by BR Tabatha
Hands up who loves the Beauty Vault? In my mind's eye I'm seeing a sea of hands waving madly. I mean, what's not to love about a shop where you can exchange points for beauty products, and only have to pay for the cost of shipping and handling? But how did the Beauty Vault get to be such an integral part of the Beauty Review experience? How did it come about, and how has it evolved? Where to start? How about 2013.
Back in 2013, Beauty Review was not yet one year old. In its first few months it had gained a small but loyal following of people who loved the concept of reviewing free beauty products. The thing was, those reviews, along with any non-trial reviews placed, along with comments on articles, reviews and on the forum, accrued points. But what were the members' points to be spent on?
She who started the phenomenon that became Beauty Review, our very own BR Merilyn, came up with the answer - The Beauty Vault.
The rules of the Beauty Vault? The points were never going to expire, and the value of the points had to be good, with every 10 points equalling $1 in real life value.
So in 2013 the very first Beauty Vault was held. With our then small community, it was a quiet but successful affair...that spawned a beauty revolution.
Between our amazing trial opportunities and the promise of products for points, word of Beauty Review spread, so much so that by the time the second Beauty Vault was held we had over 5,000 hugely engaged members. Not wanting to disappoint our community we held Vault previews to help people plan their shop. And that's where the learning curve started.
The previews generated heavy traffic, which caused the site to slow down, so we knew we had to up the server. Which we did... but not by enough.
The joys of technology saw the server crashing due to the popularity of the Beauty Vault (we do believe Coke and Mars Inc would've seen quite the sales spike due to the amount of caffeine and M&Ms the crew inhaled as we frantically tried to get in touch with the Beauty Boffins, reply to members, and get things back up and running), but with a little trial and error we got the Beauty Vault running as smoothly as anyone can when technology is involved, which saw thousands of members scoop up gorgeous goodies over the years.
In more recent times, the Beauty Review community's feedback has seen us rework the way we run the Beauty Vault. We heard you when you said that it was hard to make the time to be at a Vault preview or opening, and that the process could be stressful, so we changed things up once more.
Now, in 2022, we keep the Vault open and rolling 24/7, meaning members can swap their points for product whenever it suits them. The Vault only closes when we need to do a stocktake, or if we've an event, such as the...
Beauty Review Birthday Vault.
Some of our favourite brands have sent us a gorgeous array of products to help us help you celebrate our tenth birthday. With that in mind, the Vault will be closed for a stocktake, as well as a fresh upload of products, with the Vault opening once more on Friday, November 11th.
Want to get your hands on the goodies? Here's how to maximise your points accrual...
Write reviews
The easiest way to earn beauty points is to write reviews. Each review you place (that is accepted by the moderation team) earns you a whopping 30 points during birthday month!
Comment on articles
Those articles we like to write about beauty trends, beauty tips, and the best beauty products around? Every comment you place on them earns you 15 points! Three articles a week, and a comment on each, will soon see you flinging your virtual beauty dollars around in the Vault!
Commenting on reviews, in the forum or replying to article comments
Love someone's review? Agree with their point of view? Tell them - each interaction earns you 2 points. As does every post you make on our forum, and every reply you make to a comment on an article. You'll be amazed at how quickly these points add up!
Participate in trials
Not only do you enjoy free beauty products when you are chosen to participate in a Beauty Review trial, the review you place also earns you 10 points. (Want to up your chances on getting on trials? Check out this article!)
At the end of the day, what you put into Beauty Review equates to what you get out. The more active a member you are, the more you can enjoy the gorgeous community that's come together over the years, as well as the more goodies that you'll be able to swap your points for in the Vault.
So, are you a fan of the Beauty Vault? What's your favourite purchase to date been? And will you be participating in the Beauty Review Birthday Beauty Vault? Get chatting below!
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Ooh wow, I remember those beginnings..it was chaotic..doing a preview..remembering which page the products were on that I wanted & quickly clicking to those pages when it opened!! What great fun thought :) Bummed I missed it on the 11th due to travel!