Box Swap #4: Milani Cosmetics

Hello everyone! Hope everyone is feeling damn sexy coming up to the festive season! And if not...you should be ;)

Now, I'm pretty sure that every girl everywhere NEEDS to own a bit of Milani in their lives, am I right or am I right? And again..being in Ireland..We dont have that luxury! BUT LYNELL MADE IT POSSIBLE WOOOO! ( I would marry this arse off this girl)

sooo, what did she send me?

I am one...VERY lucky girl!

What I received:

Milani Illuminating face powder - 03 beautys touch

X2 Milani baked blush -  01 Dolce Pink & 02 Rose D'Oro

X2 Milani Baked Eyeshadow - 602 I heart you & 618 Green Fortune 

So first up we have the mighty Illuminating face powder!

This face powder is so stunningly beautiful to look at, I didn't even want to touch it!

Embossed with multi colour roses, You can use this gorgeous powder as a highlighter or as a blush! Sometimes I find highlights can be so shiny that you could see your face from space. But this one is super delicate and very VERY pretty on the face! I'm so sorry I have no pictures of it on my damn camera went and deleted half of my pictures.

Nest up we have these stunning blushes.

OK can we just take a moment, to really appreciate the arse out of these blushes.

I have wanted these for longer than I can actually remember! And I find it hard to belive that I actually own these now. 

Super pigmented with just the right amount of shine, these blushes last all day without a single touch up. These brighten up your face and aren't too loud on the skin! My favourite is the rose gold one on the left! It suits my skin tone perfectly!

Next, we have the amazingly gorgeous baked eyeshaddows

Just LOOK at them colours!!!

These two can be used wet (for a more dramatic and bold look) Or dry (for a softer look).

The one that grabbed my attention straight away was 'Green Fortune' on the left. Holy good god look at that amazing marble effect! Such an amazing colour and even more beautiful on! This would be stunning on someone with hazel/green/brown eyes! The pigmentation on both of these is insane!

If you have any questions about box swapping or simply want to say hi! Then comment below or reach me at nadinestephens1990@gmail.com

The Parma Violet

Box Swap #3: Bath & Body Works

Hello everyone! How's everyone doing? Hope you're all battling the fierce colds and flu's going around!

This instalment is all about Bath & Body works! (yay!)

I first became OBSESSED with Bath & Body Works when I stumbled across some pictures of their candles on Instagram! I immediately fell head over heals, the scents are so original and I dunno WHAT it is about the packaging but I simply adore it!

I then looked more into bath and body works and found their shower gels,lotions and body scents and thought to myself ''oh dear god, I would be a dangerous woman if I were to ever step foot inside that store'' 

The stuff is so amazingly beautiful!( You should definitely check out their stuff online whenever you get the chance) BUUUUT being in Ireland meant...no pretty stuff from B&BW for Nadine.. Then Lynell came to the rescue (see previous posts). So when she sent me these GORGEOUS items I genuinely shrieked with joy!

So lets see what I thought?!

LOOK AT THE PRETTY!!!

Behold! Feast your eyes upon these gloriously girly bottles of sheer bliss!

I received:

Fresh Strawberries Hand Sanitizer 

Velvet Sugar body lotion

Velvet Sugar Shower gel

&

Velvet Sugar Fragrance mist

First up we have the hand sanitizer (like how them Americans spell it)

(also bottle is A LOT bigger than it appears in the picture)

I've never been a huge enthusiast on hand sanitisers, I never understood the hype. Sure they keep your hands germ free, but even the ones that claim to smell like ''strawberries'' and ''pineapple'' dont really even smell like them...One you rub it in the scent is one..

THIS IS A HUGE LIFE SAVING GAME CHANGER!!!

