IT'S IN THE BAG MAKEUP FREEBIES ENTICING.

Byline: Candice Choi Staff Writer

``Free gift with purchase.''

It's the magical phrase that sends legions of women stampeding to department stores for a nifty bag full of cosmetics.

``I'm such a sucker for this stuff,'' said Maxine Yellin, a West Hills resident who trekked recently to Nordstrom in Canoga Park for an Estee Lauder bag. ``I don't even know what this is,'' Yellin said as she turned over a sleek, gold-trimmed compact included in the bag. ``But it looks like it could cost a lot of money.''

Thus, the powerful spell ``free'' gift bags have cast on women like Yellin for decades continues to intrigue.

Upscale cosmetics companies partner with department stores to offer a ``free gift with purchase'' promotion. All shoppers have to do for the coveted prize is buy something at a minimum price.

Word of the free bag spreads like wildfire.

``People start telling their friends and mothers,'' said Mary Beth Tundrea, director of global marketing and promotions at Clinique.

That frenzy and excitement created around the brand is critical, Tundrea said, especially in a competitive market constantly flooded with new skin creams and lotions.

Tundrea declined to say how much of Clinique's annual sales the twice yearly promotions generate, but said they are ``very healthy'' in supporting the business. More importantly, the promotions give Clinique a platform to test new products.

``Sometimes I find new creams I like,'' said Alys Clark, a Tarzana resident who alerts her mother whenever she gets wind of a gift bag promotion. ``And the samples are great for traveling.''

The promise of a gift bag can also be the extra push for women debating whether to shell out high prices for brand names, said Brian Connett, professor of marketing at California State University, Northridge.

``When the price of the product is high, a slight inducement can be enough to tip the scale,'' he said.

Clark, who uses only a $25 cream blush from Estee Lauder, was even trying to figure out what else she could buy at the Estee Lauder counter to meet the $35 minimum to snag a gift.

The giveaways are also a way to keep a brand name at the ``front and center'' of a customer's mind, said Michael Tomlin, professor of marketing at California State University, Long Beach.

And since the margin of profit for pricey lotions is high, Connett said, manufacturers easily recoup the cost of the promotion.

The allure of getting something for free is obvious.

Whenever something ``free'' is included, Tomlin said, customers feel they're beating the system. ``They feel like they're getting more than they paid for.''

It's so powerful, in fact, that some women learn to buy only when a company is having its seasonal promotion, said Deborah Cours, a professor of marketing at CSUN. Connett said his wife even waits for Lancome to have promotions, at which point she stocks up on gift bags - and the stuff she normally uses anyway.

The ``smart ones'' don't fall for it, Yellin said. Yet, even while acknowledging she has drawers full of cosmetics she doesn't use, Yellin said the idea of getting the gift bag is just fun. ``It's like you're not really paying for it.''

Candice Choi, [phone]

candice.choi(at)dailynews.com

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) During its Bonus Time campaign, cosmetics giant Clinique is giving away a gift bag, top, full of makeup with every purchase. Above, Monica Perez, a consultant at the Clinique counter at Robinsons-May in Northridge, applies a new shade of lipstick for customer Martha Nuerta of Northridge.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer