My Swap with Florence in FRANCE!

Good evening, girls!  This is going to be a pretty picture heavy post!  I did a swap with Florence in France, and you know I get pretty detailed with my photos! :D

First, I wanted to give a shout out to the beautiful Ashley at Steps To Perfection. She featured me on her blog on Saturday in her new Spotlight Saturday feature.  She is an amazingly beautiful, sweet, talented girl who has quickly become a good friend of mine!  She is a treasure to the beauty blogging community.  If you haven't checked out her blog yet...head on over to...

Now, on to my swap with Florence in France.  She is known on the correspondent site as "Satoru Kudo" if you are interesting in swapping with her in the future.  We had decided to exchange GlossyBox Canada for GlossyBox France as well as Julep Maven (US nail mail) for Kristal Box (French nail mail.)  Of course, you can see she didn't just stop at the Glossybox and Kristal box..but she added several other goodies!

I got a lovely post card with a very kind handwritten message.  That is always so thoughtful, right?  She even wrote it in english even thought she uses a translator for sending notes.

She sent me this bundle of coordinating Sephora products in such a lovely summery colour!

This is a huge 150mL body scrub in monoi tiara made with papaya extract. It smells amazing!!! It totally has the delicious beachy monoi scent!

 Another huge 200mL body butter also in monoi tiara with shea butter. It smells amazing!!

This is a little effervescent cube. Of course part of the monoi tiara line.  It's a cute little bath cube that I will be using in my next bath. :D

Of course, the collection wouldn't be complete without a pouffe!  Just in time, as I needed a new one.  Besides, my husband has a bad habit of taking over mine and then I just can't use it! Men!

These are Urban Decay rocks.  I've never heard of it before, but apparently you can use them in the corners of your eyes, a smattering on one cheekbone or ghetto-fabu-lize your manicure.  All their words lol.  It comes with lash glue that has a tiny little brush on it.  I'll probably save that to make lash gluing easier.

Next is these two Essence Glam Up! loose powders.  We just recently got Essence in Shopper's Drug Mart but I don't think I've ever seen these. These are quite generous. Almost the size of a nail polish bottle.

This colour is called Let's Dance 03 and it's a pretty purple colour.  One of my favourite colours!

The other is called All Eyes On You 01 in a pretty white shimmer. Very pretty!

Next, I got to unwrap this pretty flower.  It has a pin/hairclip on the back so you can wear it in on your sweater or in your hair.

Another tiny present had tic tac's from France. :) We have these here...as you can see they're half eaten.... I guess she got hungry!  I kid!  My kids adore these and I like a good mother had to share. ;)

Now, if I wasn't spoiled with all of that..on to what the original swap was about!  First, Glossybox France Edition!

I was lucky to get a July box as they celebrated their 1st year anniversary!

Here is how their Glossybox is packaged, I don't think as pretty as GB Canada, eh?

The first item I took out of the box is the Noreva Rich Textured Moisturising Cream. This is formulated for dry and very dry skin, so I will save it until our dry colllld winter when my skin shrivels up like a prune dying of thirst, especially my back! It has a super light, super pretty floral girly scent. LOVE. This was a full size product at 40mL retailing for 12,50 euros ($15.44 Canadian.)

Next, is the Schwarzkopf  BC Sun Protect for sun-stressed hair. This is apparently a salon exclusive product.  This one takes quite a bit of work... you rub the product into your hands and work it through towel dried hair.  Leave it on for 5 minutes and then rinse out.  *phew* It's supposed to repair the hair from the inside.  Well, because of the poor state my hair is in, I'll try this..but how often? I thought it would be a liquid, but it's a bit of a conditioner consistency and interesting it is an atomizer...could it get clogged? We'll see! The scent is amazing! Smells expensive..you know..that expensive scent. :P Full size is 200mL retailing 20,60 euros ($25.44 Canadian.) Sample size is 100mL which is half that price: 10,30 euros ($12.72 Canadian.)

Following with the summer theme, next comes the Lancaster SunBeauty Silky Milk Sublime Tan with SPF 15.  My first thought is...SPF 15? It seems a little low lol. Maybe, in France their sun isn't as hot? :P  With my basic French, my understanding is that this product is to allow you to get some tan with some sun protection.  I could be wrong..but who knows! This is a Coty product..it smells really nice.  I guess it would be a good sunscreen for winter. Full size is 175mL for 31 euros ($38.28 Canadian) which is SUPER pricey for a sunscreen. This sample size 50mL is values at 4,43 euros ($5.47 Canadian).

