Psst. Wanna a tester?

Rebecca Clarke/nytimes.com

Word hit the hallways of my high school faster than a break-up rumor:  Clinique had a "really good" gift-with-purchase. Amazing stuff.  All the colors were perfect.  They are going to run out.  And it started yesterday.

There was an immediate calculation to be made: what could I purchase, for precisely $25, that would guarantee the mini blush/lipstick/perfume/comb and mirror set? And how fast could I get myself to Dillard's?

Not so much anymore.  Although there a lot of gift-with-purchases still out there, the free testers are harder to come by.  In fact, the complimentary trial size is nearing extinction.  And the quantities in the tester are usually laughably inadequate to "test".   Those carryout, ketchup-sized packets of conditioner are not going to cut it on this girl's curly mop.

This funny article in Sunday's New York Times  sums it all up well: we all love a freebie. And the cosmetics companies are on to us.