Dry Skin, and a Butt Load of Makeup

My skin has freaked out over the past couple of months.  I've always had dry skin, but it's never been this bad.  It's been flaking, and getting really red.  And then I've had at least one zit at a time for the past few weeks.  Normally I don't get much acne, but it's been constant for the past few weeks, so, what the heck?

But first... a story.

Last month I did a GIANT beauty swap in a beauty group I'm in on Facebook.  I did not know any of these ladies before I joined the group, but, I'm glad I know them now.  They are some of the most thoughtful and kind people I have ever met!

They do beauty swaps four times a year. Joining is volunteer, but you must abide by all of the rules and guidelines of the swap, such as shipping during a specific time frame, providing tracking, purchasing the minimum requirement, and personalizing the box/products to your "Spring Fling".  This was my first one, and boy was I excited!  It was a $30 minimum, meaning, I had to buy at least $30 worth of stuff for the girl whose name was assigned to me.  We used a website called Elfster to make wishlists and get the scoop on the girl we drew. While you obviously know who you have to shop for, you don't know who is shopping for you.  Elfster allows you to ask your "elf" anonymous questions. You find out who has you when you receive your box.

Anyway, I ended up spending over triple the minimum on the girl who I had, and I felt really pleased with myself.  That is, until I opened up the package that was given to me...

I was speechless when I opened this up. This girl seriously went above and beyond! I told her that I have dry skin.  Apparently, she does too, and she lives in Texas, which is also humid. So she sent me stuff she likes to use on her skin.  Awesome!

So here's everything I received:
A cute makeup bag
Monistat anti-chafing gel (somehow she knew that I use this as primer... good stalking!)
Zebra print necklace holder
Cook book
Maybelline gel eyeliner
Macadamia natural oil, deep hair conditioner
2 packages of Hot Tamales
Bath and Body works car air freshener
DDF oil free moisturizer sample
mini cookie cutters
package of note cards
Lush Full of Grace bar, and Lush samples that are for dry skin ♥
A notebook for Lily
Bubbles for Lily
a mini nail polish for Lily
2 mini bottles of Bath and Body hand sanitizer
2 different Cover Girl eyeshadow quads
Urban Decay Shattered Face Case
Ulta four-sided nail buffer
Hand buffer (smells amazazing)
Texas Frito Brittle (delicious!)
Chocolate bar from a local chocolate shop, it was delicious
Bath and body nail file
EOS lip balm
Ulta manicare set
6 bottles of nail polish
Revlon lipstick
3 gorgeous Mally eyeliners
2 NYX lip liners
2 Wet n Wild balm stains
a fun pen that write in purple ink
NYX jumbo eyeshadow pencil
NYX matte lip cream
Wet and Wild Fergie eyeshadow primer


Not to mention that she sent two packages previously that included lots of fun samples, another bottle of nail polish, and more chocolate.

I was totally spoiled!

The Zebra print thingy can is designed to hold either keys or necklaces. And I can stick earrings into it. It will be so cute in my bedroom!

A cookbook! I mentioned to her that I love cooking and trying new foods, and she got me a huge cook book!  That was totally unexpected.

I told her I painted my nails every other day, and she got me six bottles of nail polish... Well, technically 7, because she sent me a couple anonymous packages before she sent this one.

Ok, but the point of this post... Lush.  Lush is the answer to my skincare needs.  I LOVED every single sample she sent me.  One of them was a moisturizer called Skin's Shangri La. The full size at Lush is around $50, ouch.  But I went ito Lush anyway, and got some star treatment!  They asked me about my skin, and put a bunch of products on my hand, to see if I liked them.

I walked out with a haul!

This is my very first full skincare regime. Ok, I lied. I used one from Mary Kay once, and it was OK, but nothing as amazing as this.  I am loving this so far!  It's only been three days and my skin is already softer, smoother, the redness is gone, the flakiness is gone, the irritation is gone... No new zits yet, but we'll see.

Ultrabland - a facewash made with beeswax. It can be used as a makeup remover or daily cleanser, and it soothes redness. So far I'm loving it!  Every face wash I have ever used in my life has left my face feeling tight and dry, until now.  My skin feels normal and soft after using this!

Eau Roma Water - this is a toner that uses rose water and lavender water, it reduces redness and moisturizes. It's also supposed to shrink pores, but we'll see. ;)  I really like this!  I received a sample of this in my big package I mentioned above, and after using it three times the redness in my cheeks was gone.  So, yeah, it works.

Enchanted Eye Cream - This was an impulse buy. I ran out of eye cream a few days before I made this purchase, and so I asked about it. The saleslady totally sold me on it when she said it gets rid of dark circles. She wasn't lying either! Mine have greatly diminished in the few days that I've been using this! It's also supposed to tighten fine lines, but, we'll see.

Celestial - This is a moisturizer made out of almond and cocoa butter. It smells like chocolate... And it feels like heaven.

BB Seaweed - This is a fresh face mask. I really wanted to try these!  When they say "fresh" they mean it. They are kept in the refrigerator and expire after two weeks.  They have a variety of these masks, but I got this one because it was what they recommended to me. It's soothing and calming, and it feels awesome all cold out of the fridge.  I can get about 8 uses out of the pot, so I should be using it every 2-3 days so that I use it all before it goes bad.

My skin was over-exfoliated, so they recommended I wait a little while before doing any exfoliating.  But they gave me a sample of Angels on Bare Skin to use in a couple of weeks. It's supposed to exfoliate, calm, and sooth.  We shall see!

I called this my birthday gift to myself.  I'm loving it so far!  I can't wait to get more goodies from Lush!