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03 July 2009

The Curse of Asking for Free Samples in the Philippines

I recently bought myself a Revlon Colorstay foundation out of haste and pure impulse. The girls over girl talk are raving about it and I was deeply sucked into the ugly blackhole of hopping into the bandwagon.

I dropped by the mall hoping I'd score a sample of it as I toted my tiny 5g cosmetic pot, but my being Filipino just blew the thrift plan away. Inabot na naman ako ng hiya! (I became too shy to ask for samples without buying anything from them) *sigh!*

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Me: Meron ba kayong Revlon colorstay foundation na suited sa skintone at undertone ko (naks, undertone!)

Beauty Attendant (BA): Yes, miss, meron. Halika, me-make-up-an kita. Upo ka dito.

Me: *biglang hinigpitan ang hawak sa cosmetic jar* Ah, miss, hindi, gusto ko lang sana...

BA: i-testing ang shade? Eto ang match sa'yo... *sales talk, sales talk, sales talk*

(after the hefty makeover using a very nice shade of the foundation...)

Me: I-test ko lang yung staying powers niya, ok lang? Saka baka kasi umitim sa face ko yung foundie dahil acidic ako.

BA: Ay naku, miss, ang revlon 16 hours yan tumatagal lalo na yang may softflex. Kahit pagpawisan ka hindi yan mabubura, saka hindi na yan mangingitim kahit acidic ka pa.

Me: *ugh, bakit ba 'ko nahihiya na lumabas na lang after ng makeover?"

BA: Andami ng bumibili niyan pero walang bumabalik dito para sabihin na nagpimples sila o hindi tumatagal ang foundation sa fez.

Me: Ganun ba, sige kunin ko na.

BA: Lagyan kita ng eyeliner saka powder!

Me: Hindi wag na lang, nagmamadali ako miss, thank you. (while thinking: baka maibato ko pa sayo 'tong cosmetic pot)

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There goes my P895 (or was it P825? I'm not sure.).

It's just too bad that 90% of the Sales Attendants here in our country would look at you with brows raised when you walk out of their stalls after asking for free samples. I'm no person who does her rounds at every beauty counter begging for a measly squeeze of their product, but I would really love to see attendants accommodate such request with an open heart.

I'm planning to sell my colorstay anytime soon because my skin looked ugly after I took the foundie off my face. Hurrah. I'll post a review of the product soon.

Have you had the same experience? How I wish it was easier to ask for samples here in our country.



Royally yours, Bleak

10 comments:

  1. i know the feeling...
    tsk tsk tsk

    we always get shy in asking samples..
    people here always have the impression that you don't have the money to buy or you're greedy if ask for a sample..
    ugghh!

    that's why i dont buy cosmetics that much here...lol

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  2. haha, i feel the same way! it's hard for me to ask for samples here too.

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  3. well hello shy sisters! :D

    my point is, instead of the product being tested on my face (under the dep't store's lighting) OR smudging the product on my hand, why not squeze an itsy bitsy amount in that 3g pot na lang?

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  4. Same with me.. Embarrassed to ask for samples.. :( Agree with Thiamere too, people here think that you're just a freeloader.. grrr

    We would be saving a lot of money if we can actually give products a test run first..and actually spend our hard earned money to prods that do work for us..

    ReplyDelete
  5. same here sis.. which come to think of it, its the right thing to do before buying out any products.. hayyzz..

    culture na kasi natin eh..

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  6. Oh darn, I get that too! I'm always so shy to speak up when it comes to asking for samples. Pero actually I think we just have to get over the feeling. Skin Food Glorietta offered to give me samples except they didn't have pre-packaged ones. They asked me if I had a container so they could give me some. I'm planning to drop by and ask for samples of the salmon under eye concealer. Kasi naman, everything's so expensive now! We really need to speak up or our wallets will suffer hehe.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah, I feel the same way. Why is that? We deserve to sample something before spending our hard earned money right? Hmm, maybe next time, I'll just get over my fear and just ask!

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  8. Nung una, ganyan din ako. Pero, I took it as an opportunity para i-try ma-develop ang aking social skills. Hahahaha.

    Minsan, I still fail at nakaka-intimidate talaga ang mga sales ladies. Lalo na yung pipilitin ka talaga i-make-over. E medyo acne-prone pa naman ako.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Gosh! Same here girl. Ewan ko ba, nakaka-intimidate naman kasi ung mga saleslady..

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  10. i found this blog kasi naghahanap din ako ng samples online. i am so shy to ask sales people about their product kasi if you don't buy anything it is as if you wasted his/her time.

    so where do you girls get your free samples?

    is it really alright to ask for samples sa sales person? I mean, are the shops here ready for that request?

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear what you think!