‘At least it’s free’: Sephora shopper receives Laneige birthday reward. Then she opens the box

This Sephora customer got a gift that left her wanting more. Now, people are seemingly gaslighting her in the comment section.

Plenty of places offer birthday gifts, discounts, or perks when you come in on your birthday or during your birthday month.

Restaurants will often give you a free dessert, clothing stores tend to offer a time-sensitive discount, and beauty spots may provide a small product.

At its core, it's just another sales tactic to get you to spend. You're already there for your birthday gift, so you're more likely to make an add-on purchase. Or it's a way to build brand loyalty so you spend with them in the future.

Either way, it tends to work.

But it's not so good for business when you're very obviously stingy with what you give out.

Sephora customer shocked by birthday gift

In a viral video with more than 647,000 views, content creator Cecilia Marie Menendez (@ceciliamariemenendez) was excited to get her Sephora birthday gift—a trio of skin and lip products from Laniege, a high-end brand.

But when she flipped over the lip mask, she felt deceived by the packaging.

Instead of the receptacle part where the product goes, extending all the way to the bottom of the jar, it only took up maybe a fourth of the area, and that's being generous.

"Here you go, I hope you're hungry—for nothing," the viral audio played.

While Menendez was obviously disappointed, she pointed out a positive: "I mean it’s free…"

In response to commenters who claimed the product lasted super long, she said, "I feel like it’s only gonna last me so long because I’m gonna be so scared to actually use it."

What is the Sephora birthday gift?

As long as you're signed up with Sephora as a Beauty Insider, you get a free gift during your birthday month.

There are usually at least two gift sets from different brands to choose from. The options tend to be makeup, hair care, a fragrance, or skincare. The product size is often larger than a sample, but smaller than a full size product—closer to a travel size.

Right now, you can choose between a Kerastase hair set and a Juliette Has a Gun perfume.

If you go in person, you can pick up your gift without buying anything, but to get it delivered, you must spend at least $25.

This isn't the first time a Sephora shopper was disappointed by the birthday reward. In February, one customer picked up her Amika reward in store, only to realize the package was completely empty.

Viewers were divided

"It's so tiny but it lasted me like 3 months," a top comment read.

"They last a year if you use the appropriate amount," a person said.

"A tenth of an ounce of product lasts 365 days???" Menendez responded.

"The gaslighting is crazy," a viewer said, referring to the comments section.

@ceciliamariemenendez I mean it’s free…???? #sephora #birthdaygift #laneige ♬ original sound - M.M.

The Daily Dot reached out to Menendez for comment via TikTok direct message. We also reached out to Sephora and Laniege via email.

Internet culture is chaotic—but we’ll break it down for you in one daily email. Sign up for the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter here. You’ll get the best (and worst) of the internet straight into your inbox.

Sign up to receive the Daily Dot’s Internet Insider newsletter for urgent news from the frontline of online.

The post ‘At least it’s free’: Sephora shopper receives Laneige birthday reward. Then she opens the box appeared first on The Daily Dot.