Beauty. Fashion. Lifestyle.
Swaps
Christmas Swap Box with +10 Kapow
1
7 years
by Naomi in Swaps
I absolutely love putting together gift boxes for people, and of course I love surprises myself, so a little while ago I suggested to Chrissie of +10 Kapow that we do a Christmas Swap, and luckily she was up for the idea! We decided on a budget of £20, and agreed to fill a shoebox with little gifts that we thought the other would like. I had a lot of fun searching for items to give to Chrissie, and after a few weeks of browsing, buying and wrapping, the box was ready to send. Our deadline for posting was 5th December, and last week we each received our box of goodies!
As both of us are impatient we decided to open and blog about our gifts before Christmas, so without further ado, here’s what I received!
As you can see, my swap from Chrissie came beautifully packaged. The box itself is stunning, and puts the cardboard one I sent her to shame! I’ll definitely be using it to store things in, probably rings or nail varnishes.
There were eight wrapped gifts in the box, including a jewellery box which I was really excited about. I hurriedly unwrapped everything, and was delighted with all that Chrissie sent. I must say she chose well! Here’s what I got…
The first gift is this Baked Merged Trio Eyeshadow from MUA, in shade ‘Emotions’. All three shades have a slight shimmer to them, and are impressively pigmented. The neutral tones are perfect for a daytime look, and I can see myself using these shades a lot for a work make up look, although with some dramatic eyeliner they could easily be dressed up.
My lips get very dry at this time of year, so finding this Nivea Lip Butter in the box was much appreciated! The lip butter feels lovely and nourishing, and smells amazing too, like vanilla and macadamia. This has now become a winter essential for me and comes everywhere with me.
I spotted this Body Shop Glazed Apple Body Butter when browsing The Body Shop website a few weeks, and was really intrigued by it, so as you can imagine I was pleased to find this in the box too! I use body butters on a daily basis and have done for years, so this was very well chosen, and is incredibly moisturising. The Glazed Apple scent is lovely too – fruity, but also sweet and creamy.
Yet another product that I’ve been wanting to try – MUA Luxe Velvet Lips! This shade is called ‘Serene’, and is a dark peach shade with a pink undertone. It’s very highly pigmented, has a creamy texture so applies beautifully, and is long-lasting. I like it, and aesthetically, I also like the frosted tube.
This awesome keyring is triple awesome – it’s Splinter from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which I’ve loved since I was a kid, he’s a rat, and it’s lego! I’m going to hang this from my bag because I’m cool like that. Isn’t he fab?!
Chrissie made this galaxy necklace herself, and it’s my favourite item that she sent me. It’s really well made, and purple, pink and turquoise happen to be my favourite colours. I’ve been wearing it a lot since I got it, sometimes alone, but also layered with a couple of my other favourite necklaces, which I think looks great on a plain top.
Batman! A Batman ring! I’m sure it’s clear by now that I’m a big Batman fan, and this ring is absolutely fab. I really like how subtle it is, whilst also being super cool.
This pretty galaxy scarf has the same colour palette as the necklace Chrissie made, and is so soft and snuggly and warm. I’ve been wearing this lately to add a splash of colour to some of my darker winter outfits, and it seems to attract compliments!
Purple shades and holo effects are two of my favourite things to decorate my nails with, so this nail polish from Freckles Polish is perfect for me. The shade is called ‘I’ll Need Wine’, and is a rich purple colour, a bit like red wine, with a beautiful holo shimmer. Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of me wearing it, but it applies nicely and is stunning on – fabulous for the festive season. Chrissie recently sent me some stamping plates too, so I plan on creating some looks soon using them and this polish, which I’ll be posting about soon.
I’m really happy with everything Chrissie sent me (thanks Chrissie!), and I hope we can do another swap one day! To see what I sent Chrissie in return, you can check out her post here.
Have you taken part in any Christmas swaps this year? If so, what did you send/receive? I’d love to see your posts about it!
Naomi x
Beauty Swap with Bags, Bows and Boots
9A couple of months ago, Clair of Bags, Bows and Boots and I decided to do our own little beauty swap. Clair is one of my favourite beauty bloggers and a lovely girl to chat with, so I had a lot of fun choosing products to send to her. We had a budget of £15.00, and let each other take the reins and buy what we wanted, so we both sent and received products we may not usually have chosen. I actually received my package of pretties a few weeks ago and have been meaning to post about it for a while, so here are a couple of pictures of what I sent and received… Apologies for the bad quality photographs!
