Monday, August 20, 2007

The Becky Baker Skin Care Line



I have always been a sucker for good marketing. I see an ad
in a magazine for the latest and greatest skin cream, run my hands over my face
and think, “Finally. A product that was made for me.” I haul ass to the nearest
department store and wade through the sea of beautiful, two-dimensional women
pushing products of all kind. One whispers in my ear, “All you need is a little
Compound Q-90 and your skin will look like mine.” Another calls a little
louder, “Check out my lips. They shimmer like a disco ball. Don’t you want some
of what I’ve got?”





My response is quick and impulsive, “Yes, yes I do. Bring on
the disco lips.”





The last woman, surrounded by delicate bottles of high-tech
pastel concoctions, calls out the loudest, “Free gift!”





Cosmetic_ad
Sold. I walk up to the counter and ask one of the lab
technicians to assist me with my blemishes, wrinkles, blotches and crow’s feet.
She is kind enough to acknowledge each imperfection and suggests a separate
cure for each one. I breathe a sigh of relief. If I want to look like the woman
on the poster, I can, for $125.62. I can feel the brakes screech in my mind. I
come to a stark realization: I can’t afford this crap. I high tail it out of
the store with no purchases in hand and realize that I could have just blown my
weekly grocery budget on skin care.





This nonsense must stop. Upscale skin care is a racket.
Sure, there might be people out there who have highly sensitive skin and need a
special kind of make-up but a trip to the Neutrogena aisle in their local
Wal-Mart will probably do the trick. If you can afford it, be my guest. Fork
out $27.95 for a bottle of Bare Minerals foundation. But if, like me, you
teeter on the edge of your means when you get ready to hand the lab technician
your credit card then please join me in my quest for skin care simplicity.





I’ve pledged my allegiance to the Becky Baker skincare line
(named after my friend Alyson’s Mother, a frugal woman with beautiful skin). It
consists of baby wash ($.99), rubbing alcohol or witch hazel ($.89-2.00) and
generic face lotion ($4.49). That’s two-three months worth of skincare products
for about $8.00. Sure, I might throw in some Clinique astringent or MAC lotion
now and then (I’ve got it. I can’t let it go to waste), but I am dedicated to
the cause. Those two-dimensional women in the department stores are liars and
I’m going to prove it. I’ll report back on the condition of my skin in three
months. I’m sure you’ll all be waiting with bated breath.





20 comments:

  1. LOL J! Skin care is such a big thing these days. I use good ol' soap to wash my face every night, and just whatever moisturizer I have lyin' around at the time. I don't stress too much over it, but then again I look like I'm 12! lol! I just figure that all the wrinkles, crows feet etc. etc. etc. are and will just be a part of aging, and well with that said, I'm going to embrace it. Every laugh line, wrinkle etc. is part of who I am, and I like who I am, and so far have had a great life, so if those are my "stretch marks" then so be it. I just hope I age well ;)

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  2. I'm trying to find new skincare for my very oily skin. So far, liquid dial soap seems to be doing a great job! Moisturizer, no thank you. Let me know how it works. In the meantime, I'm finishing out all my Mary Kay stuff. Yup, it was pricey but really, it wasn't worth it.

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  3. I'm in! I'm through spending big bucks on big ticket cosmetic items. I was at a cousin's wedding this past weekend and that's all many of my mentally incapacitated female relatives talked about - the major expenditure on their skin (including, naturally, botox). They were sucked in by the hype. I'm totally impressed by your self-control.

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  4. I use dove soap and dove lotion twice a day. My face only breaks out once a month and that is hormonal. Good luck! Oh and let's plan on beating candice up on wed.! It is easy for her to say "I just figure that all the wrinkles, crows feet etc. etc. etc. are and will just be a part of aging, and well with that said, I'm going to embrace it" when she does look like she is 12!!!! Meet me wed. at 8:15 and we will beat her up on the walk!

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  5. I lied I use pond's lotion.

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  6. I laughed out loud at the "I can't afford this crap," part. I was in that place too many times and even handed out the credit card. I sold Mary Kay for a while hoping to get some good makeup for cheap or free. Now I just rely on my trusty neutrogena or olive oil bar to wash my face.

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  7. I'm in. Let me know how it works.
    But I might also just sneak over to the department store just to get a glimpse at the Disco lips.....

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  8. Maribeth: We'll have to compare MK notes!! HA!

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  9. Can anyone tell me how to even use makeup? I swear I look like a clown if I go beyond bronzer and lipstick. I think my mother left out this essential part of my upbringing. I'm a Body Shop devotee when it comes to cleansers and lotion...and shimery lotion - got to have it. But makeup, aackk!

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  10. I am so bad when it comes to my face. I wash it in the shower when I bathe. I use this Oatmeal all natural soap. Sometimes I will just wash w/ soap and cold water too.
    A friend of mine, her mother only used cold creme for years and her face is still beautiful at 70. I think you either have great genetics and or you eat great foods that help too in that department.
    Plus, the years of being in the sun as a kid I am sure hasn't helped.
    I do use Vasoline Aloe Vera lotion on the body after I bathe, but that is the extent.
    When I wear makeup I use a little of that and this.
    A friend of the family is a dermatologist- he says none of the anti-aging products work, just scams.
    Good Luck on your adventures!

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  11. Candice, Candice, Candice, Candice. I love you sweetie but your skin is freakishly gorgeous and I think I might be looking forward to aging too if I looked in the mirror and saw your face!

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  12. Emily-
    I've got the opposite problem: dry skin, so moisturizer is a must for me. So far, the WalMart knock-off is doing the trick.

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  13. Keli-
    Don't be too impressed. I just started this program. It may take months to de-program myself from my own assertions that:
    more money = better product and
    me = entitled to only the best
    I've got my work cut out for me!

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  14. Melinda-
    I'm in. We'll beat her little 12-year-old self with our discarded lotion bottles!

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  15. Maribeth-
    You sound like my kind of girl!

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  16. Leanne-
    Yeah, I still fantasize a little about having disco lips of my own.

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  17. Janine-
    Don't learn how to use it! It will just make your life more difficult.
    I love the Body Shop too but the closest one is 70 miles away.

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  18. Katb-
    Good to know about your dermatologist friends. It's nice to know that a professional agrees with my assertions about the cosmetics industry. Making money off of women's insecurities has become America's past-time.

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  19. LOL J! Did I not tell you that I wear a mask?! Looks can be decieving. Just wait until you see what's underneath! ;)

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