A Birthday Swap

My friend Julie and I do a birthday swap - this is our second year exchanging gifts. We met recently for a look at the shops, lunch with some wine and to exchange pressies! I was blown away by her generosity. I love everything!

It was only after I'd put everything away I realised the benefit kit was upside down in my photo!  

I'd totally fallen in love with this beautiful teacup and saucer when it appeared in Aurelia's Christmas Gift sets.  Julie tracked it down to Bombay Duck.  It makes a very special girly cup of tea.

Onto the goodies oh where do I start! 

Lush Rose Bubble Bar - I love all things rose and Lush so looking forward to having a couple of soaks in the bath.  This is super cute.

Laura Mercier Ambre Vanille Souffle Body Creme 25g - this is beautiful! Sweet, super moisturising and a real treat!  It featured in my Little Treats #2 this week.

Stila Seeing Stars Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner Set - I'm a huge fan of the shade Moray so it was great to get some different shades to try. Once you put this eyeliner on it just stays put!

benefit She's so Jetset - a perfect set for travel. Looking forward to trying it out. It has everything you need.

Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion - I think I actually squealed - I've wanted to try this primer for ages!

Simply Soap Rosepetal & Geranium Soap - huge fan of bars of soap and rose and geranium scents so know I'm going to love this!

Aromatherapy Associates Rose Hydrate Mist 50ml & Moisturising Lip Balm 7ml - this was a pressie from Ralphie (Julie's dog) as I sometimes send him dog treats.  

Glamglow Supermud Clearing Treatment x 2 sachets - I wasn't a huge fan of one of the other Glamglow masks so looking forward to trying!

Glamglow Mud Eye Treatment - I've tried one of the eye masks and I love it.

Aromatherapy Associates Rose Body Wash 40ml - gorgeous! huge fan of rose scented products.

Aromatherapy Associates Inner Strength Bath & Shower Oil 7.5ml - my favourite AA bath oil.

Manuka Doctor Introductory Kit - Repairing Skin Cream 25ml, Rejuvenating Face Mask 25ml (already a fan of this one) and Restoring Night Cream 25ml - looking forward to trying and reviewing.

A fab colouring book and felt pens!

Lush it started with a kiss tinted balm - handy for the handbag. Give a tint to the lips.

Korres Mandarin Lip Butter Stick SPF15 - huge Korres and lip balm fan.

Ojon Rare Blends Infusion Shampoo 30ml & Rare Blends Deep Conditioner 30ml - simply love these!  They featured in shopping my stash this week - see here.

Ojon Volume Shampoo 60ml - not tried much Ojon so sure to like this.

Ojon Rare Blend Oil 6ml, Restorative Hair Treatment Plus 8ml & Restorative Hair Treatment 8ml - looking forward to trying all of these.

Also some samples, lots of chocolate and a variety of tea.

Looking forward to trying everything out. Reviews will follow. Thanks again Julie. Love everything.

Pampering #4

I was feeling a bit down in the dumps at the weekend so decided to have a long soak in the bath plus some pampering with a face, hair and neck mask.  Here's what I chose:

Melvita Milky Cleansing Oil* this is a fab and really effective cleanser! Apply onto the skin massaging it into the skin. Apply some water and it transforms to a milky lotion. Scented with Damask Rose essence it's one of my favourites.

Jamela 24k Gold Neck Mask* - this mask is perfect for revitalising the skin and pampering. This mask contains Mineral Gold, Hyaluronic Acid, plant collagen and rose esssential oil. It is a real luxury mask and leaves the skin moisturised and radiant with fine lines reduced. It can be used in conjunction with Jamela 24k Gold Collagen Face Mask.

urbanveda Radiance Exfoliating Facial Polish - a very effective and gentle polish which is nice to use.  It helps to brighten the skin and make it more radiant.

Philip B Katira Hair Masque - this is a really effective masque. It leaves the hair super soft and oh so shiny. I like how you can leave it on overnight too for a deep treatment.

Manuka Doctor Rejuvenating Face Mask - I received this in a trial size kit recently. It's an intensive mask made from bee venom. It can also be used as an intensive moisturiser.  Leave on 15-20 minutes and rinse off.

