US / UK Swap

Gemma, a lovely girl who lives in London asked me to do a swap! Follow her: Twitter and Blog. We emailed back and forth requesting items and giving each other updates.

I actually got my package a few days ago, thinking I'd do a blog after I tested/used them so I could actually review them, but I may just do a separate post later if any of you want an American opinion on UK goodies!

For whatever reason, UK will accept nail polishes, but they rejected the package to leave the UK since it contained nail polishes. Have any of you ever had this problem? I know nail polish swaps are pretty common for most people I follow. So, I'll have a package of nail polishes to talk about in about 5 weeks. They're coming by sea mail instead of air mail. On to the goodies I have now!


I loved how Gemma wrapped everything separately! So much time went into that, plus me and my little sister had fun unwrapping it!

The Eyeko, BarryM, and Retro LUSH items were all requested since they're basically impossible to find in the US. I asked for the TopShop temporary bracelets tattoos, too.

Everything else was picked out by Gemma!

BarryM
Lime Dazzledust
Strawberry Lip Balm

Eyeko
3 in 1 Cream
Mascara (Black)

Gosh
134 Darling Lipstick

LUSH
Summer Pudding Soap
Curly Wurly Shampoo Sample
Tuca Tuca Fragrance
The Wheel of Misfortune Biofuel Soap

LUSH Retro
Absolute Delight Ballistic
Happy Bubble Bar
Happy Birthday Bubble Bar
Ice Hotel Bubble Bar
Playdoze Bubble Bar

Primark Opia
Gold Flower Bird Heart Necklace
Silver Flower Key Heart Necklace
Floral Wayfarer Sunglasses

Sleek
Divine Storm 587 Palette

Top Shop
Moon Dust Eyes
Temporary Bracelet Tattoos

Other
Brilliant Shimmer Eyewand
Cupcake Lipglosses
Lancome Juicy Tubes Clear
Natural Collection Juicy Lips Barley Sugar
808 Collection Pure Gloss

Candy
Dairy Milk
Twisted Crème Egg
Caramel Nibbles
Caramac

I know BarryM 3 in 1 Crystal Clear Nail Paint (recommended by Hannah) I'm really looking for a good top coat! & Mushroom Nail Paint are on the way, along with a few other surprise nail polishes as well!

I love everything! Except I'm a little unsure of the Playdoze Bubble Bar. I guess I was expecting the lovely smell of play-dough? hah. I requested it for my little sister, she's 6, and LOVES LUSH! But even she didn't like the smell! hah. Have any of you tried this? Is it better in the bath?

My favorites right away were the Floral Wayfarers! (I lost my wayfarers in the lake! yay. a better replacement!) The Eyeko products, and the LUSH Happy Birthday Bubble Bar - I almost ordered a few of these many times just to have an easy, last minute birthday gift laying around the house. But I didn't want the smell to be awful. I really like it. I will repurchase more of these!

The chocolate was a complete gooey sticky mess and smelt like LUSH on the outside. :/ Hopefully, I'll still get the real UK taste, regardless of its shape. hah.

Click the picture below to see what American goodies I picked up for Gemma!




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Jazzed, Complete MAC Palette, & Cupcakes

Back 2 MAC

Jazzed Lipstick
I know I said I wanted nothing from the Into the Grove collection. Which was true, but after hearing so much hype about Jazzed and Stereo Rose, I wouldn't mind having them both. My counter had a few Jazzed Lipsticks left, so I went for that.

I'm so glad I did. I probably would have regretted it later on if I didn't get it. Get your hands on it, if you can! I believe the collection will only be out for another week or two with the new Neon one coming next week.

FOTD:
MAC Silver Ring & Black Tied Eyeshadow. NARS Orgasm Blush. MAC Jazzed Lipstick.

(Ignore my messy fishtail braid.) I know I'm behind and you've already seen a million pictures of it. But I was shocked at how pretty it really is. I guess it does live up to the hype and being impossible to find.

