Spring/Summer Green Beauty Swap with Annmarie from The Small but Mighty Ramblings of a Redhead

My swap partner this time was Annmarie from The Small but Mighty Ramblings of a Redhead. 

This was the first time Annmarie has done a swap and she's out-done herself! I was excited to be paired with her because she's just starting her Green Journey and it meant I had a pretty clean slate on what I could buy her. It also meant that I was keen to make sure she tried lots of different products and included some of my favourites and one particular thing that I hope Annmarie will really love. You can read all about what I sent Annmarie here.

But onto what I received. Annmarie had taken the time to write cute messages on tags for each of the items which I loved reading! My Postman arrived Thursday morning with not one, but two boxes full of treats and this is what was inside...

Box 1!

Salt of the Earth Deodorant Spray scented with Lavender & Vanilla - 

"I'm natural, soothing & effective plus I smell great too! Spray me"

I love my Salt of the Earth deodorant and while I've seen it sold in a spray, I've never see it scented before. I'm so happy with this as Lavender and Vanilla are two of my favourites.

Burt's Bees Citrus Facial Scrub - 

"I'm a wee busy bee scrubbing away! Apply Me"

This smells like Christmas Pudding haha. Another great pick as I've not used this before and sometimes, I just need to have a good old scrub. I have keratosis pilaris on my upper arms and think this scrub would be great to use for this too.

MooGoo Tail-Swat Body Spray -

"I'm moogood for keeping midges & flies away! Spray Me"

I've never heard of MooGoo before and now I have three items from them! I'm looking forward to find out more about the company. As for this Tail-Swat Body Spray, MooGoo say that the noticed that people are less attractive to mossies when using the spray. Here's hoping for some warmer weather to put this to the test.

MooGoo Strawberry Tinted Lip Balm - 

"I'm moolicious on the lips (and totally bug free!). Pout & Eat away"

This cute lip balm comes in cardboard packaging that looks like a pint of milk! I love little details like this. The packaging says "Made from edible ingredients because what goes on the lips gets eaten." So true and I'm glad it says this because the balm smells lush so I'll be licking my lips get get a taste haha.

MooGoo Cover-Up Buttercup Natural Moisturiser with SPF 15 - 

"I'm an extra treat from an udderly goo-d company. Moo-chus grass-ias"

This is a really good sized sample so I'll be able to get a good amount of use from it. Cover-Up Buttercup is an all natural SPF 15 mouisturiser using just natural Zinc.

Jane Iredale Facial Blotting Papers - 

"I'm a wee oil buster! Use me"

So pleased to have this as I always have blotting tissues with me, just in case, and these Jane Iredale come in a sleek case that'll look great in my bag.

Balm Balm Lip Balm -

"I'm balm balm not pebbles! Pucker up"

One of my favourites and one that I always give to friends and family to stop them using Vaselline! I picked this for Annmarie's box too :)

Lastly in this box, a good old bar of Go*Do organic dark chocolate 60% in espresso coffee. "I'm a wee sweet treat just for you. Enjoy me" Oh I will, Annmarie, I will!

Now onto Box 2 - Annmarie works for A.Vogel and was so generous as to send another box with some brilliant A.Vogel products in. I had said to Annmarie that I suffer with Hayfever so sent sent me some goodies to help with that too!

This was inside...

Molkosan Vitality - instant whey drink.

Echinaforce Echinacea Drops - for the symptomatic relief of colds & flu

Pollinosan Hayfever Tablets - to relieve the symptoms of hayfever

And to top it all off, a fantastic book called The Nature Doctor by Alfred Vogel. 

I love that I've got a whole box of things I've not tired before AND a whole box of things that will help me feel good from the inside too! I can't wait to find out more about MooGoo and I'm really really looking forward to getting my teeth into The Nature Doctor.

Thank you Annmarie for all your thoughtful pickings!

Annmarie can be found over on her blog The Small but Mighty Ramblings of a Redhead or on Twitter @smallmightyred1

Christmas Green Beauty Swap - with Tania from Bow Tied Beauty

Back at the beginning of  November, Tania from Bow Tied Beauty and Ria from Naturia Beauty came together to host a Christmas Green Beauty Swap. Having loved the last swap I was part of, I signed up for it straight away.

I was actually paired up with Tania and after a few emails we decided on a price limit, post date and agreed to open our gifts on Christmas Day.

Now, I admit I took the first two pictures the day I received my parcel which is why they look different to the second two.  

