Halloween Blog Swap!

Hello!

Ok, I know I know! It's been ages since I last blogged properly...what can I tell you, depression is an absolute dick sometimes and likes to take over and then make me feel bad at the end of the day and I haven't blogged again. I'm so determined to actually get more stuff up on here I promise!! (Also having huge issues uploading videos on my YouTube channel too....clearly I'm not meant to waffle about makeup!!)

Anyway, on with the actual blogging!

A while ago I signed up for the lovely Jasmine's Halloween swap that she was organising over on her blog at Sweetaholic Beauty. I love Jasmine's blog and have done a swap via her blog before so was very excited to do one again! This time I actually got paired with Jasmine herself and was really excited as she's been really lovely and very supportive too, so it was nice to be able to send her some stuff for the swap and a few extra sample bits from work too as a little thank you for being so lovely! Our budget worked out to be about £30 (or $50 Aus) but working in the make-up retail industry I was able to send a tad more with my discounts etc! I was a bit worried about going overboard and thinking that Jasmine would be annoyed with how much I was able to send, esp as I worry about it looking like I'm bragging or something!! (I have a very weird anxious mind when it comes to things like this!) I was so excited about getting Jasmine's parcel though and had to be really resitrained at ripping it open before taking pictures! Haha!

So here is everything before I tore into it! I LOVE the make-up bag, and as a crazy cat lady, it's absolutely purr-fect for me! (This bag has already come in very handy!) There's some yummy yummy Australian chocolate to try as well in a cute bag (I think it's a standard to send chocolate in a swap! Haha!), there's a lovely card from Jasmine and a purple box that felt so heavy I got even more excited!!

So opening up the box I found everything wrapped in lovely orange tissue paper with super cute Halloween stickers!! It was like Christmas coming early but with spooky stickers!! (bonus points for spotting my Superman lounge pants in the picture....)

So here is everything laid out before I ripped into it! The face masks were in the make-up bag and were a little extra I think, but loving face masks as much as I do, I was very pleased to see them! Jasmine managed to get me 10 things on our budget!! I thought that was really good and I was shocked to see so much to be honest! I know money doesn't go that far in the beauty world! Haha! We had also decided to try and stick to things that we couldn't get in our various countries (but no MUA for Jasmine as she already has so much!!) This just added to my excitement as I knew there wouldn't be any dupes of stuff I already had.

So here it all is laid out after I ripped off the wrapping! Jasmine has the cutest blog cards I've seen! So firstly, I was highly excited to try a TimTam finally! Turns out they're basically Penguin bars but without the jokes (but still just as delicious!) Jasmine also included some Cadbury Caramello Koala's too (Freddos but in Koala form!) which were YUMMY! 

So on to the make-up bits! Australis paparazzi Perfect High Definition Eyeshadow in Totally Busted, Australis Blush in Glamour, Nude by Nature Natural Tinted Mineral Moisturiser, Australis Colour Inject Mineral Lipstick in Ballet, I <3 Punk Jumbo Eyeliner Pen in Black, Savvy Kohl Eyeliner in Blue, Face of Australia Sundae Sheer Gloss Lip Crayon in Nude, Essence Quattro Eyeshadow in Denim 4.0, Model Co Lip Gloss in Strip Tease, Mor Hand Cream in Lychee Flower, Formula 10.0.6 Face Masks in No Time To Shine (x2) and Deep Down Detox (x2) and Chi Chi Eyeshadow Quad in Lah De Dah. Phew! That's a lot of stuff right there!!

So unfortunately one of the eyeshadows had a bit of a rough ride it seems. It was packaged really well so it was nothing to do with that I don't think, but these eyeshadows feel REALLY soft to the touch so are probably extra fragile I guess. And although I was sad to see that it had smashed during it's flight over here as it looked like the exact kind of palette I would pick for myself...it did give me the opportunity to try out the rubbing alcohol fix! I just picked out the big pieces and worked out which colour was which, popped them into their separate bowls, mixed with a tiny bit of rubbing alcohol and mushed back into their respective slots in the original packaging and they left to dry over night!

