2021 Kens Apothecary Family & Friends Sale

Saw the IG story about the upcoming sale early on. Because it's still a pandemic, you have to sign up for a time slot. By the time I did sign up, the best I can do is like Friday morning (started Thursday - I'm guessing VIPs and personal shoppers got on that faster than I could) and added another on Saturday morning in case I couldn't make it Friday. 

When I got to their offices, all I had to do was let them check my name off the list. At least this time it was more spread out than just the size of a conference room. Diptyque selection was pretty slim pickings for me personally, but ok if you wanted to get the last Christmas holiday stuff. 

Spent most of my time there sniffing and testing out the Goutal fragrances on sale. I had so many scents sprayed on both arms, I nearly gave myself a headache. 

Only came away with a 50ml Le Temps des Rêves EDT (a more recent one, if what I've Googled is right, but at RM198...sigh, inflation) and a pimple gel LOL 

Kens Apothecary Family & Friends Sale

Because I have adblockers on, I didn't know until pretty late that a Family & Friends Sale was announced a couple weeks ago (I think?) via FB ad from a commentor on my previous post about this sale. 

Also because there's a pandemic going on, they're requiring people to sign up before going via webform so their office doesn't get swamped. By the time I found the webform (on other social media platforms), the best time slot I could go was like Monday afternoon cos a lot of people beat me to it already. So what the heck, I signed up for that.

As the week went on, I realised that I probably couldn't make it on Monday.

So when I was in the area on Sunday afternoon (rescheduled and rerouted massage appointment, long story), I went by their office (where the sale was happening) to see if I could talk my way into the sale after said appointment, which was 5 something p.m. by that point. I knew that they were ready to call it another day by then, but I figured I wasn't going to be long and there were other people too. I explained to the people at the door that I already signed up for Monday but cannot make it then. Lucky someone (I think) kinda recognised from my store skulking and waved me in?   

Left with my wallet still intact cos it's pretty slim pickings at this point (it's been a few days, they started on Thursday? and probably got beaten to it by personal shoppers): there was only Caudalie, By Terry, some REN products, some Sachajuan, Jack Black (no relation to the actor, I think). The only Goutal scent left was Eau d'Hadrien, which I recalled was citrus-y AF, so passed on that. The diptyque selection was even sadder; it was mostly stuff like stationery, pouches, scented sticks (?)... which was just as well, because I can't buy any more fragrances until I use what I have up, which is going to be awhile, based on my track record.

2020 Valiram Family & Friends Sale

This week they sent out emails (which you had to have signed up for either at a previous warehouse sale, I think) announcing the upcoming, multi-day Family & Friends "Private Sale" (in the broadest sense of the phrase), happening at the Ritz-Carlton. The catch is that because there's still a pandemic going on, they still need to do social distancing and attendees have to make an appointment (pick one of 4 time slots any day of the sale), get the email confirmation, etc, to go. The first time slot (Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon) were fully taken up, which was to be expected. Long story short, I decided I only had time to go Sunday afternoon (12.30 - 2.30 p.m.), cos I ain't nuts enough to go Sunday morning after waking up early the day before. 

So when I waddled my way to the Ritz, there wasn't much of a line outside, but checking in took a while cos had to do a MySejahtera scan, they have to scan the QR on your confirmation email, seal your bags, that whole thing. 

The sale wasn't so much in one banquet room (usually the case in the before-times), but spread out over 2 floors of banquet rooms and halls at the Ritz cos they've got the space? (face it, no one's having their MICE or wedding events in this pandemic). It was a single flow direction, like how IKEA is, minus the handy shortcuts.

Everyone was crowding the second floor because it's the first place you see. I decided to try my luck and went straight to the top floor and work my way down. There wasn't a line in any of the rooms I went to check out, so I didn't have to waste time in line to go in. If you're looking for bags and what not, you go to the top. 

Didn't take too many pictures cos there was a lot to take in, and I'm not sure how the organisers would feel about it. But that didn't stop the personal shoppers, etc.  

Most of the brands I was looking for was on the top floor in one of the larger rooms. Surprisingly they had Longchamp this time, but it's mostly old seasonal items and great if you're looking for a larger Le Pliage bags or whatever. The F&B brands (TWG, Godiva, etc) caught my eye, but not my wallet. 

The second floor was some skincare and cosmetics, other odds and ends. There was a room selling Swarovski I think, but I didn't make it there cos after lining up for what seems like forever, only for me to be in and out in less than a minute was tiring. Different rooms had different crowd management styles - one room did the "one in, one out", another did timed entry... it was exhausting, even with masks on. 

I mostly went in with the cuci mata mindset, ready to walk away empty handed, etc. As I was getting ready to leave the big room, I saw my current wallet but in different colour (from 2019 F/W season), which I didn't see in the first pass but otherwise had been actively looking for for months. I couldn't pass it up, because I was told that it was also the "last piece" . So I'm that much poorer today. 

By the time I went down one floor, there was a line formed outside the large room I was in. Haha. 

Was told by the guy who sold me the wallet that they're replenishing stocks in a couple of days, so maybe if you want to go (first time or not), there's always then? I dunno if I can muster up the energy (and credit limit) to go again. 

PS.

1. They make people choose timeslots to come; how they know if the people who were there earlier had left or not? Cos it felt like more than 300 people were in there lor...

Kens Apothecary Warehouse Sale

If you have champagne taste and budget, then you might be familiar with Kens Apothecary.

