Valentine's Day Beauty Blogger's Love Package Swap

One of the neatest concepts I've been introduced to through the online make-up and beauty community is swapping.  Makeupalley has a sort of Craigslist for makeup swapping.  People can trade their lightly used or unwanted make-up for items that they do want or need.  There are so many country-specific beauty products that are impossible to get in other countries and this is one of the best ways to get your hands on some of those items.

A step up from make-up swapping is a love package exchange.  Cute little packages mailed to friends and other bloggers filled with beauty goodies and adorable decorations.  I love getting love packages but I especially LOVE putting them together for friends.

I've actually searched around the internet to look for holiday swaps to participate in but for some reason they're extremely hard to find.  I also constantly receive e-mails from readers asking if I would be interested in doing a swap.  So I thought, why not organize my own??

Valentiene's Day is the perfect holiday for a love package swap so I figure now is the best time to try to put this all together.  What do you guys think of an international Valentine's Day swap?

I've set up an interest form for those who would like to participate.  I do ask that all participants be bloggers with active blogs as this swap will be based on the honor system and hopefully the blogger integrity will apply to this swap.  Otherwise we'll get a whole bunch of random people just trying to get free stuff.  For those non bloggers who really want to participate, please  include another social media page you have such as Facebook or Twitter in the form.  I will require that you ship your package first and provide a tracking number before your swap partner ships your package to you. (It should only be a day or two apart).

The form will be open for one week from now until January 25th.  I will then e-mail all participants with their swapping partners.   I ask that you have your packages ready to be shipped by February 4th as most international deliveries take a couple of weeks to deliver.  It'd be nice if the recipient could receive their package by Valentine's Day but I know it can take some time so please just have it arrive before the month of February ends.

Also I haven't decided if the swap will be a direct exchange -- two people send packages to each other, or if it will be secret santa style -- everyone gets assigned someone to send the package to.  So please put your preference in the form.  Also please specify if you would like to participate in a $20 swap, $50 swap, or $100 swap.  Obviously we can't all afford expensive exchanges and do keep in mind that shipping can get pretty high.  But I think there should be a decent amount of value to make this swap worthwhile for everyone. The items don't have to be the EXACT value you choose but please keep it around your chosen price range and remember to make sure it's a package that you yourself would enjoy receiving.

Since this swap will be Valentine's Day themed, feel free to get creative with decorations!  Because this is a beauty blog swap, the package should contain primarily beauty products but if you need ideas here are some items you can include:

• Skin Care
• Make-up
• Hair accessories
• Bath Products
• Stationary
• False Eye Lashes
• Nail accessories
• Candy
• Fashion or Beauty magazines from your country
• Hand-made crafts or jewelry

For some great ideas please check out these links from Eki's page.  She seems to always get amazingly creative packages!

• http://www.ekiblog.com/2012/01/iphone-photo-diary-christmas-week.html
• http://www.ekiblog.com/2010/01/love-packages-dolly-wink-eyeliner-and.html
• http://www.ekiblog.com/2010/02/love-packages.html
• http://www.ekiblog.com/2011/06/love-packages.html

Also for those that are participating -- please spread the word so we can get a big variety or swappers and countries!

Very Belated Bloggiversary Giveaway

First of all I want to say thank you to you guys for the warm responses on my previous post.  I seriously got a little teary eyed at all the thoughtful comments.  Unfortunately things have gotten a little more rough for me this month but I'm still keeping my hopes up for a good year.

I know I've lacked motivation blog wise, but I definitely want to get back on track.  And I figure, what better way than a giveaway?  I actually planned a big giveaway for my one year blog anniversary which was back in November, but due to all the drama in my life, I was never able to get around to it.

My first blog post was November 16, 2010, and as corny as it sounds I have to say that day changed my life.  As rough as my 2011 was, it was actually a wonderful blogging year.  I met so many new people (the blog world has the most amazing community!), developed relationships with cosmetic brands and got to try tons of products, found an outlet for my product whoring passion, and even won a trip to Malaysia!

