Day 16: Free Cotton!

Maybe I'm too much of a brand whore or a consumer snob, but I hardly buy stuff from Skin Food, The Face Shop, and other cheaper places for lotion, face wash, etc. However, I will buy shampoo or hand cream from these places, simply because the Olive Young no longer carries my brand. Anyway, I remember when I first came to Korea and saw all these ladies standing outside the stores trying to get others to come inside. I was surprised how they would grab the arms of other women and virtually drag them inside the store, often against the expressed will of the customers. In America we have a word for that: Felony. But I suppose in Korea it's just friendly marketing. But what also surprises me if that these places will often give you free stuff just for walking into the store, and it's yours even if you don't buy anything. Such is the case with the little box in the picture above. The first time I saw it I got all excited, because who wouldn't be excited at the prospects of something free in a box? But when I opened the box to find squares of cotton inside, the excitement quickly vanished. It wasn't until I started using toner on my face, which comes only in liquid form, that I started to see the rationale behind the boxes of cotton. Sure, you could use toilet paper or tissues, but that costs money. By simply walking into a store and obtaining free cotton, one can significantly cut down on the amount of money they spend on tissues for toner. Now I use toner twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. But women who use makeup on a daily basis, especially Korean women who, at times, shovel it on, they could go through a thing of tissues in a week. These free boxes of cotton, though, could save these ladies, and your occasional man, some money. All one needs to do is walk into one of these stores, not even buy anything, and the box of cotton is theirs.