My USA swap unboxed

I belong to an International swapper group where you can swap basically anything (well, not anything…but you know what I mean) within a set budget. You shop for each other and by a certain date you post the items to each other. The group has very strict guidelines and rules, all in place to protect its members.

I’ve done 2 swaps in the group now, having just received my 2nd swap box yesterday! To say I was EXCITED to get this box is an understatement. I love drugstore make up. You get great quality at excellent prices, so I was keen to see what the US had to offer.

So my box arrived, all shiny and PINK! My favorite colour 🙂 The only downer….stupid customs….grrrrrr…. *Insert angry bird that blows himself up emoticon*

Everything was beautifully wrapped as you can see, and she went to a lot of trouble to write a note on each item for me. And that card? How beautiful is it???

If you know about drug store make up in the US of A, you’ve heard of E.L.F. It stands for Eyes Lips Face. I was really hoping to get some ELF products, so I was quite excited to see the loot my swapper sent me. Let’s see what I got from E.L.F…..

Super Glossy Lip Shine ( Pink Kiss) 

Off the bat, this smells so nice. Almost like bubblegum, but you know it could actually smell like cauliflower…I’m not really good with descriptions. lol. Also if you accidentally lick it, it’s super sweet…so great if you have a sweet tooth 😉  It’s not sticky, which I like, and to me the colour is more peach than pink, but I absolutely love peachy tones so I’m glad that it’s not really pink.I really like this.

Blush (Glow)

This blush is not like a blush I’ve touched yet, it’s very soft and ‘loose’? It’s not as tightly packed as the blushes I use. It’s initially very pigmented when i swatch it, but when you blend it, the colour disappears into this peachy gold shimmer. This seems to be more like a highlighter to me, so I think it’s going to be perfect in summer as a highlighter.

Flawless Eyeshadow (Beautiful Browns) 

So this is a lovely little compact quad for a quick look that you can keep in your bag for touch ups. I did give it a test run today and the lid colour was a bit chalky on me, but I used a very white based primer, so I’ll give it another run with a different primer.

The 3rd colour, the crease colour I really like. it reminds me a little bit of the Colourpop Shadow Shock in Kathleen Lights….not a dupe by any means, I mean there is no dupe for the gorgeousness of Colourpop….but it’s there, hanging around, like staring at Kathleen Lights, maybe wearing the same socks as she is?

Eyeshadow Palette (Mad for Matte)

So I really wanted an only matte shadow palette (with browns) and was planning to go and get one. Somehow my swapper sensed this and she found this one for me. Initially when i swatched it, it’s not very pigmented at all, BUT I’ve gone and googled and I see that a primer is a MUST and then it swatches beautifully. I used it this morning and it was actually quite pigmented, so I’m happy with this.

Lastly from E.L.F, I got some blotting papers…a must have for summer for me and then 2 eyeshadow brushes.

Then there were some other palettes and lipsticks. Also some Freeman face masks, some items for the kids and a key ring from Missouri 🙂

The swapping is really fun, BUT it can be pretty expensive when it comes to postage. This was my last swap for a while though. I’m glad to have done the swap and I’m happy to say we get pretty good quality drug store make up here in South Africa if I compare this to what’s available to us…local is lekker and all (let’s pretend our stuff isn’t imported)……

Would you do a swap? Have you ever heard of or used E.L.F products? If you’d like to see swatches of anything, let me know.