The saying goes that with age you get more stuff. Well, have you noticed that you tend to accumulate more product too? Yeah, product; that stuff we buy to slather, lather and rub into our skin, hair, cuticles and scalp. The stuff we get to color, scent and cleanse our bodies and faces.
The stuff that promises to rejuvenate, thicken, rehydrate, stimulate, volumize, moisturize and refresh. And all of the paraphernalia that goes with it. Want to soak your feet? Well you'll need a foot bath, paraffin tub, pumice stone, foot brush, "footloose and fizzy" foot soak, foot creme and moisturizing socks to put on after the ritual.
Thinking about painting your nails? You need more than a bottle of the perfect colored nail polish. You need a cuticle treatment and cuticle scissors and the all important cuticle stick; a nail file, a nail brush and a buffer too. Get out the buffing creme and the hand moisturizer (it's been cold so you may need the intense formula). A paraffin dip would be good, so make sure you have your plastic hand bags and gloves. When you get down to the actual painting, you will still need to have a base coat, a ridge filler, a top coat and a quick dry formula.
Can't do a thing with that hair? I surveyed my shower stall and found shampoos that promised to provide moisture and thicken my locks. There are shampoo formulas for dry hair, oily hair and the "not so" normal hair. There are products to straighten, products to restore and products to volumize. I have them all.
My body washes include those with fragrance and those without. Some promise to "gently scrub the dead skin away." Some of the formulas are for sensitive skin. There are special creams to whisk away the unwanted hair. After shower there are creams and lotions and oils and wraps to soothe. Herbal and vitamin infused.
In the bath we have dissolvable soap petals, oil beads, bubble bath, bath fizzies and something called bath pebbles.
There are hair products for every day and hair products for special days. There are leave-in conditions, serums to thicken, mousse to volumize, sprays to de-frizz, wax to spike and hair sprays to keep the style gently in place or frozen in time.
I have brushes for my hair, brushes for my teeth and gums, and the aforementioned foot and nail brushes. There are thin combs and wide combs; round brushes and square brushes. I have mouthwash for the morning and a special formula for the night.
The face gets special cleansers (morning and night), toner, anti-wrinkle cream, an occasional mask scented with cucumber. I have lip conditioner and eye cream and tweezers to pluck away at my eyebrows and other assorted places. There are sponges and cotton balls and Q-tips to apply the array of youth promising concoctions.
My make-up tray has brushes and pencils and pretty little compacts full of eye shadows and powders and blushes. There is a slender eye brow brush and eye lash comb and an eye lash curler that I never use. I have mascaras of various shades. I have enough tubes of lipstick that if need be I could use to write "I will not buy more product" 10,000 times.
I think I might be a product junkie. My bathroom is beginning to look like the beauty aisles at Target. And I'm not quite convinced any of them are working. Perhaps I should go shopping for new product.
Showing posts with label retail. Show all posts
Showing posts with label retail. Show all posts
Monday, January 11, 2010
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Long Lines: An Economic Observation
I made some "economic" observations yesterday. I was running errands and had a number of stops to make: Target, PetSmart, pick-up prescriptions, grocery shopping, ATM, make-up at the department store and a quick stop for Starbucks.
Target was pretty empty. I not sure if it was because I was there at mid-day or because it was the day after Labor Day or if it's because the kids have gone back to school. In any case, I breezed through, found an open register and was out of there in 20 minutes.
The same was true in the department store and PetSmart; no one in line at the Starbucks either. In and out; get what I needed and I was on to the next errand. The joys of discretionary spending.
Now, the rest of the errands were a different story. The line at that drive-thru ATM was eight cars deep. I guess we all needed funds after the long weekend. The cars weren't zipping through as usual; each of the transaction seemed to be "thoughtful". I know I changed my mind at least three times while waiting: how much do I want to withdraw?
The line to pick-up prescription was about ten deep. In line were some elderly, people with crying children and those who were visibly "not well". All were complaining about the line. I know the pharmacy had recently changed it's computer system, but that wasn't really the problem. The clerk explained that they had also experienced some "right sizing"; they added pharmacists, but reduced the tech and clerk staff. So, we have more pharmacists moving at the speed of light to keep up with the demands and less staff to pass the product on to the end user. A recessionary evil; not to mention that we are probably an over-medicated society.
