Makeup Swaps - My Experience

Its become a trend in recent years for Bloggers and YouTubers to do 'makeup swaps' with each other.

The idea behind it is to both agree a price and send each other a package filled with makeup / beauty products you have chosen for that person. I suppose a lot of us already do this every month in a fashion because of our beauty box subscriptions like Birchbox and Glossybox where we pay money to a company to send us 'surprise' beauty products but by doing it with an actual person online rather than a company you are slightly more vulnerable as you don't get the protection that buying from an established company offers.

I have been wanting to do a swap for a while so I agreed to do one with my Youtube friend Elle. She is also British and we have very similar tastes in makeup but I thought maybe we could send each other products that might push us out of our own comfort zones. There's nothing worse than getting stuck in a beauty rut. Right? Plus she might see something i've never seen before and vice versa.

I was very excited not only to receive my package from her but to shop for hers too.We agreed a budget of £20, and to buy each other budget brands.

I have gotten to know Elle over the past couple of months through Youtube so I trusted her that she wouldn't scam me, and she didn't. I received my package on Friday and the products in there really exceeded my expectations.

First of all it was packaged beautifully, all the items individually wrapped in beautiful butterfly wrapping paper. There was a tonne of stuff in the box she sent. She must have gone well over our budget (but so did I) I just couldn't help myself.

I received hair products, skincare, nail polishes and makeup products and I filmed my unboxing on my youtube channel. *You can watch it here: www.youtube.com/beautyandhelen

My first swap experience was wonderful and I have arranged to do an international swap with my American YouTube friend Kathryn this week. I'm super excited to do this as I can send British products to Kathryn that she doesn't have access to in America and she can send me american products that i don't have access to in England.

There are horror stories all over the internet about people getting scammed, sending packages off and not receiving anything in return, or receiving product that aren't equal to the value that was agreed, but I think most people have no issues at all.

 Here are a few tips to help you organise your first swap and minimise the risk of being scammed.

• Find a person you want to swap with, read their blog, watch their videos to see if you have things in common. 
• Email, facebook or twitter with them and build a friendship - someone who's going to scam you will be obvious when they make no effort getting to know you. 
• Agree a price and date.
• Try a small swap first, maybe £5-10 so you're not risking a massive amount of money and you can build trust this way.
• Ask what they like and don't be shy to say i like this but not this.... You don't want to receive stuff you'll never use, if you don't like red lipsticks, say so!
• Get a receipt when you post your package so you've got proof of postage should your swap partner not receive their package. 
• Finally be aware that you will have to give this person your home address in order for them to send you a package so if you are under 16 you WILL need your parents consent. Be smart. 

I'm looking forward to receiving my package from America and I'll be sure to upload a video and blog about it! I'd also love to do a swap with someone in Asia, maybe Japan or Korea in the future. Their beauty products look amazing. 

Take care and I'll speak to you soon,

Love Helen xx