CHENNAI : I like to think of myself, by (most) means, a careful shopper. If something doesn’t fit into my dwindling budget or my overcrowded make-up drawers, I won’t buy it. As a result, my wardrobe is (nearly) streamlined. My beauty products are (mostly) essentials. My willpower is a force to reckon with. Gleefully, until I find myself during a long layover, after an even longer flight — at a duty-free shop.
Airport architects are geniuses. Still groggy from contortionist naps, beedy-eyed with a massive handbag in-tow — stepping into a duty-free feels like heaven on earth. Look, there’s Guerlain! Bobbi Brown! La Mer! All calling me in, gently luring me in to soothe a little kink in the neck, bags under my eyes. Wittingly, I let them try. And by ‘let’ them; I mean shell out an unreasonable amount of money on them.
Sure, you could say some of these purchases are justifiable. Like how perfumes are like 40 per cent cheaper at duty-free, and when they stopped selling a particular strobe cream in India for a short period. Other purchases, like an oil cleanser (made me break out), an ocean water hair spray (nice but unnecessary), is where the problem lies.
I blame my weakened self control and highly questionable decision-making to the delirium that finds a home in me after stumbling out of a 6-hour flight with dangerously low-humidity. There’s just something about being stuck in a highly pressurised metal coffin, finding yourself back on solid ground, and taking a long, hard look in a mirror. Emphatically, you realise that you really, honestly, truly NEED these products more than anything else in your life.
Duty-free beauty gets me each time. Maybe it’s these tricky time zones — you wake up at 4 am, fly for 10 hours, only to land in a place where it’s barely 11 in the afternoon! This is more than enough for me to suspend any belief in reality, and my decisions are of very, very little consequence. Give me two hours at an airport and I’ll fit in a shower, avocado toast, Chinese herbal remedies, placenta face cream and half my salary on a limited edition eyeshadow palette.
On my last holiday, I was left with all this currency that’s hard to sell back for dollars or INR. Best part? Duty Free accepts it at the LEGAL rate — so I had essentially $400 in international currency, which means that I got every item from La Mer and Bobbi Brown plus a free cosmetic bag. No really, you should come to my bathroom (I’ll keep asking) because right now it looks more luxurious than it has ever been.
I’m taking a long-hard look at duty-free prices as I plan my forthcoming trip. Are they making up prices and then removing tax? Are some in-store offers better than it being tax-free? Are they fumigating all flights with mind-altering sprays, inducing us to buy things we don’t really need?? Or is my mind just reeling from confusing currency conversions??? Any and all answers are welcome here!