But if you're like me (champagne taste, ais kosong budget), you can't bring yourself to spend so much on the brands they carry. 

Anyhow, word of this year's warehouse sale made the rounds on social media last week.

So I made my way to their offices at Solaris Mont Kiara and got there around 10.45 a.m... ish. It was easier to park downstairs in the basement parking since it's about the same price (RM2 for first 2 hours) as the street parking outside (RM1 per hour). 

By the time I got there (this was still before 11 a.m.), I was behind a mother and her two grown daughters. My guess is that they already started letting people in before we got there, but that's their prerogative. I probably waited almost 20 minutes outside before I was inside the sale because they were doing one in, one out. There was quite a line behind me. And they gave out tiny bottles of water because it was stuffy even out in the corridor of the offices. 

It's only several brands: Goutal, diptyque, REN, by Terry and Caudalie. They've put a hard limit on Caudalie (one item per person), but everything else was fair game. 

I still haven't finished the diptyque fragrances from the last warehouse sale, so I spent most of my time perusing the Goutal offerings. There wasn't much room inside, let alone any elbow space for anyone to post pictures of the items and prices online. I was in there probably over an hour. 

It took at least another 10 minutes for me to pay my ONE item because a couple of people ahead of me bought baskets full of stuff and they were writing up receipts BY HAND. It was annoying AF cos it was getting stuffy inside as well and I didn't want to pay extra for parking (I had about 15 minutes to spare). The line was still going when I left. Bernie Chan got ushered in by one of the staff and didn't have to queue. Good thing I left when I did cos I certainly didn't want to wait until the second half at 2 p.m. 

TL; DR - I only bought a L'ile Au Thé (citrusy green tea) EDT (RP: RM480, paid RM144) because I thought Eau D'Hadrien smelt too lemony. 

Kitchenaid warehouse sale

The local Kitchenaid distributor (West Metric) put out a FB post last week announcing a WAREHOUSE SALE today. 

Knowing how kiasu people can be when it comes to these things, I woke up at an ungodly hour on a rainy Saturday and got there a little after 9 a.m. and I was line, a couple shops away (just guessing, cos I joined the line and didn't see the other end). I don't even want to know what time the first people got in line at. 

Luckily waiting in line wasn't a boring experience as I made small talk with the ladies behind me. Order chits also made the rounds, so that's how we know what was for sale but not the prices, which was very shrewd of them. So we still had to wait in line to find that out.

They were limiting the number of people due to space constraints (one out, one in). Which is probably just as well because it won't do anyone any good if they just let everyone in all at once. 

Apparently they had enough stock for a warehouse sale because they want to sell off the items with cosmetic defects, etc that they can't sell at full price for. Which is great if you don't mind, but comes at a cost of the warranty...? Correct me if I'm wrong. 

So close, yet so far... 

Waited about 45 minutes before I finally went into the sale (this point, the line behind was almost to the end of the block). The Artisan stand mixers were cheaper at RM1,999 but they were mostly the candy coloured ones. I mostly wanted to see if the food chopper was available - they were, but only in beige and red for RM399 which is cheaper than the RM549 retail price, but not cheap enough to just settle for any ol' colour. So I was one of the many that came away empty handed (which you must be ready to do and accept when you go to a warehouse sale). 

Valiram, Anya Hindmarch Family and Friends Sales in KL

Last week, I took a early lunch break to drive down to KL's Golden Triangle to check out both the Valiram and Anya Hindmarch's Friends and Family sales in both the J.W. Marriott and the Westin hotels respectively. 

Knowing that I'll be in and out pretty quickly, I parked at the one place I know with the cheapest first (and second hour, tops) hour parking rate: Wisma Genting. I caught a passing GOKL bus to go around Pavilion (haha) and hopped off at the next stop: the standalone Sephora store on the other side, which is the next stop for a few GOKL lines. 

As both the Marriott and Westin are next to each other, I stopped by the Marriott first to check out the Valiram sale. 

Valiram sale: At least they had the sense to have it at a ballroom downstairs because walking in the front door, you would have no idea that there's a warehouse sale going on. And then you see the chaos as you go down the stairs... It didn't take long to go in, it just took awhile for the people at the entrance to secure everyone's bags with plastic bags and zip ties. I only had a few brands I wanted to check out (Kate Spade, Tumi, TWG and Godiva was 40% off). When I didn't find anything I want, I went out through the no-purchase exit because the line to pay was long and slow moving. Also, it looked like the same stuff from last year's sale, so yeah... 

Walked down the road some more to the Westin for the... 

Anya Hindmarch sale: Got a text about the one-day sale the week before, with a phone number attached, which was probably a huge hint because by the time I got there, a lot of things were already (presumably) reserved, bagged and ready for pick up by people who had the sense to call said phone number. Which leaves very little left for the rest of us who wanted to try our luck. 

If nothing else, there's usually a refreshment area outside at these sales where one can help themselves to coffee, a variety of Twinings teas, water and a selection of cookies. So I  helped myself to some tea bags, had a cappuccino, some of the cookies, topped up my water bottle and left. 

While I was getting caffeinated on their dime, someone walked up, thinking it was the Valiram sale. I told that person that that sale was up the road. I imagine there must be a few sesat people that day. 

The most exertion I had was walking back to Wisma Genting via Pavilion. 

Despite all that, I only paid RM2 in parking, so yay!