It's pretty orange in the tube, which I was really worried. But I put it on as soon as I got the car and realized how pretty it is! It's like a pink-coral. The best color comparison I could think of is NARS Orgasm Blush.

MAC Palette
Of course, I couldn't leave the counter without spending some amount of money; I picked up Beauty Marked Eyeshadow. I ran home to depot it, and at last, A COMPLETE MAC PALETTE. I was filled with excitement. My parents and my little sisters thought I was crazy, they just don't get it, do they? I've been working on this palette since February. SIX MONTHS! Finished, finally.



Beauty Marked? - "Kaitlyn, you hate purple?" - Yes, I hate purple. But I've been doing too much research and listening to how I should wear purple eyeshadow to make my green eyes look greener. I caved. I'm waiting on Creme de Violet to arrive now (ek, I should go buy another palette) to pair with Beauty Marked. I've been playing with my Coastal Scents 88 Palette (the only purple eyeshadow I owned) and realized it does really help my green eyes out a lot. Don't you agree? (I'm still refraining from purple clothes!)

FOTD:
Coastal Scents 88 Shimmer Palette purples. (Comment if you want the exact shades and I'll take a picture for you.) Clinique Fig Blush. MAC Viva Glam V Lipstick.

& More
A day isn't complete without sweets! We stopped by Muddy's Bake Shop.
Cookies and Cream, Prozac, Strawberry Lemonade & New Yorker Cupcakes




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June Favorites

"Favorites" posts/videos discuss the products (and other misc things) you loved for that month. The products can either be purchased that month or (old) "rediscovered" items. Favorites are published at the end of the current month or at the beginning of the following month."



Color Club Magic Attraction
I saw many bloggers post NOTD's with this. I eventually just bought it on eBay. I'm not sure where you can buy this brand... anyone know? It takes 4-5 coats to get the color of the bottle. But I LOVE it, it's holographic glitter than just glistens in the sun. It almost looks like MAC's 3D glitter on your nails.

LUSH Aqua Marina Cleanser
Purchased this without doing any research. I love ocean salt, but I only use it in the shower, I wanted an everyday cleanser. I just bought it out my counter, the LUSH girl told me how to use it. I drove home, and then smelt it.. ick. It reminds me of Sushi. Remind sushi on your face. ick. It's just a seaweed roll. You have to make a paste to use it. The smell eventually grew on me, it started smelling more clean. I use it at night, my face felt so good in the morning. This is supposed to be for sensitive skin. I have normal skin, so I'm not sure about its claim.

MAC Creations Hue: Turquatic
I was tired of my old perfume (Stella) so I purchased this. It's just a clean-cologne smell. It only last a few hours, which is annoying. If it had better staying power, I'd love it.

Joico K-Pak Intense Hydrator
You're supposed to just put this in dry hair and let it set. I've only that once. I've just been using this as a conditioner. It fixed my pool, lake, and ocean hair. Great for summer!

OPI Elephantastic Pink
I've found this being my go-to pedicure color. It's a barbie hot pink.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter
I hate the smell. I hate product food scents. This smells like I'm rubbing a Hershey's chocolate bar on my skin. I was extremely sunburned from the ocean. (for the first time in my life I was peeling, flaky skin. ew.) I was slathering the peeling with aloe vera and baby oil enriched with aloe vera. After a week and a half, I did some research and found out that aloe vera just hydrates your skin, making it feel better, but not healing it. Cocoa butter moisturizes it. So after 2-3 days of using cocoa butter, peeling was gone, and my skin discoloration was gone.

Ms. Manicure Mini Emery Boards
I purchased these forever ago and just threw them in my makeup bag. I find myself needing a nail file all the time lately. They're perfect just to throw in your purse.

MAC Thrills Frost Lipstick
I can't pull off red lipstick. This is just a light, wearable red. I've found myself reaching for this every day.

