the sephora solution

sephora is a great place for free stuff.

i thought everyone knew that the cosmetics retailer was a mecca for samples but, apparently, there are plenty of folks who don't actually know that. so now you do.

it couldn't be more simple: walk into any sephora store anywhere in the world, find a product you like -- any product in the place! -- and then just ask a sales associate for a sample.

done and done.

you can get up to three samples per visit, and you never have to buy a THING. it's not a sample with purchase, it's a legitimately FREE sample, just for walking over their threshold.

years ago, before the world discovered the plethora of beauty products available for sampling, sephora actually used to let customers dispense their own samples. they had bins full of little plastic containers all over the store, and you could fill them (as many as you dared!) with as much or as little of ANY product you wanted.

pricy sunscreen?

moisturizer from dubai?

the latest french perfume?

free. free. free.

nowadays, the little containers are tucked away in drawers below the display shelves, and you have to ask someone who works at the store to procure your sample for you. but, no matter how times i've wandered into a sephora and asked for something for nothing, the sales staff have always been overly accommodating and happy to hand out their wares gratis.

try it! my tip is to find the most expensive products you can. treat yourself to a free sample of something you'd never ever actually pay to buy. something so ridiculously priced that you can barely bring yourself to pick up the bottle, lest you accidentally drop it and suddenly find yourself having to fork over $200 for a thimble-sized bottle of hair serum made from tulips.

YB regularly tops up some fancy eye cream whenever she's there and, for a while, she would give herself a mini facial right there in the store because in-store sampling is also allowed and encouraged. i make sure i never leave a sephora without one of their micro-sized sample spritzers of perfume (one of those teensy bottles is good for about four applications!). it's like a sin against shopping if you go into one of their stores and don't take advantage of this fabulous freebie.

one more tip: if you do it right, you can find a luxury item you'd never dream of buying, and continue to use it without ever paying a dime. this only works in cities with multiple sephora stores (toronto has five along the subway lines), though.

all you have to do is get a sample of your product of choice at each store. then, put the locations in rotation.

week one: store one.

week two: store two.

and so on. by the time week five or six rolls around, you just loop back to store one. the chances of you being served by the same sales associate are slim and, even if you are, the chances of them remembering you and what you sampled five weeks earlier are even slimmer. meanwhile, you've collected six little containers full of free product! play your cards right, and you'll never have to pay for your favourite lotion or potion again.

awesome, no?

yes, it's also shameless. but i don't care.