A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I bet you’ve got at least one Christmas present that is still languishing unopened?

When I was a kid… Mum used to make us pile our presents into a carrier bag to take upstairs and 5 months later… the carrier bag would still be half-full in the bottom of our wardrobes.  Ungrateful sods, kids.  The thing is though, what do you do with unwanted gifts?  There’s always eBay… but the chances are, Aunty Vi has been stalking the auction site since the 26th December to see if any of her gifts have ended up under the virtual hammer.

Alternatively, you could give them away to friends and colleagues… who probably don’t want them either…

Or… if we’re talking about unwanted fragrances (novelty socks won’t work)… and you fancy a £5 off voucher for a new scent…

Tweet @escentualdotcom a picture of the fragrance with the hashtag #FragranceAmnesty, let them know which scents you’ve liked in the past, and they’ll recommend a better fit AND give you a £5 gift voucher towards your next fragrance purchase with them.

Once you’ve claimed your voucher, go one step further and donate your unwanted fragrances to a better home.

Escentual.com are collecting your unwanted perfumes on behalf of Give and Make Up, a charitable organisation that passes on unwanted beauty products to women’s shelters. Read more about the #FragranceAmnesty and how to donate your fragrances here.

If you haven’t heard of Give and Makeup, they’re a non-profit initiative whose sole purpose is to get everyday essentials into the hands of women and children who need them the most.

You donate your clean and lightly used (or new!) beauty products and Give and Makeup will liaise with charities Refuge and Women’s Aid to ensure that all items donated are passed on to women who are in need of them.

For an idea of the kind of things that are needed, click here.

I’m putting my first box together this week and taking advantage of a VERY generous offer from BeautyBay.com, read on for details:

As part of their continuing commitment, BeautyBay.com will be offering FREE postage on all Give and Make-Up donations until 1st March 2011.

BeautyBay.com will supply a free delivery label to stick to all parcels, simply email online.marketing@beautybay.com to receive a copy.

Note: these labels will have a 2kg weight limit so if you’re sending more than 2kg, please split in to suitable weighted parcels.

To say thanks for all donations, a 10% discount code will be sent to each person who sends a donation via these labels (it will be emailed across after the parcel has been received).  If you have any questions, contact BeautyBay via  online.marketing@beautybay.com.

How unbelievably generous is that?

Living out in the sticks, I’ve always had the problem of not wanting to carry donation parcels into London with me when I travel.  Where’s my excuse now huh?

I’m filling my parcel as we type (well, as soon as I’ve finished typing)… You have only a week left to take advantage of BeautyBay’s commendable generosity.

Go on, even if it’s just a little parcel… and see that little Retweet button at the top of this post (on the right), I’d flippin’ love it if you could press it and help spread the message!