But more often than not I get offered things by way of a thank you for writing a review of something in the first place – they come across the review and want to thank me.

I’ve even ended up helping a designer write his press releases because he liked the way I wrote, and since I genuinely felt passionate about his work in the first place I was happy to become involved. One might say I am now biased towards that designer and won’t write anything negative about him now because technically I have worked for him (even though I didn’t receive any payment as such). This is true to a degree, but because I already blogged about him and had my own opinion already, speaking to him personally merely re-affirmed what I already felt and furthered my understanding of what he’s about.

Also, I forgot to mention, I actually have a Disclosure page on Makeup Minute where I tell my readers that 99.9% of what I review is sent to me, the language I would use if it was sent or purchased, how I use affiliate links, etc. I lay it all out on the table. That way people can leave their accusations at the door.

Case in point; my blog is a single girl’s view from her stilettos, right? So to get a pitch from a PR firm representing a jeweler specializing in engagement rings – DUH?!! That truly sets the stage for a negative post. Luckily for them, I don’t operate in negative light and chose to just delete the request…

But getting back to schwag, honesty is the best policy. As Gala stated, I will not write about the product if I did not care for it, and will also contact the PR person to explain why.

That said…I also write blogs for Pierce Mattie PR, so I try very hard to be the blogging voice and speak to other PR firms about what is and isn’t appropriate when approaching bloggers with schwag. I wrote a post on it here, please feel free to add your ideas in our comments. I really want PR firms to understand that there is etiquette that should be followed when approaching us.

I rarely write about the products i don’t like, I instead contact the vendor and tell them my thoughts and why I chose not to post.

I almost always admit the review is schwag in a less obvious way (“i recently received…”). I have had one or two vendors ask me to not admit it is schwag because of X or Y so I get even more vague with how I received the item (“a friend gave me…”).

And I am loving this blog/resource. Thank you so much!!!