The first time I used this I though, oh dear GOD the absolute BANG of gorgeous fresh strawberries is to DIE for! I couldn't believe it!  It smells like really fresh, sweet (but not sickingly sweet) jam! And what's best? The smell lasts HOURS! I was honest to god shocked. After washing my hands the scent was gone. So I decided to not wash my hands for a whole day to see how this baby kept up... and dear lord it BASICALLY lasted the entire day! AND it has little tiny dark blue shimmery pretty glittery things throughout the bottle to look like strawberry seeds, HOW AWESOME!

I could not recommend this more, so If any of my American/Canadian followers are reading, DEFINITELY grab this beauty!

Next up we have the Velvet Sugar Body Fragrance mist.

Now, for me, I LOVE all things girly and retro. Mix them together, and you've got heaven. And the packaging for this really hits it on the head.

I adore the mint coloured bow & sweetheart netting printed around the bottle, it gives it a very naughty, 1950's boudoir feel which I just adore.

I'm not a huge fan of very sweet smelling things or over powering smells. At first sniff I thought this was very sweet, but once it settles, it is a gorgeously feminine scent which will leave EVERYBODY ( and yes I mean everybody) asking , ''where did you get that perfume? it is GORGEOUS''

Honey..I know its gorgeous, I smell good enough to eat right now! ;P

I find this works best spritzed on to damp skin and left to dry. The scent calms down after about an hour or so but keeps on keeping on throughout the day.

And last, but by certainly no means least we have the Velvet Sugar Body lotion and shower gel set

Just like the body mist, these two smell divine, although I got a much more gentle scent from these two which is a good thing though!

The packaging again, SUPER girly, SUPER pink and just a little bit of gold thrown in there too :)

The packaging on these two gives off a more romantic feel with added flowers and hearts.

Both bottles are enriched with Shea & Vitamin E which is amazing! After using these two my skin felt baby smooth and smelt like heaven for hours. I was one VERY happy lady!

Lynell, you hit the jackpot with these buys! Thank you so much!

And poor Lynell STILL hasn't received the package I sent her!

If that doesn't come through this week there will be out and out war with Irish mail I tell you!

So we're all keeping our fingers and toes crossed that it gets to you safe and sound :)

If you have any questions on box swapping, please do not hesitate to message me and say hi :)

The Parma Violet 

Boxswap #2: NYX

Hello everyone and welcome to the 2nd half of my box-swapping escapades! Now I know thats NYX recently made its way to Ireland..But living in the back arse of nowhere, nowhere that sells them is near to me.. so it was a blessing that I got sent all this beautiful NYX stuff!!!

NYX Matte lip creme 

Ok, I have seen these lip cremes all over instagram and the likes and I have been DYING to own one! And This little cutie sent me three! I am one VERY lucky girl!!

The colours I received were:

Ibiza - a peachy pink

Morocco -  An orangey red

Prague -  A soft dark purple

Ok, lets get right down to it... These . Smell . Absolutely . Unbelievable 

I never thought id get hungry while putting on makeup but oh my god!

These smell like a sweet buttercream cake! Or just simply the worlds best smelling cake shop!

NYX COLOUR MASCARA

I THOUGHT THIS WAS AWESOME!!The fact she sent me purple AND blue mascara...unreal!!

We dont tend to get alot of this kind of stuff in Ireland, and when we do I find it of very bad quality OR ridiculously over priced!

These two go on and stay perfectly! No flake away's or no clumps! These are great! 

The purple is great in particular if you have hazel or green eyes, it really makes your eye colour pop! And the blue is great for blue or green eyes! amazing idea, thank you Lynell! I love them!

NYX LOVE IN PARIS EYESHADOW PALETTE 

This...palette..is..gorgeous! Holy god I'm in love! The colours are very pigmented and the packaging is extremely cute! 

The palette showing 9 extremely pretty colours will suit anyone! Mostly made up of natural and brown tones this palette will take you from day to night super fast! 

And look at that super cute bow clasp!

I hope you enjoyed the second half of my boxswap items! If theres any tips or information you need to know please let me know!Dont be afraid to get in touch!

The Parma Violet