SITTING down to wrap her Christmas presents, Mel Rose scans the contents of her bathroom cabinet to see what she can dish out to her nearest and dearest.
Mel, 40, refuses to spend any money on shop bought gifts this year because she sees it as a total waste of her hard-earned cash.
The single mum says: “Spending hundreds of pounds on friends is nothing short of ridiculous.
“It's why, for the last few years, I’ve been very creative when it comes to my Christmas gift list.
“No one loves receiving presents more than me. In my world it’s perfectly acceptable to spend a fortune on friends on their birthday. But at Christmas? We are adults.”
Instead of forking out her hard-earned cash on expensive gifts this Christmas, she sends items she’s pilfered instead.
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She hoovers up the complimentary toiletries from the hotels she stays in when she travels for work or when she goes on holiday.
Three years ago, and with her stash increasing, Mel started to gift what she’d taken to friends and she plans to do the exact same this year.
“I’m lucky to work in a job where I get to travel,” says Mel, an executive assistant.
“This year I’ve been to the south of France on five occasions. I took my son on holiday for three weeks and managed to get more toiletries than I could ever possibly use. So why not gift them?
“Another hotel I stayed at had gorgeous L'Occitane products. I took them all.
“And a different place left Nuxe products in the bathroom - I lifted them too.”
And if they don’t like it, Mel is extremely ruthless: “If anyone was to pull me up on it, I would have no hesitation in cutting them out of my life,” she explains.
“No one knows the difference between freebees and a genuine Christmas beauty hamper so why not send what I have?”
Mel says others go OTT at this time of year, especially at a time when money is tighter for many than ever before.
“The festive season is about families coming together,” she argues. “It shouldn’t be about the ever increasingly wildly ridiculous amounts we splurge on ourselves or panic buy on others.
“Not to mention the insane numbers of presents we buy for our kids. Those same little darlings who usually end up playing with the boxes or paper their plastic tat came in and having far more fun with it.”
The mum, who has a son who is seven, is equally as frugal when it comes to receiving gifts at Christmas.
She explains: “I do tell everyone not to buy me anything. And every September they reply – too late! I’ve already got you something. That’s why I adopted a “that will do” mantra.
“I have a poke around my bathroom cabinet. I don’t like regifting as it’s too tacky and while some might see what I gift as a naff little hotel shower gel with a gift bow on it – I justify it to myself as: “it’s the thought that counts.”
“Presents are an insane invention. You only have to look online at Vinted or eBay on Boxing Day. All those gifts being sold on makes me think that Christmas shopping is a mug’s game.
“In the past I’ve been like everyone else. I’ve bought beauty hampers in sales throughout the year. I’d be cross with myself in the process because I knew it was a waste of money.
“Yes, I can afford to spend £20 on a basic beauty set – but why should I?
“That’s why I pop a few bottles of shampoo, conditioner or soap into a gift bag and present sorted.”
Mel doesn’t see herself as a cheapskate either because the freebies she gets her hands on are usually high-end items.
She adds: “Nothing says “season’s greetings scrooge” louder than "your presents are cr*p" does it?
"But in my defence, all those fancy bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body lotion and whatnot are just the same as the staples in those OTT often three-figure priced beauty advent calendars.
“I’m just turning the table and using the beauty industry to serve my needs.
“In the past I have done the same with those goodie bags you get when you go to posh dos. Why is this any different? It's the thought - not where it came from - that counts.”
And Mel has no qualms about her pilfering while some of her friends have followed her lead: “Whenever I have felt guilty about taking stuff, I remind myself that the room has been paid for - it wasn’t free.
“Friends do go that bit further. One has taken a dressing gown and slippers which she gave me last Christmas. At first I was taken back but then thought - why not?
“The dress gown is a gorgeous white cotton waffle one and the slippers are pristine.
“That's why I would never be offended if someone gifted me products they had half-inched from a hotel.
“This is 2023 when the cost of living crisis means that some of us have to watch every penny. It is obscene and utterly unjustifiable to get into debt.
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“It’s grotesque that adults even expect presents in the first place.
“If you don’t make freebies work for you – then more fool you.”
