Swap & Mini Haul!

After a few weeks of planning, I met up last Friday with one of my great friends Cindy - Cindy's Love of Books. Cindy adores makeup just as much as I do, so we decided to make it a breakfast and shopping day!

Me on the left, and my awesome friend Cindy on the right.
Photograph taken by Cindy - Cindy's Love of Books

We began our day with breakfast then hit the mall to let our shopping madness begin! 

Our first stop was Bath & Body Works because Cindy and I both had a coupon to redeem a free signature collection product with any purchase of $10 or more!

Here's a quick overview of my Bath & Body Works haul. I ended up purchasing a big Cider Lane candle that was on sale for 60% off. I couldn't resist the price as their regular sized candles regularly sell for $22 Canadian each. Cider Lane has a great fresh scent, I just wish I had purchased two! Next I bought two mini candle holders for $3 Canadian each, and finally, with the coupon Cindy and I both had, I got a free body lotion in Cashmere glow!

Our next stop was Sephora! I was really excited to go to Sephora with Cindy because there were a lot of products that I had wanted to recommend to her. Naturally, I wanted to purchase the entire store but luckily, I was able to stop myself from making a purchase as I had received a V.I.B. coupon that's only valid as of tomorrow. I did, however, take not of some awesome products that I plan on buying this weekend *whistles innocently*. Cindy did end up buying some great beauty goodies which you can see here: Cindy's Haul.

After Sephora, we made our way into a Lush as I desperately wanted to stock up on a few masks.

Here's a quick overview of my Lush haul. See below for details.

I'm a huge fan of Lush's Fresh Face Masks! After having already tried most of their Fresh Face Mask collection, my favorite would have to be Catastrophe Cosmetic. Here's a brief description from the Lush website:

"Prevent disasters by taking regular care with our deep cleaning blueberry mask, Catastrophe Cosmetic. The little blue bulbs are packed with vitamins, with a gentle calamine base to cleanse the skin without stripping it of its natural oils. Use this one weekly as a deep cleansing treatment to kick off your regular skin care routine."

I always buy two Catastrophe Cosmetic masks because it's great for sensitive skin like mine and I use them up pretty quickly. I also bought another mask, BB Seaweed (Amalgame D'Alques in French) because I've heard great things and I was curious to try it out. This was my first time trying BB Seaweed, and I'm so glad that I did. BB Seaweed is definitely my new Lush Fresh Face Mask favorite! Here's a brief description from the Lush website:

"BB Seaweed is a best-seller for its ability turn every rough patch into smooth, supple skin. No surprises here, BB Seaweed is packed full of none other than the ocean greenery itself! Seven pounds of it in each batch, in fact. Finely ground almonds gently slough away dry skin, rose absolute balances skin tone and organic extra virgin olive oil moisturizes. Slather up in seaweed and feel your skin smile."

The Lush Fresh Face Masks sell for $6.95 Canadian each, and they come in individual black pots with 2.1 oz of product. What's also exciting about this product is that you can return 5 empty black pots in store and exchange them for a free mask.

The last product in my Lush haul was a Lush Charity Pot. Lush normally sells their Charity Pots in large formats for $22.95, however, they are currently selling smaller formats for $5. For those of you what are not familiar with this product, here is a brief description from the Lush website:

"Charitable cocoa butter cream that keeps on giving. Inside every black pot of Charity Pot is a whole lot more than a creamy body lotion to hydrate parched, dry skin. Of course, it’s filled with the finest ingredients, including Fair Trade organic cocoa butter, and made by hand with love. Not to mention the gorgeous fresh, ylang ylang floral fragrance. What makes it so special? Every penny (yes, every single penny) that you pay for a pot, excluding the tax, goes to fund and support grassroots charities all around the world. You end up with softer, floral-scented skin AND you’re doing a world of good with every pot purchased."

I'm not a big fan of the product itself, but I was happy to purchase one because the proceeds all go to a good cause.

A meetup wouldn't be complete without a swap so, before our meeting came to an end, Cindy and I agreed to surprise each other with some goodies!

These were some magazines Cindy had offered to me while she was downsizing her collection.

Cindy and I traded our copies of The Vicious Deep because I prefer trade paperback or ARC formats and she prefers hardcovers. Cindy also gave me two books that included short stories from my favorite author, Kelley Armstrong, and another ARC she had a double of.

Now comes the fun part everyone!
Here are the items Cindy gave me for our beauty product swap!

I was so excited when Cindy took out a cute gift bag and makeup bag filled with Cindy's favorite beauty products and samples! You can all just imagine the anticipation!

These are the products that Cindy had included within the gift bag!

• Clear Brow Gel by Anastasia
• Satin Sugar Glistening Dry Shampoo & Body Powder by Cake
• Satin Sugar Hair & Body Refreshing Powder by Cake
• Combination Skin Balancing Cleanser by Biore
• Touche Eclat by Yves Saint Laurent (Sample)
• Bye Bye Under Eye by It Cosmetics
• Vanilla Grapefruit Hand & Body Wash by SPAresource (Sample)
• Coconut Hand Cream by SPAresource (Sample)
• Vanilla Sugar Hand Cream by SPAresource (Sample)
• LIFTACTIV by Vischy (Sample)
• Hot Couture by Givenchy (Sample)
• Moisturize Foot Cream by SPAresource (Sample)
• Sweet Orange & Vanilla Body Butter by Amedaya (Sample)

These are the products that Cindy had included within the black makeup bag!

• Purifying Dead Sea Mud Mask "Mango" by Purederm
• Ultra Hydrating Shea Butter Mask "Olive Oil" by Purederm
• Deep Cleansing Peel-off Facial Mask by Eurospa
• Skin Firming Peel-Off Face Mask by Balea
• Detoxifying Face Mask by Balea
• Shimmering Body Scrub by Balea
• Airy Fairy Lipstick by Rimmel
• visiblecare Softening Body Wash by Dove
• Smooth Replenishing Lotion by Nivea
• Frizz-Ease Sheer Solution by John Frieda (Sample)
• So Laque Ultra Shine Nail Polish in 21 Cerise Noire by Bourjois
• Eye Make-Up Remover by Simple (Sample)
• 10 Travel Facial Towelettes by Yes to Cucumbers Skincare

I really can't wait to try everything out, Cindy really spoiled me with some awesome goodies!
If you're interested in seeing what I gave Cindy, check out her blog post here.

If you'd like for me to review any specific products in this post or if you'd like for me to check out some of your recent hauls, please feel free to leave a comment!