Duty free shopping

All those times when I went to the airports on domestic travels, browsing through duty free stores, feeling sad they are not available with my boarding pass. Argh!!!

However, not all duty free stores have good collection/offers. One of my friends asked to get her a L'Oréal mascara when I went on a vacation to Paris. Surprisingly they are quite cheaper in drugstores in London which are always in some kind of offer. Definitely worth checking the prices before splurging in duty free.

Having said that, we could still get good deals on few products in duty free shops not to mention avoiding hassles of handling vat refund forms and additional benefit of extra luggage allowance. 

Listed below my duty free experiences.

Ferry from Paris to London:

If anyone planning a trip to Paris from London, I would suggest them to take ferry at least one way. This travel method is most time consuming (about 10-12 hours), not so cost effective (almost same price as flight or Eurostar if booked in advance) and tiring especially on night travel - first stop for border check about 2 hours after commencing the journey, about an hour later transfer to ferry, after 2-3 hours in ferry back to bus and another 2-3 hours to reach destination.
However, sipping coffee on deck watching ferry crossing is quite unique experience and if time is not a constraint, day time journey might be better as we get to relax before exploring the city next day.

Also, duty free on the ferry is the cheapest I came across. I got a Chanel mademoiselle body spray for about 25£ and Dior lippy for about 22£. 
Still regret not grabbing that L'Oréal mascara for 5£ which is lesser than drug store in London where it retails for 7£. Couldn't find that variant in Paris Orly airport duty-free collection where min price is 15 or 16€. They do have some travel exclusive kits with eye pencil and mascara for about 20€. 

Barcelona airport:

Couldn't find any good deals in Barcelona airport on cosmetics. So picked few local specialities. A box of chocolates, 250 ml bottle of olive oil and a bottle of sangria (not in photograph as I gifted it to a friend) costed about 12-13€.

Heathrow airport:


At the brink of crossing luggage allowance limit, duty free shop is the smart(only) choice to get 1-2 kg packs of chocolates and perfumes. Not only I get to keep the extra bag in my hand baggage with my precious perfume in my sight, I also save time waiting in queue at the store to get the form and again at the airport to submit it.

Had to skip chocolates as I already have too much hand luggage (thanks to 25kg allowance) and instead got some Scottish shortbread and skittles from WH Smith just before boarding the plane.

Coming to perfumes, after what seemed like endless series of trails, I narrowed it down to ysl Mon Paris, Dior poison girl and Este Lauder modern muse. Then I saw this new arrival - Miss Dior absolutely blooming and it found its way into my bag.

My strong resolution not to buy any makeup especially lip products was shattered when I saw Mac for 13.3£. It didn't feel like great save, however, crème in your coffee is my wish list ever since I wanted to buy Mac (my first Mac is verve though). 

Comments

  1. ava27 September 2016 at 06:16

    Haha.. I'm winning this bet too many times sis.. anyways.. good start.. all the very best on ya new hobby. Keep going.!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shilpa27 September 2016 at 16:50

      I remember saying Mac is an exception😜

      Delete
    2. Shilpa27 September 2016 at 16:50

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete

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