Next, is my favourite item in the box. Argan Body Lotion by La Sultane De Saba. It smells divine! It's the perfect purse size.  I know it looks white here..but it's more of a really pale yellow.  I can't wait to try this one.  Perfect size for my desk at work! Plus, I just love the packaging..the tall slim cylindrical tube!  Full size is 150mL retailing for 28 euros ($34.58). This sample size is 30mL worth 6,92 euros ($8.54 Canadian.)

The last item in my French Glossybox was a Nails Inc. nail polish.  The colour on the bottom says, flammable. Oh, wait..that's just a warning. :P  All kidding aside, I don't know what this colour is as it's not marked anywhere.  It's a dusty rose..not really my favourite.  I've never tried this brand before and it actually goes on quite nice..one coat is almost opaque. A full size bottle is 10mL retailing for 14 euros ($17.29.) The sample is 4mL retailing for 5,60 euros ($6.92 Canadian). Pricey little polish.

This is the contents of the French Glossybox.  I was quite happy with it!  I know a lot of girls were saying that the other countrys had better GB's.  I did notice they had all higher end stuff than we did last time but I think value wise it's not that far off.  My French GB Canadian value is $49.09. I would love to be able to try a GB from every country that has one!  What did you think of it?

Next up, is Kristal Box for Juillet (July.) Kristal Box is a monthly nail polish box.  Now, I adored this one soooo much that I wish I could sign up for it! The box itself is not a sturdy one and the packaging isn't really fancy either. But...aside from nail polish they get a few other neat goodies!

Here is the product insert that came with it.

The first product is a China Glaze polish in Riveting.  I LOVE this one..I'm totally on an orange kick right now! Plus, I only have 3 or 4 china glaze polishes, so I'm happy to add another to my collection.

Here is closeup where you can see the yellow and orange micro shimmer.

Next, is a polish I've never heard of.  A brand called Star Gazer. It's made in the UK and it doesn't have any colour on it aside from the number 117.  I've been wanting an elf colour similar to this for awhile.since I saw it on the SpilledPolish blog, actually.  I just haven't made the order because of the high shipping charges to Canada and me not really liking their products all too much. The polishes are fine. :)

Here is a closeup where you can see it's a corally colour with gold shimmer.  Incredibly pretty!

Next is a liner for nail art.  There is no brand on it.  It's one of those really long thin nail brushes you can use to make lines or something.  I don't really know how these work...so any advice would be appreciated!

Next, is something bewildering and intriguing to me.  It's a BalbCare 6 in 1 manicure kit with gloves.  I am totally confuddled as I've never heard of anything like it!  This is what the instructions say:

1. Remove the old nail polish.
2. file the nails.
3. put on the hydrating gloves.
4. open the tips of the gloves and remove the excess cuticle (HUH?!!)
5. remove the glove and apply a little nail polish remover to activate the exclusive nail polish primer polymer. Finally, apply the base, the nail polish and finish with the spatula. (again, WHAT?!) lol

Obviously, I'll have to try this.  If I lose my fingers and can't type anymore...this is why (lol):

Next up, these cutie little bottles. The one in the middle is mini pearls to make a caviar manicure.  The ones on the left (gold hearts) and the right (silver squares) are just metallicy sequins to add to your nail art.  I adore the little squares they are SUPER sparkly! Like blind you sparkle..hehe.

Last, but not least..this super exciting package of 12 different types of fimo shapes.  I'm sooo excited to try these since I saw something similar on a blog.  I loved these so much I googled on ebay! Is that possible..to google on ebay? lol.  Anyways, you know what I mean.  These are ultra thin cuts from a fimo stick.

Just a little closeup..and how cute??? You see the pink hello kitty? The blue angry birds? :) So SO cute!

This is what the whole Kristal Box looks like.  I honestly wish I could sign up for it.  I didn't ask Florence how much this monthly subscription is...but I just really hope she enjoys her Julep box!

Now, off topic...I spent the weekend at the lake...and it was a gorgeous weekend..plus 30 temps but not insanely humid!  I just love the glorious sun beams here.

Serenity! So still and peaceful... I love sunsets, even though I love sunrises more... ;)

That's all girls, what did you think of the swap?  Are you interested in doing something like that?  Have you done a swap?

ALSO.........I'm almost at 50 members follwing me at GFC!!! As soon as I hit 50 followers I will do a giveaway, so feel free to share my blog with others!!!

XO

~A