Free Esprit Perfume!!!

There is nothing sweeter in life than something that is free.  Unless the free thing is perfume!  

In Bangkok, never buy perfume, aftershave (for my husband of course) or other such things from a department store, without asking for the free stuff.  The won't hand it out willingly, or offer it up as part of the deal, you have to be firm and demand a present.  

Sometimes it isn't really a great gift (sorry Margie, I did my best) but it is still better than nothing.  In my time I have had a matching cup and saucer (I have no idea why, but it obviously made sense to them), sample sized perfumes and for Alan's birthday gift this year, managed to get the matching deodorant to his aftershave for free.   

A few months ago I learnt that it is best NOT to get Alan to do the asking, as when he bought me some perfume, he came back with a couple of mean little samples, not at all what I had in mind, despite my coaching him!

This week, Baz asked me to buy some perfume for a friend (sob, not me!) and as usual I asked for my 'something extra'.  I got the usual, 'well if you buy the extra large, die before you ever manage to use it all up size, I might just see my way to giving you a little something' spiel.  Nah, your girl has made you proud.  He looked at me and saw it written in my eyes, 'GIVE ME THE FREE STUFF AND MAKE IT GOOOOOD!'.  (Er, you have to say that in one of those CNN pandemic alert voices to get the full effect).  Well what do you know, out popped a small bottle of perfume!

Oh and before you ask, I did fess up to Baz, as it was his money I was spending.  Maybe it was my iron grip on the bottle, or the clenched teeth and fake smile, but he let me keep it. 

Now this isn't the best freebie I have ever had from the perfume departments, but the best one in Thailand.  In Singapore they give some fantastic presents, but they will tell you that they will do so if you would only buy from them.  They use it as an incentive.  I always get the feeling in Bangkok that for everyone who doesn't grab their free Esprit perfume, the seller gets to put that free bottle in their family's Christmas stockings.

In Singapore I once got a free, full sized bottle of perfume, and I am talking about something that you would go out and buy through choice, along with a ghastly white plastic handbag (which went to a work colleague).  I thought that was a great incentive gift.  I tend to discount any bag freebies though, as they tend to be pretty awful things, with the brand plastered all over them, and smelling not of sweet perfume but plastic fumes!   I often have to steer Alan away from choosing aftershave on the basis of a free plastic bag!  Of course I am sure we have all had free make up (though how many people still wear bright blue eyeshadow, over the age of 16 and under the age of 80, I have no idea) and the odd make up bag or brush, but it really is those bigger gifts that get us all excited.  

By far the best haul ever (and because of that I don't mind freely advertising the brand) was from Hermes in a Singapore department store.  I bought Alan aftershave and body cologne one Christmas.  The guy serving me started pulling open drawers and putting some of those tiny perfume samples aside for me.  Then he got a travel sized aftershave set for Alan, which had aftershave and shaving balm.  Er, what about me?  Out came some Hermes Caleche perfume and body lotion.  Then he packed the whole lot into a carry-on suitcase (which didn't have the perfume name all over it) and sent me on my merry, suitcase-towing way, along Orchard Road!

Some people push this the other way, by getting free samples without parting with a penny.  When I lived in England, my friends and I got into using (when we could afford them) Elizabeth Arden Ceramides, little oil filled capsules that you burst and put on your face.  One friend decided that she wasn't going to pay for them, so spent her Saturday, going from store to store, getting a few free sample capsules from each one.  She told them that her skin was sensitive, so she needed to try them for a few days first.  Yep, we shelled out while that cleaver girl oiled her face for free.

It is ridiculous that we get so much excitement over the free stuff.  I never buy perfume or make up on the basis that I am going to get something free, but if I am going to buy something, make it worth my while.  If the choice is going to be between two items equal on every other measure, than the free stuff most definitely sways me.  I don't care if the gift is something I want or can give away, I just like the free stuff!