Confessions of a Swag Whore

My friend Stevie is the Queen of Swag. She writes about all sorts of great stuff on her blog--fashion, skincare, makeup, music--you name it. But whether it's cool stuff scored from the gift bags of the many events she attends or product samples sent to her, her closets runneth over. And when they do, the Queen of Swag becomes my own personal fairy godmother.

I was over her house the other day, helping her figure out a video editing program. It was loads of fun--we imported clips from video she'd taken of the band The Kin, added title cards, transitions between the performance and interview and credits at the end. No-one will mistake us for Spielberg, but we were quite proud of what we accomplished! My reward for being Stevie's hands-on tech guru? A huge bag of second-hand swag!

I am talking HUGE! It was like Christmas going through all the goodies. Here's a run-down of just a few of the neat things I scored:

I got a bunch of cute items from a U.K. cosmetics company called Jelly Pong Pong which features a plethora of innovative products whimisical, feminine packaging. I got the Supermodel Stain--a highly pigmented lip and cheek pomade--in Slenderella , a Single and Lovin' It eye shadow in a shade called Cookie Crumbs, Chic Shine--which is described as "[a]n ingenious pairing of soft gele and matte satin for the cheeks and lips"--in Ballerina. And last but not least, the Lip Sorbet in Wild Rose Champagne.

According to their website, Jelly Pong Pong,

"was born from the notion of wanting to invoke the eccentricity that is innate in all of us. The fascination & awe that we arouse simply by being different and perfectly unique."

The products are made in Italy, using bespoke ingredients under the care of an experienced formulator. Their manufacturing plants are environmentally conscious and cruelty-free and they don't do animal testing.

I also got a big tub of Baobab Body Butter (try saying THAT three times fast!) from NuSkin's Epoch collection. This rich creamy concoction contains Baobab Fruit Pulp Extract, Shea Butter and Macadamia Nut Oil and it smells soooo delicious! I can't wait to test it out once the weather gets cooler--and my skin gets drier...

I scored a couple of goodies from mark makeup. I'd always thought of this division of Avon as being just young girls--but this sleek and slick FlipforIt Milan palette proved me wrong. In a 3"x3" container, you get blush, two eyeshadows and two lipcolors and two lipglosses and a mini mirror. Very cool. I also got a mini palette with interchangeable eye shadow duos.


Included in my booty was this Px by Prescriptives Anti-AGE Advanced Protection Eye Cream with SPF 25. Wow--that's a mouthful...Well, it's eye cream anyway and should come in handy. I'm always looking for a miracle product for that area. The website says it:

"Protect[s] the delicate eye area with the first comprehensive eye cream formulated to help guard skin against the four causes of visible aging: sun, pollution, stress and excess sugar."

Excess sugar? Seriously? Now that's news to me. Like I need yet another side effect to having diabetes...It won the Cosmo Beauty Award in 2007 for Best Eye Cream. If it makes my eyes look younger I'll give it the Stella Beauty Award!

I got a promotional sample of this Victoria's Secret scent called "Sexy Little Things--Ooh La La Eau de Parfum." Yet another mouthful for a product name. Maybe it's just me, but I think the people at VS could try to come up with some more original names. They've got Very Sexy bras, Sexy Little Things panties, Sexy Lingerie, Very Sexy Makeup and at least four perfumes with "sex" in the name. We get it Victoria's Secret--you're sexy! But as far as I'm concerned, if you have to constantly tell people that you're sexy (or smart or funny or whatever...), you're not really. The fragrance is a fruity floral that reminds me of Escada scents like Sexy Graffiti. Ooops--there's that word again!

Finally--although it's not the last thing I got, it's the last thing I'll bore you about--a Fresh Victoire palette containing a powder, blush and six eyeshadows in a mirrored compact with brush. It's really beautiful!

So that's my haul--or part of it anyway. There was a ton of fun stuff that I didn't even mention. I'm going to have a great time playing with it all. Thanks, Stevie!