Blackburn + Sweetzer Has Moved

Newman posing with the gratis product

So, today was the day when department stores had to give away free beauty product to the public as payback for a class action suit for price fixing, one product per store. I hit up all the department stores within walking distance—Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s at the Beverly Center and Nordstrom at The Grove—and left with the product above: Lancome Hypnose shower gel, Coco Mademoiselle body lotion and Lancome Fatale mascara.

Exterior Bloomingdale’s

Got to Bloomingdale’s first around 1:30pm, where I waited the longest. The line started outside the second level, went straight to the back of the store, and then snaked right. Probably 20 minutes in line. Everywhere, the fragrance went first.

Interior Bloomingdale’s

Next up, Macy’s. Line also started outside the store, and veered left immediately, but, have to say, Macy’s really had their sh*t together. Was in and out of there in five minutes. I did overhear at least one woman double-dipping at Macy’s. She was in line at Bloomie’s and said she’d already gotten product at Macy’s, and then I saw her back in line at Macy’s behind me. But really, no one was checking, so you probably could’ve done this until someone noticed—that is, as long as the thought of getting caught wasn’t totally humiliating.

I then went over to Nordstrom at The Grove. I was dawdling a little, so didn’t get there until 3pm or so. The line went alongside and past the escalator in the middle of the first floor. Likely waited 10 minutes. Overall, the giveaway seemed pretty well organized and efficient, and less fattening than indulging in free Krispy Kreme.

» Beauty—$175 Million Worth of Free Product!