Beautynomics - The Economics of Vanity

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Friday, February 03, 2006

The Beauty and Ugliness of Tradeoffs.

One of the coolest terms that I have learned in my Economics was the term, "tradeoff". It was THE word that made me truly feel that I was an Economist...tradeoff, tradeoff tradeoff!! haha :) While my uninspired classmates were trying to grasp the essence of the word, I was daydreaming about my future speech in the WTO forum, "See, ladies and gentlemen, there is clearly a tradeoff between ....." Talk about ambition, huh!

Tradeoff is a matter of choice. When you choose to do something, you also lose an opportunity of doing another thing. In its essence, tradeoff means, you can't have both. It's like choosing to spend your moolah on the latest shade of NARS blush - the seductive and raw beauty of Cactus Flower! You benefit, swoon, and hastily apply and check yourself in the mirror, and sigh on how gorgeous you look, while avoiding to look in your wallet since it's broke, broke broke :P See the tradeoff there? Your wallet had clearly a diet, while your makeup train case gained more weight ( duh, it prefers to be voluptruous rather than stick thin, thank you. )

Nars Cactus Flower.

"Yes, my darling creme blush, you're certainly worth every penny, I'm happy with my tradeoff. I lost a few pounds just to adopt you, my darling!" ( this is such a demented statement from moi. Take note, I didn't STARVE myself now, I just ate LESS .)

Another example of tradeoff is buying inferior cosmetics and skin care. Believe me, you can't just immediately believe TV ads promising you to attract more men when you buy this and that facial wash, toner, or pseudo-loose powder! It is so much better using natural alternatives to do your face if you're on a tight budget rather than grabbing those stuff. Where's the tradeoff there? Certainly, alot. Your skin starts to have these nasty bumps, you risk your skin getting burned, and you also risk your skin being a major disaster forever! It is soo much better thinking first, getting more opinion from others from a product, and buying tried and tested brands rather than rushing to the war without any strategy. You might have saved some, but your losing streak is gonna be really nasty if you're unlucky.

Invest in good skin care and makeup. ( oops, that's another topic! )

But for the record, products for the hair are less risky to use and be okay to be adventurous about. When your hair dries out because of this shampoo, you can always mega-moisturize ( SO loving Kerastase, the Holy Grail of all haircare products ). When your hair gets burned, have it fixed at the Kerastase Institute! ( the most high-tech salon in the country, beat that! :P ) . Getting flakes from your conditioner? Use Selsun Blue. The only product, that isn't available in the Philippines anymore, to have cured my once-flaked crowning glory.

To sum up, be afraid, be very afraid of the tradeoffs specially if your decisions involve skin care and makeup. They can be really frightful. Effects can be permanent, good or bad. Haircare is a bit more okay, so if you're fond of trading off stuff, do it with haircare. Haha :P

Out of topic : I went to a client today ( Yes, I do have a profession ), which happens to be brand manager of my favorite makeup brand ( I'm not disclosing! ). She is just a sweetheart, and I am so psyched about supplying stuff for my favorite brand. Sweet!

I want to write so much about budget lines and indifference curves. I've been imagining them while I was in the car. But I'm just too sleepy, and tired from a day's work. My dark undereye circles are getting worse, and I haven't even found the perfect eye cream. One of the hardest things to decide on in the name of vanity, is searching for that perfect eye cream! Believe me, it IS! Well, gotta drift to dreamland where the land is made of foundation powder, and I bathe in the ocean of shimmery lotion. :P

posted at 10:50 PM by Charmed One

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