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

Boxswap #1 Beautifully Disney collection

Good evening everyone! Hope everyone is roasting their bums by the fire and relaxing with a nice cup of tea at this hour! 

These next few posts will be reviews on all the unbelievable stuff I received from Lynell during our box-swapping!Let me give you the mini lo-down before I begin.

Lynell & I met on Twitter when I asked an outwardly question to the public, the question was ''Would anybody like to do a box-swap?'' and Lynell came to my rescue! We quickly hit it off and have become great mates! We tend to talk most days and I can safely say I have made a true friend with her! Lynell lives all the way in Florida U.S.A, and me being in Ireland,knew this was going to be SUPER fun! She also works in non other than the happiest place on earth..Disney World!!! How beyond awesome is that?! And this is why I have received these amazingly beautiful Disney items, allllll the way from Disney World in Florida! (I nearly wet myself when I opened the package) So lets see what I thought?

Beautifully Disney: Brush Collection 

Behold, this glorious Disney eye porn!

So let me start off by saying, I cant believe I own something is pretty and all the way from Disney World itself! 

I don't think there is anything more perfect than Disney + Makeup mashed together, its a dream!

First of all, the Gothic-esque packaging is to die for! Complete with silhouettes of Disney Princesses and their Villains! The pink tips add so much more to the brushes, the perfect touch.

These brushes are in NO way meant for children, do not be fooled! This is very much Disney for adults, and I could not be more pleased about that if I tried. The brushes are surprisingly soft, like a wee babies bum! And I am honestly delighted with these!

Brush set includes:

Eye-shadow brush

Contour/blush brush

Angle brush

Foundation brush

Concealer brush

Beautifully Disney : Lipgloss

First of all, again, the packaging...WOW! Could not be more perfect if it tried!

I was expecting these three gorgeous shades to be of ''child makeup'' quality. But dear lord was I wrong! There was NOTHING plastic about these bad boys! The Villains shown on the front of these tubes are: Ursula, Evil Queen & of course Maleficent. On top of the boxes it also has their symbols/weapons/sidekicks!!

The formula is pigmented and stays put for AGES, I truly love these! They remind me of MAC's Villains collection they brought out some years ago! I feel very very lucky to own these gorgeous glosses.

Colour's from L to R:

^^ Soul Survivor, Poisoned Apple & Dragon Diva ^^

I Swatched the colours so as you can see how vibrant and beautiful they are!

Beautifully Disney: Nail Appliqués 

Look at how utterly gorgeous these are! I've never worn anything like this on my nails but I can't wait to! One set (Left) Is Alice in Wonderland themed and the other (right) Is Disney Villain themed. And I cannot stop looking at these colourful, pretty nail appliqués 

I hope you enjoyed the first part of finding out what's in my box-swap box.

Huge thanks to Lynell who has been an unbelievable saviour and who STILL hasn't received the box I've sent her :'( (Damn Irish mail) Fingers crossed it gets to you soon!

Tune in tomorrow for more surprises and tips!

HAPPY BOXSWAPPING!

The Parma Violet

How to : Boxswap

Hi everyone! And my goodness what a horribly cold November we're having, I'm pretty sure my nipples could carve diamonds at this point, its THAT cold!

Now, if you're looking to do a boxswap with someone and you don't entirely know where to start, then you've come to the right place! I'm going to give you a very quick run down of the do's and don'ts of box swapping. 

I recently completed a box swap with an amazing (now) friend of mine, Lynell. We met each other on Twitter and we hit it off right away. I made a tweet asking if anyone out there would be interested in doing a boxswap, and Lynell answered my prayers!She's also an amazing beauty,fashion and lifestyle blogger,and you can find her blog  here!   With me living in Irealnd I was dying to find out where she lived, ' I live in Florida' she proclaimed! How cool is that?! Florida is my most favourite place in the world! I jumped at the chance and we began chatting about everything from our mutual love of Monty Python to makeup to exchanging pictures of our everyday lives! But I'm saving all that stuff for my next post! ;) So here are the do's and dont's of box swapping 

DO!

• Make sure you create a friendship/connection with the person whom you're doing the boxswap with. It's very important to know what the other person is like.
• Ask questions! Don't be afraid to ask your new friend new and exciting questions! It's all about learning after all!
• Make sure you make a list of all the things they might like. Be thoughtful, take hints!
• Take note of their allergies and dislikes! Make sure you remember as these are very vital bits of information.
• Remember to go down to your local post office/postal service and take weight into consideration. Depending on where you are in the world, it could be more expensive than you think.
• Also make sure what you can and cannot send over. Most postal services will not allow liquids to be sent in the mail, but all postal services are different.
• Make a spending limit. You can both agree on a price limit (Excluding p&p) which tends to make things easier, although most people overpass their price limit and that's OK ( I know I did)
• Add each other on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat,the whole lot! Make that real connection!
• Send pictures f your everyday life, your family, your house, what you do everyday, food and products that they maybe do not get in their country. Share your life and experiences with them, it's more important than you think
• Make everything look so pretty you could die. Yes I'm being serious, go that extra mile, wrapping and bows can make all the difference
• Write a handwritten letter, it doesn't matter ''how bad'' you think your writing is, its all about showing that person you are making the effort, and it's that person touch that makes the bond closer. 

DON'T!

• Force a friendship in order to boxswap! If that connection just isn't there, then move on and search for someone who gets your weird fart jokes.
• Push a high price limit. Just because you may be well off where money is concerned doesn't mean everyone else is, please be considerate.
• Send sharp objects... self explanatory really 
• Never ever send your bank details.
• Dive straight into sending the box, as I said before, get to know each other first. And if you feel the other person is being far too pushy...you know what to do.
• Loose contact, keep talking, and keep that spark alive, make time for that other person.
• Put loose items into the box, make sure you bubble wrap everything to ensure no breakage.
• Send organic materials i.e.. limbs, severed heads, disturbing content i.e Nickleback albums
• Send a bomb, or any explosives in general, no weapons of mass destruction, or weapons in general .... lol

You can also make a video upon arrival of your box for each other to show each other your genuine reactions and also to help others who are looking to do boxswaps themselves. 

I really hope this has helped you in your decision in weather or not to do a boxswap, its a great experience! And I would recommend it to anyone! 

Happy box swapping!!

TheParmaViolet