Neom Refresh Organic Bath & Shower Oil - an uplifting and refreshing bath oil. It always makes me feel happier when I use it in my bath.

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse OR -  This oil is great to use on the body, face and hair. It moisturises the skin and leaves it with a bit of sparkle!

Have you used any of these products?  What are your favourite ones to pamper?

*PR samples

Samples #7

It's ages since I've done a samples post - you can see my last one here.

Erno Laszlo Hollywood Collection - Instant Eye Repair, Intensive Porcelain Veil, Velvet Night Cream, Refresh Moisture Infusion, Morning Beauty Rescue - I love these especially the eye cream and night cream.  Only one not so keen on is Morning Beauty Rescue as it's a bit sparkly.

Caudalie Vinosource Moisturising Mattifying Fluid - nice product but tiny sample - hard to tell if this suited my skin as I only got one use.

Philosophy Hope in a Jar, Eye Hope and Purity 3-in-1 Cleanser - I liked using the eye cream and the cleanser.  I didn't like the scent of the moisturiser.

Manuka Doctor Rejuvenating Face Mask - this was lovely smelt amazing and felt fab on the skin.  Would perhaps buy full size.

Avon Advanced Techniques Shampoo and Leave in Conditioner - these seemed quite good but I didn't like the scent of them so wouldn't buy.

Weleda Skin Food and Pomegranate Body Lotion - loved both of these especially the Pomegranate Body Lotion which I'll definitely buy at some point.  Loved the fruity scent and how it felt on my skin.

Vav Hand Cream - tiny sachet seemed a nice enough cream but hard to tell as it's such a small sachet.

I also used Liz Earle Superskin Concentrate sample vial - nice enough product but there are other face oils I prefer.

The Oh Lola! EDP sample came from my Perfume Samples challenge.  Love its light, fruity & floral scent - I'd definitely buy this perfume.

As you can see I'm still in sample overload!

These are the samples I've picked for #8:

Tea Tree & Peppermint Intensive Treatment Foot Pack - 1 treatment

Lavera Balancing Face Mask 10ml

L'Oreal Everpure Shampoo & Conditioner both 10ml

Neal's Yard Wild Rose Beauty Balm 2g

Sisley Moisturiser with Cucumber 4ml

Beemy Honey Moisturising Cream 5ml

Weleda Sea Buckthorn Body Lotion 4ml

Elemental Herbology Cool & Clear Facial Cleanser 3ml

Cotswold Collection Jasmine & Orange Blossom Hand Cream 5ml

Comfort Zone Tranquility Cream

Dermalogica Skin Prep Scrub

Trilogy Rosehip Oil Antioxidant+ 2.5ml

REN Keep Young & Beautiful Serum 3ml

Evolve Protein Build Conditioner 7ml

Ojon Damage Reverse Restorative Hair Treatment 8ml

Avon Advanced Techniques Moroccan Oil Leave in Treatment

Have you used any of these products?

Swap with Kat @ Tales of a Pale Face

On my recent Empties post I mentioned that I'd loved the samples of Vichy Idealia Smoothing & Illuminating Cream I'd used and mentioned that I'd have to buy full size at some point.

Kat left a message saying she'd be happy to arrange a swap with me as she had a 15ml pot that she wouldn't use.

I was super-excited when my parcel arrived as Kat has sent me loads of lovely extra samples.

Here is what she sent:

Vichy Idealia Smoothing & Illuminating Cream 15ml (plus 3 x 1.5ml sachets of Idealia Pro).

Manuka Doctor Rejuvenating Face Mask Bee Venom Purified 2ml sachet - can't wait to try this and from a brand I've never heard of before.

Philosophy Purity made Simple 3 in 1 cleanser 6ml sachet, Philosophy Eye Hope Eye Cream 2ml, Philosophy Hope in a Jar high potency moisturiser 2ml - not tried much by Philosophy so keen to try these too!

Sisley Moisturiser with Cucumber 4ml - a real luxury brand so again looking foward to trying!

Thanks so much Kat for such a smooth swapping experience and for all the lovely extras you sent.  You can follow Kat's blog here and follow her on Twitter @Talesofpaleface