - whether you can try things like in the drugstore or if you have to buy and hope for the best. But anyway.  I received these lovely NYX products - my first ever ones! Two Butter Glosses which are gorgeously pigmented and smooth and, quite literally, like butter. They smell so yummy too! I got the shades Creme Brûlée, a peachy nude, and Apple Strudel, a coral pink. As well as these is the Soft Matte Lip Cream which, when I first tried on I really wasn't sure. It dried my lips out like crazy but I've since learned to put a little bit of lip balm on before and it works like a dream. The colour stayed on for ages aswell which is great! I got the shade Antwerp, which is a gorgeous deep coral.

Keeping in the lip front are two of the much raved about Maybelline Color Elixirs which I am obsessed with. Believe the hype with these because I have been wearing the lighter shade, Caramel Infused, non stop - it's such a perfect nude gloss. The red shade, Signature Scarlet, is also stunning but for a more bold make up look and not my everyday look currently. I can't wait until summer where I can pull off bold lips every day woo! The formula of these is lovely and even the applicator is so soft. I want them in every colour!

Another cute little gloss is from a brand that I don't think we have over here, called Flower. It's in the shade Pretty in Petunia and is super glossy! It's not sticky at all and I'm yet to see the staying power of this but I have high hopes! Have you tried any products from Flower?

Adding to my now growing (yay!) NYX collection is the HD Photogenic Concealer in the shade Fair. It's so creamy and I think this will be great for under my eyes when those damned dark circles like to appear. The shade is promising as it looks to brighten my skin tone - I just hope it doesn't crease like so many others that I've tried!

We all know I love Bath and Body Works, and my obsession with their candles is getting out of control now. If I could live in there, I would. Frederica sent me another Blueberry Pumpkin Patch because I loved the first she sent me so much, and three I haven't tried yet! Leaves, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, and Cinnamon Frosting. I'm so bad at describing scents in words because it's so pretentious but believe me when I say they smell gooooood. Very Autumnal and I'm not complaing because the weather is still very cold and rainy so I'm more than happy to have my room smelling all cosy!

On the hair front, she sent me a cute little package of travel sized shampoo, conditioner and treatment from John Freda which is perfect as I'm always travelling to visit either my family, my boyfriend or his family, and lugging around big bottles of the stuff is a nightmare. They smell gorgeous too!

I was really excited to see these in the box because I've seen Missglamorazzi use these a lot in her routines and my skin has been awful lately. They're the First Aid Beauty Face Cleanser & Ultra Repair Cream. My normal skincare routine is just not doing it. I've tried this since opening the package and already really like it! The cleanser smells a little funky but does a great job, and the moisturiser is so nice (and smells good too!). My skin feels super soft after these which is just what I need!

And finally! Some cute little hand sanitisers to add to my vast collection from Bath and Body Works. I have so many now but I can't bring myself to use them as they smell so good! I do use them, don't worry, but not as much as I used to use my trust Soap and Glory ones. I have the scents Vanilla Berry Sorbet, Paris Amour, and Sweet Pea.

Aaaaaand there you have it! I love doing swaps but don't do them too often as they are quite expensive when it comes to postage! I know I have a ew blog posts about swaps recently but they have been building up for several months and I've just been lazy about actually writing them. It works out that I've done a swap every three months for the past 9, which is nice!

I'm very lucky to have found two lovely people who share the same interests as me when it comes to swaps so I know that whatever I receive I will definitely love, and I hope that they enjoy what I send them also!

My flat mate is looking for someone to do a swap with after seeing me do mine, so if anyone is interested then please comment below with your age and where you are from! She's hoping to do one with someone from the USA.

Have you ever done a swap? Would you be interested to?

Until next time!

xxx