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Post in Besides Beauty
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~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

 

***Sign Ups are CLOSED - Exchange is in Progress***

 

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It's back! The gift exchange celebrating "the best day of the year" is here 💖

 

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Our previous rounds have been wonderful platforms for bringing us all together though our appreciation for beauty, treats and camaraderie. Come and join in on the fun!

 

Positive Energy and Unicorn Love Always,
Mcakes & @eshoe 

 

Links to Previous Galentine's Day Exchanges:

Spoiler

How to Join and, Key Dates and Housekeeping Info:

Spoiler
If you are interested in joining, please see the Eligibility Requirements, Rules, and Key Dates below to see if this will be a good fit for you! 

Eligibility:
Spoiler

Have you participated in a gift exchange on BT/BIC previously?

 

Yes
Previous participants in exchanges that either eshoe or I have hosted without incident on their part are pre-approved. If you participated in an exchange that eshoe or I have not hosted, please kindly provide a link to that exchange thread for us to do our due diligence. If there were no issues from the exchange on your part, we are excited to have you on board!

 

No
Meet one or more of the following requirements:

1.Must be willing to do a $50 box deposit that will be taken at sign up and returned once your Galentine has given us confirmation of delivery.
2.Must be vouched for by 2 members of the community who eshoe or I are familiar with.

*Since we are trying to be as inclusive as possible while also protecting other participants in this exchange, eshoe and I will have final discretion on participant eligibility. We realize that this is very subjective, but we must establish a certain degree of trust between users as there is sensitive information being exchanged. Thank you for your understanding.

Rules:
Spoiler

By expressing interest in signing up for the exchange, you are agreeing to the following:


-The minimum spend for this exchange is $50. You do not need to go over this amount, but in the spirit of fairness you may not go under it.

-If you have not participated in an exchange previously, you must ship your gift on or before February 1st. If you miss this deadline and do not communicate with eshoe or I about the reason for your delay, you will not get your box deposit back. Instead, we will use your box deposit to create a gift on your behalf. No Galentine will be left behind!

-Provide tracking number(s) to eshoe or I once you have shipped your gift. This can be done via Elfster or messaging eshoe or I.

-Acknowledge receipt of your gift ASAP, even if you need a little more time to do a full post. This is a courtesy to your gift or to know it was received (it is stressful waiting to know if a package made the journey ok!) and for eshoe and I to keep track of the progress in the exchange. You may do this via Elfster, by posting on this thread that you have received the parcel, or by messaging either eshoe or I.

-You must post pictures of your gift. This is an integral part of the exchange experience and we want to share in the excitement with you! We know how much thought and care goes into curating a gift, and we want to acknowledge your giftor's efforts as well. You may provide pictures for either eshoe or I to post on your behalf if you are having issues posting, but please know that the pictures are a firm requirement.

Key Dates:
Spoiler

Sign Up Deadline: 12/31/22

Draw Day (This is the day you find out who you are shopping for, yay!): 1/1/23

Ship Date for First Time Participants: 2/1/23 (*If you are shipping from Canada to US or vice versa, this deadline will be earlier)

All Gifts Must be Received: On or before 2/13/23 (Galentine's Day)


To sign up, please comment on this thread! eshoe and I will be messaging approved participants with more details and will be updating the Participant List as we go. 

 

We are looking forward to celebrating with y'all! 💖



Positive Energy and Unicorn Love Always, 
Mcakes & eshoe

 

P.S. We will make every effort to accommodate all shipping restrictions, please state those restrictions at sign up via PM. Thank you!

 

Tips and Tricks: 

Spoiler

♥Ask questions! Anyone can ask anyone an anonymous question, that will help you get a better idea of likes and dislikes, haves and wants, etc. 


♥When you purchase something, click "Mark As Purchased." They won't see it, but they might be using the same wishlist for other gift exchanges, so this can prevent them potentially getting the same gift from two different people.

 

♥If you got something for yourself, remove it from your wishlist! 

Shipping:

Spoiler

How to ship abroad/add a customs label while still using online shipping:


1. Creating an account: First, you must create a free account on the USPS website. The paypal.com/shipnow site will not let you create customs forms.


