Avon lotion sample review & Swap Update & Essence Vs. Avon quad comparison.

*Explanation about sample reviews: I like to review the skincare samples I receive, so that I can remember what worked, what didn't, and what I'd like to acquire in the future. They may be helpful to others too ;). But obviously I can't review a product I've used once in the same manner as one I've been testing out for a while, therefore I mark sample reviews as just that ;).

*Avon Solutions Hydra-Radiance Moisturising Day Lotion SPF 15 sample mini review: I've never liked Avon skincare (with products from the Planet Spa line being the notable exception). But this was a sample, so why not test it out? It's light, and not as moisturising as I like my products to be, but with the current hot weather, light is good...The problem comes from the low SPF. SPF 15 is fine in countries with little sun - but these tend to be cold >:-). In cold climates, this won't be moisturising enough for most people. In hot climates (if there's a place that's hot and sunless that I've forgotten about, feel free to let me know), SPF 15 is not enough. I can only recommend this to teenagers in cold countries, and preferrably you should try out a sample before getting the actual thing. Not an impressive product, and I won't purchase ;).

Next comes yet another Swap Update :).

Swap 1 [Indonesia].

(I bought her two Korres Body Butters and added a decant of my Kings & Queens body lotion as an extra.)

Remember the Too Faced Peacock palette I got on my birthday :D? I finally managed to find the Unicorn one too :), and was even willing to buy new stuff to swap for it ;). So worth it. Too Faced palettes are glorious :-P.

I also got a Kate eye shadow in GN-1, two mini tubes of Clarins Extra-Comfort Cleansing Cream and one of Gentle Foaming Cleanser, a Clinique mini Superbalm Moisturising Gloss in Ginger, and Fancl powder tea sachets as extras :).

Here's a close-up of the Too Faced & Kate...

I'm thinking of wearing the blushes from both palettes as a flush/contour duo ;D. And the Kate shadows are beautiful :). They look like they'd suit my dark eyes...Will probably get more Japanese shadows in the future ;).

Swap 2 [Germany].

(For my Lip Smackers Party Pack, Mark Femme 4 quad, Mary Kay eye shadow in Storm, Prestige eye shadow in Indigo, Oriflame loose eye shadow in Midnight Star, NYX depotted eye shadow in Lakemoss Blue - well, the blue shade from the Lakemoss trio, and lots of extras :D.)

I swapped for the two Estee Lauder lip glosses (Pure Pops in Peppermint and Blueberry), IsaDora Colourmatic Eye Pen (microliner ;D) in Soft Black, and four mini perfume oils :). She also added candles and samples (an eye shadow sample & skincare - Nivea eye cream, Vichy Normaderm lotion and Bebe Young Care face cream & body lotion) as extras :D.

I had to give the Bebe Young Care to my sister because she adores the brand and we can't get it here, lol.

Unfortunately we both hadn't realised that the glosses were the Not For Individual Sale ones (thus not full-sized), but she offered to send me a swap evener (so kind of her - I'm sure many swappers would just tell me it was my fault), and today I got this :D.

Yeah, I asked for a mini Pikachu XD. Also the Essence Quattro eye shadow in Sixties Reloaded and Clinique trio (containing Sunburst & Rum Spice - I have Sunburst but it's part of a similar mini quad and I could always use more of those colours ;D :-P). And she still sent me extras: a mask, Vichy moisturiser sample, tea and sweets ^_^. I haven't had Campinos in years XD. Everything looks wonderful :). I'll probably swap with her again ;).

The Essence quad kept reminding me of something though :-/...
I went through my collection & discovered this.

They look similar, but they aren't really (as you will see). For one thing, all four Essence shades work >:-D. (Which is way ironic considering that the Essence quad is much cheaper...)

I swatched the Essence quad to prove that they're actually quite different :-P. (You can see swatches & a review of the Avon quad here.)

[Don't mind my ghostly hand, I'm still figuring out how to work that phone camera, and I wanted the truest-to-life swatches possible for obvious reasons ;). Feel free to request an accurate pic of my hand colour if you need one >:-).]

The colours may be alike, but the Avon ones are matte. The Essence ones are gorgeously shimmery, they remind me of Japanese shadows :). I definitely recommend Sixties Reloaded to all my EU readers ;).

I still have more swaps to post up XD...

Thanks for reading :).