What I Sent
Owl Makeup Bag
Pearl Bracelets
Pin-Up Manicure Set
NYC Smooch Proof 16h Lip Stain
Colortrend Kajal Stick
H&M Smoky Eye Quad
Dainty Doll Powder Blusher
Avon Magix Illuminating Face Perfector
What I Received
Nail Stamping Kit
Coldora Sparkly Rainbow Eyelashes
Benefit Smokin’ Eyes
Bourjois 1 Seconde Nail Varnish
MUA Undress Me Too Palette
Bourjois 3D Max Lipgloss
Benefit Erase Paste
GOSH Effect Powder
Bourjois Eyeshadow
I’m really happy with everything I received, especially the MUA Undress Me Too Palette which is a pretty impressive dupe of Urban Decay’s Naked 2 palette. I will be reviewing everything I was sent individually in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out if you want to know what I think of each product!
You can see Clair’s swap post here.
Naomi x
My Budget Beauty Swap Parcel
9
Early last month I launched my Budget Beauty Blogger Swap. The budget for the swap was £10/€12/$16, and the aim was to buy your swap partner as many beauty products as you could within the budget – quite a challenge, but not impossible! So far, I have already seen quite a few posts from bloggers sharing their swap parcels, and everything sent and received has been brilliant.
Today it was my turn to receive my parcel all the way from Beverly Hills in LA. My swap partner was the lovely India, a US beauty blogger who runs beautynthbrains. I answered the door to the postman this morning to see him holding a box with the US postal logo on it, and I knew what it was straight away. As I’m sure you can imagine, I was really excited to see what was inside the parcel so I opened it in a hurry, and was met by this pretty pink, spiralled package, packed full of amazing products.
When I saw this little haul I was over the moon! Everything India sent is exactly my colour, and I was really happy to receive products from so many brands that we don’t have in the UK. I will be reviewing each of the products separately in the coming weeks once I’ve had a chance to use them properly, but here are my first thoughts on everything…
Wet n Wild Color Icon Eyeshadow Collection in Shimmer The Night Away
I was incredibly happy to receive a Wet n Wild eyeshadow palette, as I have heard a lot of good things about them and they are highly sought after in the UK. The palette I received is Shimmer The Night Away, which features eight shimmery shades – four suitable for a smoky eye look, and four pinks and purples which are my go-to colours – perfect.
Everyday Minerals Stay Cool Matte Eyes Eyeshadow
Everyday Minerals isn’t a brand that I’m familiar with, and I don’t own many mineral eyeshadows, so I’m really looking forward to experimenting with this. The colour is a deep grey with a lovely violet undertone, which will incorporate well into my usual colour palette.
Sephora Nano Eye Pencil in Midnight Black
India and I told each other a few items that we had been lusting after, and Sephora Nano Eyeliner was one of mine. I adore bold, black eyeliner looks so this is ideal for me. I’ve swatched the liner on my hand and, as the Sephora website says, it is highly pigmented and glides on easily as it’s enriched with shea butter.
Sephora Ultra Vinyl Lip Pencil in Fuchsia Pink
Sephora’s Ultra Vinyl Lip Pencil in Fuchsia Pink was another of my requests, and it hasn’t disappointed. I wore this today and it applies smoothly and lasts a very long time. The bright pink shade is absolutely stunning, and the micro-glitter finish gives incredibly shine. I think it’s reminiscent of Barry M’s Lip Lacquer Crayon in Party Pink. Gorgeous!
Sephora Pencil Sharpener
I’ve been meaning to buy a new pencil sharpener for ages now as my old one is on its way out, so this was a great little accessory to find in my swap parcel. India must have read my mind!
Model Co Lip Gloss
Model Co is another brand that I’ve never used before. The gloss doesn’t have a name or colour labelled on it, but it’s a bright shimmery pinky red with a sheer finish. I didn’t find the gloss overly sticky when I tried it on earlier, and it has an intense strawberry scent and flavour which I love. The mirror on the tube is so handy too. I’ll definitely be using this gloss on a regular basis.
Beauty So Clean Cosmetic Sanitizer Wipes
India also sent me four cosmetic sanitizer wipes which are for cleaning cosmetics before or after use. Another nice little addition which will be carried in my make up bag for cleansing on the go.
Overall, I couldn’t be happier with what I received in my swap parcel. I imagine India went over the budget with her buys, so thank you India for being so generous and sending me so many fantastic treats. I feel well and truly spoilt today! Unfortunately, I forgot to photograph everything I sent, but hopefully India will share everything in a post of her own when her parcel arrives. I posted almost two weeks ago so fingers crossed it will reach the US soon!