I want to be able to maintain the passion I've had for blogging throughout this year and the future, and hope to continue to interact with you all and meet new friends.

Thank you guys for everything!

Now enough sap and on to the giveaway.  The following items are some of my favorite products for the year 2011.  In typical Lipgloss Love Affair fashion, I like to offer a complete head to toe package so you''ll find everything from hair stuff to make-up to body wash!  I've included links for each item so you can click to find more detailed information.

 Too Faced Glamour Revolution Palette

The Balm Time balm Pomegranate Restorative Serum

DDF Sulfur Therapeutic Mask

Physician's Formula Happy Booster Glow & Mood Boosting Blush

 My Beauty Diary Blooming of Beauty Japanese Hydrangea Mask

Baviphat Peach All-In-One Waterfall Cream

Shugar SoapWorks Peach Soap with Shea Butter

DHC Cleansing Oil

 Tokidoki Pink Lametta Flat Iron

 Bliss Eau De Toilette

The Body Shop Satsuma Shower Gel

Victoria's Secret Shimmer Lotion in "Whipped Cream & Winter Pear"

Moroccanoil Treatment

Sally Hansen Lacquer Shine for Lips in "Peony"

Dariya Hair Magic Sheet in Pink

Giveaway Rules:

All you need to do is fill out the Rafflecopter form below.  The ONLY mandatory requirement is to be a Blogger or GFC Follower.

But if you want some extra entries there's plenty of ways for you to do so (just follow the instructions below).  

Tweets and Facebook status updates about the giveaway are allowed once a day for more chances to get entries.

Please be sure to read all the instructions carefully as incomplete entries will be disqualified and Rafflecopter will not allow you to enter twice.  You can find out further details in the form below!  Thank you and good luck!  

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm sorry for my long hiatus but I had a very rough end of the year.  It sucks that I didn't get to do any holiday posts which I was really looking forward to but I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's.

I have to say -- I just can't be relieved enough that 2011 is over.  Not to be a Debbie Downer but I can honestly say it was the WORST year of my life -- everything bad that could have possibly happened did. The first half of the year I went through a very tough time -- it was definitely a low point in my life.  Then just as things were starting to get a little better mid year and I started a new job, I broke my foot and was out of commission for nearly two months.

Then my boyfriend of nearly 4 years started getting really sick -- he had everything from hypertension, an ulcer, diabetes, a brain aneurysm, and a tumor in his pancreas with a family history of pancreatic cancer.  And a few weeks ago he was diagnosed with leukemia.  It's the most devestating news I've gotten since I found out my mom had breast cancer.  He is currently in Korea getting treatment and hopefully I can visit soon.  But please keep him in your prayers!

And finally I ended the year with a bang -- literally.  I went out for my friend's birthday/company party which consisted of an open bar.  I pretty much never drink so I guess I didn't realize how low my alcohol tolerance had gotten and ended up getting pretty drunk.  Combine that with a long flight of stairs and you get me waking up in the emergency room with my clothes torn off, stitches, a black eye, a neck brace, and blood all over my face.

I guess I got off lucky because I could've cracked my head open or broken my neck but luckily I got off with a bit of swelling to my face/eye area and 8 stitches near my eyebrow.  But to top it off I lost track of my purse which also contained my wallet, cash, Iphone, and car keys which are really difficult/expensive to replace because they have to reprogram my whole car.  A few days later I got an email notification from my iphone tracker that my phone was located in Vegas.  Great -- someone took off with my purse to Vegas!

So yes, enough venting but all I can say is I truly hope it will be a better year, and most importantly, I pray that my boyfriend will get better.

As for my new year's resolutions, blogging wise, I really want to stay consistent with entries, get up to date with the product reviews I owe, and I should probably stop hoarding so many products!

So here's to 2012!

And I leave you with a picture of my lovely black eye and stitches while also sporting a Clinique Moisture surge refreshing eye mask for the swelling haha.