The grocery store was buzzing. People running into each other with their carts, blocking lanes and making serious decisions over brand names versus generic. The bread aisle was being restocked and the shoppers were taking the bread off the stock boy's cart. The bulk sale aisle was full of people taking advantage of the "10 for $10" sale. I only had a few things to get, so I maneuvered through the masses, picked up my five items and went to check out. You would have thought it was the evening before Thanksgiving. They had seven registers open including the express lane and the U-scan. Lines formed behind each lane. The U-scan lane, which I chose, had at least twelve people in line and we were snaking out down the seasonal products aisle (which already has Halloween candy and costumes - yikes!). No one, in any lane, had a lot of items; there were just a lot of shoppers and fewer clerks to check them out. All of the managers were manning registers.
These lines are also a recessionary evil. Fewer employees to serve the customers; and those fewer employees are dealing with a heavier work load. No one complains because this is the sign of the times. We are literally standing in "bread lines."
On my drive back to the house I noted yet another business closed down. I started rambling off the names of local establishments that have fallen prey to the economy. My sister, who was accompanying me, chided me for being "such a pessimist". I retorted that I was "a realist". Pessimist, realist or optimist, we are all standing in more and more lines.
Lines for groceries; lines for medicine; lines for unemployment benefits; lines at job fairs; lines at clinics; lines at gas stations; lines at the "dollar store" and discount emporiums.
When a line forms, I ask myself, do I really "need" this item? Do I want to "stimulate the economy" or do I want to save my time and money? And so the cycle continues, I don't stand in line, I don't spend the money and the retailer cuts back on staff and then I have to stand in line the next time I go. Or are the long lines a sign of recovery? I will believe that when I have to stand in line to buy lingerie.
Remember, the line forms in the rear and we're all frustrated.
Target was pretty empty. I not sure if it was because I was there at mid-day or because it was the day after Labor Day or if it's because the kids have gone back to school. In any case, I breezed through, found an open register and was out of there in 20 minutes.
The same was true in the department store and PetSmart; no one in line at the Starbucks either. In and out; get what I needed and I was on to the next errand. The joys of discretionary spending.
Now, the rest of the errands were a different story. The line at that drive-thru ATM was eight cars deep. I guess we all needed funds after the long weekend. The cars weren't zipping through as usual; each of the transaction seemed to be "thoughtful". I know I changed my mind at least three times while waiting: how much do I want to withdraw?
The line to pick-up prescription was about ten deep. In line were some elderly, people with crying children and those who were visibly "not well". All were complaining about the line. I know the pharmacy had recently changed it's computer system, but that wasn't really the problem. The clerk explained that they had also experienced some "right sizing"; they added pharmacists, but reduced the tech and clerk staff. So, we have more pharmacists moving at the speed of light to keep up with the demands and less staff to pass the product on to the end user. A recessionary evil; not to mention that we are probably an over-medicated society.
The grocery store was buzzing. People running into each other with their carts, blocking lanes and making serious decisions over brand names versus generic. The bread aisle was being restocked and the shoppers were taking the bread off the stock boy's cart. The bulk sale aisle was full of people taking advantage of the "10 for $10" sale. I only had a few things to get, so I maneuvered through the masses, picked up my five items and went to check out. You would have thought it was the evening before Thanksgiving. They had seven registers open including the express lane and the U-scan. Lines formed behind each lane. The U-scan lane, which I chose, had at least twelve people in line and we were snaking out down the seasonal products aisle (which already has Halloween candy and costumes - yikes!). No one, in any lane, had a lot of items; there were just a lot of shoppers and fewer clerks to check them out. All of the managers were manning registers.
These lines are also a recessionary evil. Fewer employees to serve the customers; and those fewer employees are dealing with a heavier work load. No one complains because this is the sign of the times. We are literally standing in "bread lines."
On my drive back to the house I noted yet another business closed down. I started rambling off the names of local establishments that have fallen prey to the economy. My sister, who was accompanying me, chided me for being "such a pessimist". I retorted that I was "a realist". Pessimist, realist or optimist, we are all standing in more and more lines.
Lines for groceries; lines for medicine; lines for unemployment benefits; lines at job fairs; lines at clinics; lines at gas stations; lines at the "dollar store" and discount emporiums.
When a line forms, I ask myself, do I really "need" this item? Do I want to "stimulate the economy" or do I want to save my time and money? And so the cycle continues, I don't stand in line, I don't spend the money and the retailer cuts back on staff and then I have to stand in line the next time I go. Or are the long lines a sign of recovery? I will believe that when I have to stand in line to buy lingerie.
Remember, the line forms in the rear and we're all frustrated.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
Posts