It's not as pretty as I'm sure it was when Jasmine first brought it, but it's still got beautiful colours in there! Seriously exactly what i would've picked (I actually own a palette that's almost identical but is more glittery, so it's nice to just have shimmer colour that are the same!....It also shows how well Jasmine knows me!!)

So here are the eyeshadows....

• The blues are totally me as I love experimenting with colours! The deep blue in this set is beautiful! 

• The second palette I've already raved about but seriously, it's so so pretty and the quick fix I did has taken it back to it's original softness with the smashed colours. The pink in this set is my favourite I think as it's so pigmented without being neon and I love it!!

• The Chi Chi palette is the stand out palette for me! Firstly, the packaging is amazing! It has a button to press to open it up (super classy in my book!) and the lid is so shiny that you can use it as a mirror! The colours are just....perfect! If I'd been stood looking at a Chi Chi stand for the first time, I know I would've been completely drawn to this palette myself so Jasmine did so so well with this pick! (Thanks Jasmine!!) The shadows are really pretty and quite soft but buildable in colour. I can't wait to try a soft smokey eye for the daytime with this palette!

• Face masks are ALWAYS a winner for me! Looking forward to a pamper evening with these!

• This hand cream smells so good and the scent lingers enough to smell good without being overpowering. This will sit on my desk for when I'm blogging (I've used it just now and seriously, this smells so good!!)

• I actually don't own a tinted moisturiser so I'm excited to own this! This doesn't have a colour but it blends perfectly on my skin and, again, smells really good! This has been nice to use on my days off so I don't feel like I look so ill!

• This lipgloss was a really nice surprise. I don't own a lot of nude lip products so it was nice to get something in a new colour! Again, it smells so so good! (What is it with Australian products smelling so good?!) It's almost clear when it goes on with the tiniest hint of colour, which is nice. But it's also got a hint of shimmer to basically make my lips look naturally kissable! Haha! It's non-sticky as well which is a HUGE bonus for me.

• I actually got one of these in my last swap and it mysteriously disappeared after my sister took a fancy to it one day!! So it's nice to have a replacement! Again, it's quite nude but a nice one to keep in my bag so I can pop it on if I want a hint of something without it being too OTT (It's great if I forget to put a lip colour on before I go out too as this colour goes with everything!)

• This lipstick is a colour I would normally bypass to be honest as I would go "oh...that's too pale for me..." but clearly I've been wrong all along and Jasmine knows me much better than I know myself! This is a beautiful soft pink that brightens my complexion so much and goes with almost every makeup look I've tried it with so far! I'm in love!! (Also it smells like parma violets so I love it even more!)

• I've not found a blue eyeliner quite the same colour as this one in the UK yet. It's a really nice proper denim blue and has me wondering if I should go back into my pencil eyeliner drawer rather than using powder all the time....(The answer is yes as this is really pretty on, without being too 80s or anything!)

• This blusher is almost identical to one I gave to one of my friends about a year ago and then regretted about 6 months ago! How very handy! It's a really lovely soft peach with a golden shimmer running through it. This will get loads of use during the Summer for sure!

• I'm a massive fan of felt tip pen style eyeliners because I find them easier to use than other liquids for some reason and this one is no exception! It's so pigmented and you can get a really thin or a thick line with it. It's also got an added plastic bit over the top of the pen nib to stop it drying out which is awesome news. This dries really quickly and lasts really long too! I was really impressed when I wore it out for a friends birthday!

So really....it turns out that Jasmine knows me really really well and did a wonderful job at arranging the swap and coming up with an amazing box of goodies for me! If you want to see what I got Jasmine, just head over to her blog to see! I want to thank Jasmine for organising another fab swap and for sending  me such a lovely mix of products! I literally can't wait to try them all out properly!

Until next time,

xoxo