2. Shipping Label: To create the shipping label, you want to use the "Click n Ship" function from the dropdown menu under Mail & Ship. Many of the directions from above are basically the same but the key difference is under, "Where are you sending to?" you will need to use the dropdown menu to select the country of choice.


3. Finishing the Shipping Label:Fill in all the corresponding information until the end of the form including the value of the package. The Canadians on the board may have more to speak to with this but I always kept this amount on the lower side so the recipient doesn't get hit with high customs fee. (average amount I would put would be $10-$20) A great feature is at the end of the page it will give you all your options for shipping. I can tell you on a personal note that when I ship to England I always choose first class international mail and I have never had a problem. Once again, delivery confirmation is thrown in for FREE.


3. Beginning the Customs Form: You will then get to a page that will you through step by step filling in the customs form. The first question will ask you to "Enter Package Information." This is where you can just write this is a gift box for a friend. You do not need to write anything more!


4. Customs Inventory: Next up is, "Enter Item Information." Okay, this one is a little tricky. If you want to itemize, and fill in every single thing in the box, you can. If you only want to do a couple, you can. I've done both over the years and both have been okay. I'm not going to tell you though that it will work every time so ultimately, the decision is up to you. Make sure though that you mark each item a GIFT so that the recipient does not get charged increased fees. Also, and this is IMPORTANT, the total that adds up for the all the items has to be the same total you gave on the previous page for the value of the box. So if you make something worth $1, that's fine! (Again, Canadians speak up hear if I'm wrong but my abroad friends always told me it was better to do this to reduce customs fees for the recipient.) Lastly, each weight of each individual item will need to add up to the to the total weight item, so I've honestly literally made up ratio numbers in the past. (I have never had a problem in years of sending packages)


5. Tarrif Number: Lastly, you do not have a tariff number so leave that blank. Okay, one last thing, choose your AES exemption. I would choose the second one having to do with gifts.


6. Obtaining the Label/Customs Form: The steps following this are similar to the ones from above except that I believe the payment options for USPS may also include credit card options as well as PayPal. Go ahead and print your label which will also contain your completed customs form. (Please note: you may need to sign your customs form before affixing it to your package) On a positive note, YOU STILL SAVE MONEY BY USING THE ONLINE POSTAGE SYSTEM!


7. How to actually ship it:For international packages, my personal advice is yes, bring it to the post office, and yes, actually check it in and get a receipt saying it was checked in by a postal worker. Since many international packages take quite longer than domestic and tend to get delayed at different intervals, you want to make sure that everything is okay when it first enters the system.

 

Duty Info (Thank you veronika23!)

 

The US can receive a gift up to 100$ USD. If you are sending a gift from Canada and mark it as 100$ you are actually saying it cost you 100$ CAD. Today Google converts that to 73.30$ USD so your recipient should be ok and not pay additional fees.

Canada can receive a gift up to 60$ CAD. If you are sending a gift from the US and it was 60$, you are actually saying it cost you 60$ USD. Today Google converts that to 81.86$ CAD. So your Canadian recipient in this case might pay duties/taxes/fees. But if your gift only cost you is lets say 35$ USD today Google converts that to 47.75$CAD. So the recipient shouldn't pay fees.

I believe customs will check the rate on the day the item is processed.

For the US ladies. The cheapest way to ship to Canada is via USPS First Class International mail.

Participants:

Spoiler
Mcakes
eshoe
gonerogue
Snglbug
AznAngelLiz
SportyGirly125
faeriegirl
sister13
quspork
heartsmyface
Kim888
cianni
Cissy63
Mellmars1185
Anastasiya13
danielledanielle
missjeanie
ClassicallyFab
ohheyitscindyk

 

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@CorgiMommy @Nickelliebear1 @heartsmyface , right,?!?

 

It's the nesting doll of galentine's.  It's amazing, there's so many little surprises and references and soooooo many goodies.

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@danielledanielle  YES!!!!  She hit so many BIC bases… haircare, body, makeup, skincare, unicorns. Avacadoes, masks, tea addictions🥰 I’m so very spoiled.  

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

What an awesome Galentines package @heartsmyface! Your assistant is adorable! Enjoy all your goodies!

