Tuesday, February 3, 2009

On paying $20 for face wash

I swear, I am not a cosmetics girl. I am a pretty strict mascara-and-that's-it kind of person, and that's only if I'm leaving the house. Lip balm? Use it before going to bed, and occasionally during the day if I find myself biting my lips.

No eyeshadow/eyeliner (Well, not anyMORE. In high school, you could have found my nightmarish self wearing navy blue eyeshadow [applied with my fingertips, I'll have you know--NOT WITH A BRUSH] and gray liquid eyeliner...oh my GOD, next time I wonder why the boys weren't lined up outside my door, all I need to do is look at my 10th grade school picture).

No blush/lipstick/foundation (Sorry to be all "I'm only in my mid-20s," but do people under 40 wear this stuff on a regular basis? I mean, I've got blotchy-ass skin and, in the winter, my natural lip color resembles my sunless calves; not a pretty sight. But I can't even type the word "blush" without feeling like it is either 1988 or I am a middle-aged woman).

My "makeup bag" is a hilarious jumble of crap I've gotten from drugstores in the 75% bin over the last 10 years (and yes, I said TEN YEARS. I know most of this shit has gone bad/discolored, but I BOUGHT IT ONCE, and considering that I've probably only used <5% of the stuff, I can't bear to throw it out yet). And it's all pretty cheap crap. We're talking Maybelline, Cover Girl, Wet n Wild (no, actually, I think I tossed out the black Halloween Wet n Wild lipstick that I bought when I was SERIOUSLY in fourth grade). I once had an expensive $27 lipstick that I bought on my wedding day at the salon where my mother-in-law paid for me to have my makeup done.

And lost it that day, somewhere in the abyss of wedding ephemera.

So, MY POINT is that I don't pay money for cosmetics. Not real money, anyway. And I don't really use them.

But last night found me at JC Penneys (HA! HA! I said "JC Penneys!" Yes, folks, it is still in business), snaking around in the Sephora sub-store, looking for philosophy purity face wash.

Sephora is apparently suffering for business (? ? ?) and has teamed up with still-relevant Penneys (? ? ?) to use up some of that 90%-off holiday clearance rack space to create a separate little enclave, WITHIN Penneys, to peddle their overpriced cosmetics. They have their own salesgirls (who are much more attractive than your typical Penneys employee) and, NATURALLY, you can't use all those "$10 off $10" coupons Penneys ships out to drum up biz.

My mother-in-law, TWO YEARS AGO, got me a sample kit of philosophy stuff for Christmas. The purity face wash had been bumbling around in my travel bag for months and I finally started using it. And blotchy old me suddenly found A NEW BEST FRIEND! Bye bye, Dove and Neutrogena! I'm a BIG GIRL NOW!

Of course, since I DIDN'T BUY THE SAMPLE FOR MYSELF, I had no idea how expensive my new buddy was. $20 for 8 ounces. TWENTY DOLLARS! Y'all, I used to make my face wash selections at Target based on whether or not I felt "flush" enough to spend $6.09 rather than $5.50.

Gateway drug!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

I washed our cars with organic dish soap. It's a slippery slope. Pennance = a year of Dial and Dawn.

Anonymous said...

kris- i can relate. you left that Origins facewash months and months ago, and when you didn't take it back (months ago) i decided I'd start using it. well that 1.something ounces lasted me months and now i'm finally out. so i went to Macy's to see how much more of it would cost and it's basically $20 for 8 ounces too. I just walked away like, "umm... i'll think about it" but now i can't imagine going back to dove!! ahh.

momtrina said...

The crotch slam - really, was that necessary??? I felt really bad for the camera dude who probably got his face flattened by the camera!

Anonymous said...

i feel the same way about clinique. However, if you divided the $35 moisture surge moisturizer cost over 12 months, it's acutally a steal!

emcathow said...

I was going to tell you to not feel so bad, because I bought Bobbi Brown cream face wash for 24 bucks last month, but then I remembered I used a belk gift card for it.

Does it make you feel any better that I bought bobbi brown soothing face tonic, vitamin enriched moisturizer, and anti-aging serum (3 products) for like 150 dollars in Sept? Even if you divide it by the 6 months I've been able to use it IT'S NOT OKAY. You'd expect this from me, product whore, however.

kristine said...

Emily--anti aging serum? Dude, you're a spring chicken!