Personal Care
Buy and sell personal care items in Costa Rica.
In the weeks after Mother’s Day on 15 August, perfume and cream gift sets start turning up still in their cellophane: the second identical box someone received, or a scent that was never quite hers. They sit next to things that plug in and last for years, from hair dryers and straighteners to curling tongs, new and pre-owned. The two halves are judged differently. A tool is worth what it still does; a cosmetic is worth what is left in it and whether the seal is unbroken. And a straightener brought back from a trip to the United States works on Costa Rican sockets as it is.
Hair dryers and straighteners on 120-volt sockets:
Costa Rica runs on the same 120-volt, flat-pin supply as the United States, so a dryer bought on a trip north or sent by family there plugs straight in. One bought in Spain, or anywhere else on 220 to 240 volts, runs weakly or not at all unless the label beside the cord says dual voltage. Ask for a photo of that label before anything else. Past the plug, only a few things separate one tool from another in beauty tools and accessories. A straightener with adjustable heat suits fine or coloured hair better than one with a single hot setting, and wider plates get through long, thick hair faster. Ceramic plates heat gently and evenly; titanium heats faster and harder. A dryer that comes with a narrow concentrator nozzle and a diffuser covers both a smooth blow-dry and curls. Curling tongs and hot-air brushes sit in hair styling tools.
Cosmetics and fragrances are priced by the seal:
everything in cosmetics comes down to one question, opened or not. A boxed perfume or cream still in its cellophane is worth close to a new one, which makes sealed gift sets the best second-hand buys in the whole category. Once opened, the value drops hard, and for anything that touches lips or eyes it drops further, because nobody can tell how it was handled. Lipstick, mascara and foundation from make-up are rarely worth buying used. Perfume is the exception: a bottle from fragrances sells by how much is left, and a nearly full bottle of a scent you already know is a fair buy.
Reading the batch code and testing the plates:
turn the product over. The small open-jar symbol marked 12M or 24M counts the months it lasts once opened, so ask when it was opened. A printed expiry date or batch code on the base tells you its age, and on a boxed perfume the code on the box should match the one on the bottle. Copies give themselves away with loose or doubled-over cellophane, blurred printing, a sprayer that spits instead of misting, and a price far below what sealed bottles fetch. A bottle marked tester is genuine but comes in a plain box or none, and should be priced that way. Ask where it was kept, too: perfume left in a car’s glovebox over a beach weekend turns sooner than one kept in a drawer. A tool needs to be seen running. A straightener should heat up within a couple of minutes with no burning smell, and the plates should be smooth, because a chipped or peeling coating snags hair. Flex the cord where it enters the handle and at the swivel, where it frays first, and listen for a dryer motor that rattles or cuts out.
The gift set you got twice, and the dryer you replaced:
photograph the box from every side with light catching the cellophane, then the base with its code. Buyers want proof that it is sealed and genuine, and opening it to show what is inside gives away most of its value. For an opened perfume, shoot the bottle against a window so the level shows, and say how long you have had it. For a tool, photograph the voltage label, the plates or air intake, and every attachment, and say whether it came from a trip abroad or was bought here, with the receipt if you kept it. Duplicates pile up after 15 August and Christmas, but people looking for a present search in the weeks before, and a sealed set keeps. Someone driving in from Nicoya or San Ramón for one will check the wrapping at your door, so leave it exactly as it arrived.