Maybelline Define-A-Brow
I've been using eyeshadow to fill in my over-waxed, uneven eyebrows. I read reviews on this, and how it was a dupe for MAC's eyebrow pencil. So I went to Wal*Greens and picked it up. I got Light Brown, thinking it was the lightest shade, next time I repurchased I'll get Dark Blonde. The pencil is super dark, you can't press hard at all, but it's a little easier than eyebrow powder or eyeshadow.

Urban Decay Eyelash Primer Potion
This is an HG for me. I had to repurchase it this month, so I felt like I should mention it in this favorite. I've been using it since Christmas. It's a really good primer to make your mascara stay all day.

MAC 239 Eve Shader Brush
I finally forked out the money for my third MAC brush. This should've been the first one I purchased. It can do everything for your eyeshadow, (all over lid color, crease, blend) you just have to clean it multiple times while switching colors.

EOS Lip Balm
I purchased this awhile back. I wasn't sure about it. I like the scent, I don't love it. Summer Fruit. I want to purchase the lemon one if I can ever find it. It has SPF 15, which we all really need for summer. I keep this in my purse and I've been reaching for it quite often. I love the reactions you get while applying it in public, too. haha.

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Top 9 LUSH Products / Bubble Bar Tips

I really like LUSH. It is either a hit of miss for most people. Some stuff is overpriced, I'll admit. No bath is worth dropping an $11 item into. But I usually divide everything possible into 2-4 uses, just so I feel like I got my money worth. I discovered LUSH in November and have been into trying new things ever since. I've been coming across a lot of 'what should I purchase from LUSH' blogs lately. So I thought I'd tell you about my favorite products so maybe you'll want to pick some of these up next time you go.

Most people's favorites are yummy yummy yummy, rockstar soap, and honey I washed the kids soap. I don't care much for food scents. So I've never tried these just because I wasn't attracted to the smell. Most LOVE these, so I wanted to mention them.

Overall, if you're new to LUSH, I'd say pick up a few bubble bars first, those are what impresses me the most, and you can get plenty of uses out of them. I'll never go back to Mr. Bubbles or any type of liquid bubble bath again. :)


Haul & Review: MAC To the Beach Collection

This is the only MAC collection (since Feb) that has really appealed to me. So I'm probably going overboard, I've still been keeping my work hours up, and haven't really been purchasing any other make-up lately. I want almost everything from the collection! The new July Collection, In the Grove, click here, doesn't really appeal to me at all. The only thing that looks decent to me is the is the petticoat skin finish and creme d' nude (I already own it.) So, I guess I'll just go crazy on this collection, and probably the villain one (have any images been released? it just sounds cool. hah.)

I'm not going to talk about the packaging, you all know about it by now.

I already did a review on Cream Bronzer: Beach Bronze and Easy Lounger Lipglass, because I picked those up at a counter, (click here.)

Now on to the items I ordered online, both eyeliners, thrills lipstick, and Sweet & Punchy.

Swatches: Humid (already owned it), Sweet & Punchy eyeshadow, Float on By Eyeliner, Rosemary & Thyme Eyeliner, Thrills Lipstick.


Thrills was more red and bright than I thought it would be. I like it, I'm going to have to go through a box of white strips before I can pull this off. hah.

I love humid, I've had it since February. I'd usually just pair it with a tan/neutral shade.

I love sweet & punchy as well, it's just a fun color, I'm not sure if I'd use this as an everyday look.

I love the color of the eyeliners. I've never tried MAC's pencil eye kohl's before. They're kind of hard to work with, I couldn't draw a straight line for some reason. hah. It kept getting bigger and messier. It has pretty good staying power, yet it just smears, like for the messy beach look, they'll do.

Overall, I'm pleased with my purchases and say the long wait was worth it.

I know I definitely will get the highlight powder (my counter has it in stock, i should probably just get it now) and the Shimmermoss eyeshadow (in pan form to save me from depotting.) 

Does the July collection look appealing to you?
What's your favorite MAC to the beach item?

-Kaitlyn

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