I have a few nieces I needed to shop for,  and I because I don’t see them very often I really have no clue what to get. But one thing I do know: girls like candy, and girls like makeup. Japan excels at delivering the goods for these, so I put together a few cheap-and-cheerful bento boxes full of goodies for them to play with.

Bento boxes are Japanese lunch boxes, for both adults and children. Kids’ lunches in Japan are a serious affair, and moms go to huge efforts to make sure their kids have the cutest lunches possible, sometimes waking up at 5am just to prepare them. Giving your kid a super cute lunch is a bit of a status thing in Japan—it shows that you’re an especially thoughtful mom. And kids’ bento boxes are SO freaking cute, they come in all shapes and sizes, and every color and character you can imagine. But I of course am repurposing the boxes as the best reusuable gift boxes ever.

Because they’re teens, I didn’t go nuts with the glamorama sparkle makeup, just some lotions and tinted lip balms that would fit. The older girls got the dressier black patterned versions…

And the younger ones get the kawaii characters full of candy! And because they’re reusable, I figure my sister can use them for snacks or knick knacks for the kids. How fun is this?

I can’t wait to give these to them on Christmas morning. I’m going to start doing beauty swaps soon, and I think the bento box is the perfect package to send makeup to my friends and fellow beauty bloggers back in the States!

Getting ready for take off… next stop… America!

Share