I plan on linking to everyone’s swap parcel posts in a blog post very soon, so if you’ve received your parcel and have blogged about it please let me know!
Naomi x
The Budget Beauty Blogger Swap – Time to Swap!
2
Good news, swappers – today is the day that you will find out who you have been paired with! Firstly, I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has joined my Budget Beauty Blogger Swap, because without you, there wouldn’t be a swap! I had an overwhelming response from UK bloggers, so unfortunately I couldn’t pair everyone with overseas bloggers, but I’m sure you’ll all still have a fun time swapping! Also, I had a few issues getting hold of a couple of people’s email addresses and blog links, so if you still want to take part and you don’t hear from me today, please let me know and I will sort something out.
I will be emailing everyone the details of their swap partner later today, and here’s what happens next…
*The budget for this swap is £10/$16/€12. Please spend the full amount.*
- Once you have your partner’s contact details, it is up to you to get in touch with them and exchange postal addresses. It might also be a good idea to tell each other your colour preferences and what types of products you like and dislike, to ensure that your partner can choose products that are suitable for you.
- It’s then time to shop – I hope you all have fun choosing budget beauty products for your partner!
- Once you have put together a nice little collection of products, package them up and pop them in the post to you partner (if sending abroad you may need to declare what’s in the parcel, so make sure you know the guidelines of the country you’re sending to). Please obtain proof of postage when posting and email an image of it to your partner, just to prove that it’s on its way. Then wait!
- When you’ve received your parcel, please blog about what you’ve been sent and then link me to it so I can share everyone’s posts.
PLEASE NOTE: There are restrictions on sending nail varnish, perfume and aerosols via the Royal Mail, so it is probably best to avoid sending any!
If possible, please have your parcel packaged and sent within 2 weeks, and don’t forget to get proof of postage when you do send it and let your partner know when it’s on its way. I’m sure none of you would like to miss out on receiving a package, so lets keep everything fair and make this a successful swap!
Happy Swapping! I hope you’re all as excited about this as I am.
Naomi x
Disclaimer: I am organising the swap, but once I put people in touch with their partners I cannot be responsible for anything that goes wrong, so please play fair!
The Budget Beauty Blogger Swap! – CLOSED
63
I’ve always wanted to join in with a blogger swap, but on the odd occasion that I’ve stumbled across one the price limit has always been a little bit too much for my meagre student budget. So, considering Bewitchery believes that you don’t have to spend a lot of money to get something good, I thought I would organise a Budget Beauty Blogger Swap, so that we can share our favourite budget beauty brands with our fellow beauty bloggers from around the world!
Here’s how it will work…
*The budget for this swap is £10/$16/€12 excluding postage, and is open to beauty bloggers in the UK, Ireland, USA, Canada and Europe*
- If you’re a beauty blogger from one of the above places and would like to join in, please comment below to let me know, including your name, blog and email address. Alternatively, if you want to keep your email address private, leave it out of your comment and email it to me at .
- After a week or so, or when I feel enough people want to join in, I will pair everyone up and give your partner your email address. I will try to pair everyone with a person from a different country, so that you both have the chance to try different products and brands to the ones you can buy at home.
- Once you have your partner’s contact details, it is up to you to get in touch with them and exchange postal addresses. It might also be a good idea to tell each other your colour preferences and what types of products you like and dislike, to ensure that your partner can choose products that are suitable for you.
- It’s then time to shop – I hope you all have fun choosing budget beauty products for your partner!
- Once you have put together a nice little collection of products, package them up and pop them in the post to you partner (if sending abroad you may need to declare what’s in the parcel, so make sure you know the guidelines of the country you’re sending to). Please obtain proof of postage when posting and email an image of it to your partner, just to prove that it’s on its way. Then wait!
- When you’ve received your parcel, please blog about what you’ve been sent and then link me to it so I can share everyone’s posts.
To make sure the swap runs smoothly, please only join in if you genuinely intend to send out a package, and please spend the full amount of the budget! It’d also be nice if everyone could have their parcels posted within 2 or 3 weeks, if possible.
I hope you all think this is a great idea. I’m really looking forward to swapping with someone and I hope a lot of you will join me!
Enjoy!
Naomi x
Disclaimer: I am organising the swap, but once I put people in touch with their partners I cannot be responsible for anything that goes wrong, so please play fair!
