A series of unfortunate events...one year later

*WARNING: reading one comment I received made me think to tell you girls that if you are going to do a swap in Italy and you live outside the European Union, don't put cosmetics, make-up, or eyeshadow or anything in there. Just go with "pigment samples" or the likes*

If you've followed my blog for over a year, or if you follow me on twitter, you may have noticed that I have quite often mentioned a swap me and Michelle from Lipstick Rules agreed on doing last August, and the series of unfortunate events that occurred to it all over the year.

When this package was sent the first time, it seemed like it had gone missing. However, after two months the Italian customs finally decided to let me know where my package was: the freakingly held it for two months because the customs declaration read "cosmetics". Apparently anything described as "cosmetics" or "makeup" is confiscated here, because they literally accuse you of importing goods. Also, the "gift"option is not contemplated. Does this make any sense to you? Had she written something else other than those two names, they would not have confiscated my package.
They asked for an invoice of proof of transaction in order to make medical checks (not to mention also have me pay for those) and send it to me. Of course I did not have them, so I decided to let them send the package back to Michelle, and try again. They sent the package back to her after another 2 months, and by then it was January already and Michelle was busy so it took her some time to send it again.

So I came up with a brilliant idea: divert the package to the UK, to Louise (from Lou Lou Land) , who was kind enough to be our messanger for this swap. Seeing how the same stuff, coming from European countries does not go through customs.
Do you think it is over? Of course not!!!
With the stupid volcanic ash story the package has gone missing for 4 whole months, and reappeared out of the blue, when we all thought it was either stolen or lost in the post!

You can't imagine who happy I was when it reached my home in a little over 1 week!

Louise was kind enough to include some treats as my graduation presents ;)

I can't thank her enough for her favor and her generousity! You're lovely!
Also, I would like to thank Michelle for the items she chose for me! I love them all!

On to what I got:

From Michelle

Urban Decay Get Baked Palette (contains a mini size of PP in Sin and a Liner in Bourbon), Vasanti Shimmer Powder in Electric Blue, Joe Fresh lipgloss in Candy, 3 Balmshell lipgloss mini samples, an Annabelle glitter liner (pictured on the palette)

FROM LOUISE:

3 eyeshadows, 1 lipstick, 1 lipgloss, 2 blushes, 1 black eyeliner, 1 purple glitter eyeliner from MUA - Make-Up Academy (available in Superdrug), 1 n°17 mirror shine lipstick in Beehive (love at first sight), a Rimmel nail varnish, Lilac Dream varnish from Models Own, Nail-ease (super curious to try them), a Barry M e/s trio, a Bourjois mini e/s duo, bag of tissues which is so cute and will be very handy during my vacation time, and a lovely graduation card and teddy bear!

And since I am an emotional wreck, I cried a little while reading both cards cos they were so sweet and thoughtful.

The teddy bear is now beside my bed and reminds me everyday that I met some great people from all over the world in this beauty community.
I really love blogging!

Thank you girls, :****************


Do you like what I got? Want me to review anything? What do you think of the incredible saga of the missing parcel? LOL

International swap: Italy - UK

In January, me and the gorgeous Saratu from xshakespeare.and.stilettosx decided to do a swap.
Most people know how this works already, but just for the novices I'll say: we set a budget, told each other preferences in terms of products, colors, and brands, if we had any particular product request, and then we shopped, shopped, shopped!

So here is what I got:


From the top, clockwise:

Sleek "The Original" Divine palette;

MAC Cremesheen lipstick in Creme d' Nude;

Bourjois blusher in Cendre de Rose Brune;

Barry M Glitter eyeliner in 07 (gold);

Barry M Lip Laquer Crayon in 01 (Scarlet Red, I think?);

Barry M Dazzle Dust in Stormy Cloud;

MEMEME PussyCat cheek and lip tint;

Illamasqua cream eyeshadow in Amour,

and she included a sample of Flora by Gucci perfume (I HEART THIS - IT'S GOING TO BE MY NEXT PERFUME!!!).


Needless to say, I'm super happy and I love everything she sent me! I kind of have a feeling she went a little overbudget for this, because of the Illamasqua and MAC products - but then again, I went way overbudget with hers too LOL - can we ever behave for once???

I have to thank Saratu again for this swap, it was such a lovely experience! Not just because of the shopping, but also because it allows people to get to know each other a little bit better. When reading her blog (and seeing it grow from n°1 post - as we are two of each other's first followers) I kind of sensed she was a gorgeous person, inside and outside, and our emails exchange just proved me right! She is beautiful, smart, driven, and she likes literature like I do, which for me is a huge +++ :D so, definitely, check her blog out!!!
I really look forward meeting you, next time I hit the Big Smoke (which might happen sooner than I thought, as my bf asked me to go there with him for a weekend, to visit his long time friend who lives there now).

Kiss kiss,
Lyd