International Beauty Swap (UK Edition)

I've always been interested in doing International Beauty swaps. You see so many of them on Youtube and you read about them in many beauty blogger sites. I believe this is a fun and exciting way to gain a new friendship and to also try out international beauty products that may not be readily available or accessible in your country. It's also a great way to connect with someone who shares the same passion for all things beauty. Swaps are always fun but currency can be an issue. Countries like the UK and the USA are offered quiet an extensive variety of world class cosmetics at a relatively lower cost rate than say here in Australia. In the US, popular cosmetic brands retail between $1-$20 while if imported here (and given because of the importing cost) the same cosmetic brand retails here at a higher cost between $10-$30. The problem is it isn't just the international brands here in Australia that are making beauty junkies break the bank, Australian owned cosmetic/beauty brands are also just as guilty which is why so many of us resort to online shopping....this is totally going out of topic so let's get back to the more exciting swap!

So my first International Beauty swap was with fellow blogger Samantha Bromfield from All that Glitters. We agreed on a $30 budget. This was both our first swap so we were still new on the rules etc. I'm going to be totally honest here, knowing the Australian cosmetic industry cost, I felt I wasn't going to go far with the budget we had. If I was going to get her high quality products I would only be coming up with a palette and a lip balm, I was definitely going to have to go over budget. This was a perfect challenge for me. For what I ended up sending Samantha you can read all about it here. For what she got me? Read on...

I got my package before she got mine. Samantha went above and beyond my expectations of this swap. She had wrapped each and individual product in purple wrapping paper and the box contained pink confetti. It seriously was like christmas! There were also ALOT of products in the box. 

There are just too many products to review each and everyone and some of them I haven't yet opened and swatched but however I will have detailed reviews coming up on some of the products from this swap.

Here are some I've swatched so far:

Samantha and I both agreed that after this swap we would come up with makeup looks using the products we received and post them here on our blog.
So here they are.

(Pictures from left to right pf products used to get the look:  pic.1 : for lips Barry M lipstick and Bourjois Bronzer swept over cheeks, pic.2 &3 : Sleek MakeUp Blush by 3 in Sweet Cheeks, Sleek Lipstick in Fushcia and pic.4 : MUA Bronzer swept all over for bronze look, for eyes I used MUA Undress Me Too palette and for lips Barry M lipstick)

I have enjoyed doing this Beauty swap and I would like to thank Samantha for doing this swap with me. I love EVERYTHING she sent me and I'm hoping she loved everything I got her. It's definitely hard to fall out of habits when shopping for someone else. Beauty products in particular. We both wanted to be adventurous so we tried to send each other things we would dare and try. Thank you once again Samantha for this fun experience.

I will definitely be using all these products and will be featured in many of my makeup looks.

Look out for my next blog post Make Up Haul and Get The Look Make Up Ideas where some of the products she sent me are featured.

Have you tried any UK Beauty products? Which ones are your favorite? Comment and let me know below.

Till next time my beautiful junkies,

Z. xx