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@faeriegirl  Thank you!   My assistant accepted candy as payment for all his hard work. 😄

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@heartsmyface Wow! What an amazing and generous gift from @Nickelliebear1 . The glass pika and face mask look so special. I have never seen those before. It is even more special that you got to enjoy unboxing with your little one ❤️

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@Mellmars1185  Right?  I LOVE the glass pika!!!!  oh my gosh!  He may be my favourite thing in the box!  

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@heartsmyface @What an amazing Galentine surprise !!! Those cherry eye masks look absolutely adorable and match so well with the Lip Gloss!!! Happy Galentines !!

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@Kim888  Oh I didn’t even realize the Cherry theme!! There’s a cherry tea as well!  Well, I know what I’ll be drinking when I try the masks out 😄

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@heartsmyface if it makes you feel any better I was surprised to see that I grabbed the cherry lip glow and not the coral one. Blueberry cleansers, cherry tea and masks, coral blush and lips.. I tried to stick in pairs!

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

You’re so very welcome @heartsmyface!  I should say thank you for having such great taste.  I truly had a blast picking pairs of each item— and going through and taking notes of your favorites.  💕 
I’m so glad you liked everything! Your helper looked like he had a blast! 

edit:  Pika is actually a little rose quartz sweet.  💝 or at least I hope so. 

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@Nickelliebear1   Ha, I’m glad i’m not the only one who did that!!  I tried to be good but there were some gift suggestions that I had to try myself as well.  
Ouhhh,  he’s rose quartz!!?  He’s the most precious little guy!!   Thanks for treasure hunting  him for me!!!  He’s perfect to hold and is soothing like a little worry stone. 🥰🥰🥰. 

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

Holy wow, @heartsmyface, that's an AMAZING box!!!  @Nickelliebear1 has great taste 😀.

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@CookieGirl1   She really does!  How did I get so lucky!’  

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

Oh my goodness, @heartsmyface - what an amazing package! It looks like @Nickelliebear1 absolutely spoiled you with some wonderful goodies. And your little helper could not be more adorable! 

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@Mcakes @Holy moly that’s a lot of amazingness right there. Your son is too cute with the unboxing. That avocado mug is so adorable and wow you got a Dior lip oil and Chantecaille blush.  Your Galentine spoiled you to the moon and back. 

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@SportyGirly125  Yeah @Nickelliebear1 got me good! I was so stunned and the only thing keeping me from just sitting there with my mouth gaping open was an impatient opening assistant rushing me along!  I’m definitely feeling spoiled and am sill in awe!!! 

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

My Galentine Day box is on its way to my Galentine.  UPS said it will arrive by next Monday!

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@Cissy63 @How exciting!!!

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

Yay, @Cissy63! I love having all of these surprises to look forward to, I cannot imagine how excited you must be 🙌🏼

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

@eshoe  Oh you bet I am 🤩

Re: ~♥Galentine's Day Exchange 2023♥~

Just got my Galentine box today from the lovely @Mellmars1185 Even though the box arrived damaged most of it arrived in tact. Not sure if anything is missing though. I never did find the rest of the card so I could tape it back 😞

On to the unboxing and what I got:

 

A cute red ❤️ and Valentine stickers greeted me when I opened the box up. 

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Here is everything laid out. I spy a cute plushie red ♥️ and adorable 🧋 plushie. My daughter and son might steal them from me.  So much goodness. It was hard to capture it all in one shot. 

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Breaking down what I got into categories:

 

First up, makeup of course NATASHA DENONA My Dream Lipstick - Creamy Lip Color 11NB Natasha and NATASHA DENONA Glam Face & Eye Palette Light It is so beautiful in person. I have gifted the Glam face to 2 other members but never bought one for myself. It has been on my wish list forever and I can’t wait to use both of these real soon. 

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Next, skincare, treats, and plushies oh my:

 

Love the Creme Shop face masks!

So many yummy Canadian treats to try 🍫🍵

The cutest ❤️ and 🧋plushies. They are so soft. 

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Finally, what are in the pouch and heart box:

 

Samples to try (I love Illamasqua, I wish Sephora still carried the brand), stationary, the cutest sign with my username on it, socks, hair accessories, and so much more. She even included Hello Kitty headbands for my daughter. 


Thank you so much for all the wonderful gifts. Everything was so perfect in every way. Happy Galentine’s Day 💕

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