Like shooting fish in a barrel

There's a really funny headline from The Onion that I read once where it talks about intelligent women being fooled by mascara companies. And that even though intelligent women should know that all mascara is the same, we always seem to loose our shiz over the newest, non-clumping, extendo-lash, doll-face, waterproof mascara that comes out.

This is how I feel every day of my life. And every day, despite knowing that cosmetics probably come from a Simpsons-esque factory where all the goop comes from the same vats, I am always craving, the newest and "best" products.

Duff, Duff Lite and Duff Dry; this is probably what the Proctor and Gamble factory looks like.

My most recent embarrassing experience comes at the hands of Philosophy, at first I thought they were just a bubble bath manufacturer, (don't even get me started on those) but a while ago I got a Philosophy sample package with my Beauty Insider points at Sephora. (If you aren't signed up for that yet, you probably should! It's free and even if you don't shop there often, you get a really nice gift on your birthday!)

I digress. I got this sample package that included a teensy sampling of their facial moisturizer, Hope in a Jar. When I started using it, despite feeling the same feelings as I felt while using my old and regular Clinique face cream, I was convinced that God Himself delivered this Hope in a Jar to my face and that if I didn't continue using it forever, I would be doomed to have bad skin.

I obsessed over buying this stuff, and once my sample began to run low, I marched into Sephora with the express interest of buying this goop. (Those of you familiar with Philosophy products will probably have an idea where this story is going.)

I was completely FLABBERGASTED to discover that not only is Hope in a Jar the most precious gem of face cream that I have ever had the pleasure to experience, but it almost costs as much as a precious gem would too.

SEVENTY-EIGHT...78...7....8....$78. For 120mL of product. Too much for my budget and too much for me to even think of spending on face goop. So I hopelessly went home, (har, har, see what I did there?) sans face cream and decided I would just have to make due with what I have.

I wish I could say that was the end of my story, but it's not.

As soon as my sample was completely empty -- I had squeezed the last squeeze of moisturizer on to my face -- I went back to Sephora, resolute.

I compromised and bought the smaller amount for a lesser amount of money. It was probably a better deal to buy the bigger one for $78, but I couldn't bear to tell myself that as an intelligent girl, I spent 80 bucks on face goop.