The parcels were wrapped so beautifully! I love this candy-striped string and will definitely be picking some up for wrapping Christmas presents next year as I loved the simplicity of it.

I was blown away by everything that was inside, so many gorgeous gifts. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of the Christmas Cracker that the Weleda Skin Food came in as I was too excited and just ripped it open like a child.

Tania picked a fantastic selection of products for me, I'm over the moon with everything I received.
I'm so excited to try the Neom Three Nights of Peace and the mini Moa Balm as this was something I have wanted to try for a while now.
Tania also included some Kusmi Tea in Rose Green Tea - perfect for over indulgence at this time of year. The tin is beautiful however I did have a bit of an accident when opening it as the lid was a bit stiff ; I ended up with about a tablespoon of loose tea in my lap! No harm though as I was able to scoop it back into the tin.

A HUGE thank you to Tania for a brilliant swap. I'm so happy with everything you took the time to pick for me and I hope you loved yours too!

See what I got for Tania and her thoughts here!

Autumn Beauty Swap - with Sandra from Beauty Balm

A few months ago, I saw on Twitter that Kat from Tales of a Pale Face was organising a Beauty Swap.  I headed over and put my name down straight away! Although I am new to writing my own blog I'm certainly not new to reading them and reading swap posts is something that I have always really enjoyed. Its great to see what two relative strangers have bought for each other and what they both thought of the products they received.

So, a couple of weeks ago I was sent an email from Kat pairing me up with Sandra from Beauty Balm. I honestly couldn't believe my luck! I have followed Sandra for AGES and have always really valued her reviews and opinions. I felt like a groupie and even did a (well, more than a few) little squeals when I found out we would be paired up. We agreed on a price limit and posting date and off to the shops we went!

I picked up my parcel from the Post Office today and LOOK AT THIS WONDERFUL ARRAY OF GOODIES! I'm not great at taking photos and the natural light was just fading but you can see just how beautifully everything was presented.

Sorry again about the photo quality, I had to use my phone as my camera is playing up and wouldn't do what I was telling it to do! As soon as it is working again, I will edit the photos with new ones.

I started opening things very calmly and very patiently - this lasted for about three things before I descended on the rest of them in a mad frenzy!

And this is what was inside:

Sandra gifted me some incredibly scented tea lights from St Eval Candle Company in Apple & Elderflower. I am in love with these already. They hold such a crisp, fresh fragrance and even my husband likes them.  I will be putting some more of these on my Christmas wishlist.

Something that has been on my wishlist for months is bodhi's Neroli Lucé Revitalising Face Oil-with Tunisian Neroli, Frankincense and Sea Buckthorn oils. Over the moon to have this at last!

A Bathing Beauty POP Fabulous Effervescent Foot Reviving Tablet - with Peppermint, Tea Tree, Witch Hazel and Peach Kernel oil to cleanse and nourish feet. I love anything effervescent; that magical fizzy noise it makes and the look of bubbles forming rapidly in water! 

Also from Bathing Beauty Sandra included a Super Lux Rose and Shea Butter Soap made with Fair Trade Shea Butter and crowned with 10 pink rose buds. This looks so pretty that I almost don't want to use it! I will though and I'll enjoy every moment.

From A'kin there was a Lavender & Anthyllis Leave in Conditioner.  My hair is going to love this, I can tell! A leave in conditioner for dry and frizzy hair, it can be used on either wet or dry hair to defrizz and protect. I've said before that I find natural hair care products that suit my hair difficult to find so I'm keen to get this on and try it out.

Sandra added a mascara from Avril - A girl can never have enough mascaras and I'm about to come to the end of one so very good timing!

Also a Wellgreen Lewes Lip Balm in Orange - this will be perfect for those cold Winter months that are just around the corner.

Something else to help balance the skin during the Winter is a Collagen Mask Pack by Naisture. Again, I've read lots of great reviews on this mask so pleased to have the chance to try it out myself.

Sandra added some samples along with everything (how lucky am I?!) - bodhi's Mint Thé shower gels, Dr Bronner's Magic Soap in Lavender (my favourite), Tata Harper Hydrating Floral Essence, Suti Fabulous Foot Balm, Vapour Multi Use Blush in Courtesan.

I'll be using the super cute Caroline Gardner mini notebook to do mini reviews and quite happily drink the gorgeous Brewhaha Rose Tea while I'm at it!

 I am incredibly happy with everything picked for this swap, thank you so much Sandra!

You can read what I picked for Sandra and what she thought of everything here.