Its a good time to shop for holiday gifts – fragrance sets are always popular as well as perhaps stock up on skincare. Brands to be found at the sale include Shu Uemura, Lancome, Biotherm, Polo Ralph Lauren fragrances and a whole host of other brands.

I’m not going but from previous experience – go early 8am is advisable so you get in quickly and get your stuff before it sells out. The queues will be long so wait your turn, don’t push and don’t say you weren’t warned!

Have fun!

So a friend and I decided to share in some purchases so we can get the gift with purchase for Estee Lauder. In the brochure, for pre-sale members day, we saw that the gifts with purchase were available for purchases RM350 and up and additional gifts at RM480.

When my friend went to purchase the items we wanted, she was told instead that the thresholds were RM320 and RM450 and not as printed. It made me wonder how they could have made such an error. Ok so it makes you want to buy more than you should but I guess if you are already buying something you want/need then its ok but not if it prompts you to buy more just to hit the mark.

That said, the gifts were pretty decent stuff and quite generous samples. I was quite impressed. I didn’t go for the presale but I might go towards the end of the sale when they have their Blue Advantage markdowns… or is that Blue Cross mark downs? I can’t remember.

The Isetan sale is on!

I saw some really cute swimwear when I went for the pre-sale last week. Ah… the benefits of being a member card holder! I did not pick up any – the crowds were too daunting for me to want to queue for the fitting rooms. And swimwear is such – you can’t just buy a swimsuit and hope for the best! You actually have to try it on.

Perhaps if I buy a new swim suit, I might get my mind off looking for the best weight loss pill and getting my butt off the chair and actually taking some exercise

Ultimately, it might be for the better!

Now, let me see when I’m free to check out the swim stuff again. I wonder if I even dare see myself in a swimsuit… or will I see a baby whale?

But sale or not, with the rising USD things aren’t all that cheap anymore. Many items on Sephora or otherwise are actually cheaper in Malaysia in terms of cosmetics. Gone are the days when it was more expensive to shop at the beauty halls of Malaysian department stores.

Factor in warehouse sales and you have a winning recipe. Which reminds me. There’s a L’oreal luxury warehouse sale this weekend. Want to join the madness? Feel free to queue!

I did not know about this one, but apparently, there is a Branded Cosmetics and Fragrances sale at The Weld held by Metrojaya. I don’t know what’s on offer.

During the previous Metrojaya warehouse sale, there were reports that Stila was on offer for rock bottom prices. Stila! Might it be available at this one too? I don’t know.

Don’t expect to see anything for vaginal dryness – that’s too specialized to be sold at a warehouse sale. Expect however to see lots of coffret sets of perfumes and maybe some cosmetics brands.

Venue: Event Hall, The Weld, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Feb 17-19, 2009
Time: 10am-7pm

Be warned that traffic is very heavy around this area especially during office hours.

I just got an SMS message telling me that if you use your Visa card, you will receive an additional 10% off. That’s a pretty good deal if you ask me. I’m not sure however if its ALL Visa cards or just restricted to one bank. The text message did not say.

I wonder if they have this oversize clutch that I have been eyeing from Banana Republic.

I absolutely love the colour – teal is so me!

Since Banana Republic is brought in by the same people who bring in La Senza perhaps I could pick up some discount lingerie too. Actually I’m more interested in the pyjamas. There were none to be had at the warehouse sale that fit (too big) or that I liked. Somehow those flimsy floaty see-through pieces just aren’t me. Give me a comfy pair of cotton jammies any day!

I didn’t get much from the sale – mostly Banana Republic leather accessories, because I’d been eyeing them in the store. I calculated that the discounts at the sale were about 60% off, which is a decent price. I’ve only seen it go for 60% off at the store once and even then also I bought quite a few things. However, this time, there’s that additional 10% off which makes it even sweeter of course.

Otherwise, I’m still tossing out those promo cards I get every now and then – how about you?

There was, and I was seriously tempted!! I saw this one (bagsnob):-

It was a rich deep red and was on sale for RM2600 for the smaller version. For a full leather bag from a leading luxury fashion brand, I was not overly shocked at the price, but thought it a great deal. The bag flaps over to close and I thought it very unique.

Serious temptation there!

Yes folks! Its that time again for the FJ Benjamin warehouse clearance sale. The last time I was there, I was one of the early birds and I only picked up 1 Banana Republic Dress at RM200. Not cheap.

However, I like going to this sale to pick up nice cheap(ish) La Senza underwear and pyjamas. I wonder if La Senza have wondered why their stores never seem to have people walking in to buy products. Its because everyone is waiting for the warehouse sale to stock up!! Haha…

I offered some tips for those planning to go shopping at clothes warehouse sales before but here’s another:-

• Try to wear contact lenses instead of glasses. In the process of pulling on clothes over your head in public and in the rush of trying on clothes so you can do some serious damage to your glasses. In the last sale I saw a girl’s glasses drop off her face while she pulled off the top she was trying on. Lucky for her it fell onto a soft pile of clothes or it would have been an expensive shopping trip!

This latest FJ Benjamin sale comes at a good time – just before Christmas so now’s a great time to pick up Christmas presents at discounted prices! Great especially for kids wear and watches and underwear.

The presale for HSBC credit card holders is on 28 November 2008 (additional 10% discount when paying with HSBC credit card) and the sale is open to the public on 29 and 30 November 2008.

Venue: Orchid Ballroom, Level 2 Parkroyal Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

Time: 10am-7pm

This time, I’m not queueing in the morning. I’ll just try my luck later in the day and maybe take the Monorail instead of driving because I can just imagine the traffic and the jams!

Good luck everyone who’s going!

When I got there, I was really happy because the digital signage showed that there was parking available outside. I also spotted a nice empty lot that no one was heading towards, so it was all good.

However, when I got into the mall, there was nothing to be seen at the concourse area. I thought I was mistaken, so I went downstairs where I knew there was an empty area for fairs and stuff. Still, nothing. Coming back upstairs, I asked at the information counter and was told that the sale was over!

What? What sort of sale was this?! I was very disappointed. There was no evidence that a sale was there at all. The are was empty of tables, people or products. Sigh… Must have only had what? 10 pairs of shoes to sell?