Perspectivizing

Yesterday I stopped by the Ricky's on Broadway and Houston to pick up some shampoo. While looking over their selection I came across this bottle. No, you are not reading the info on the website incorrectly that is $50 for an eight ounce bottle of shampoo...and if you look at the list of ingredients you will notice that the precious white truffle oil is not even listed.

When I saw this bottle in store I was uncharacteristically outraged at the price (although outrage is definitely a characteristic in most non-shampoo related matters). I mean come on, are there really that many people that literally have money to waste. Apparently in Manhattan the answer is "Yes!"

Now, truth be told, I must admit that in the not so distant past I have overpaid for beauty products based on the miracles that are promised in the packaging copy. But hey, I am in customer service...I have to look good at all times. My public demands it.

When I got home I had to check out the Philip B. website to make sure that some rogue associate at Ricky's did not mislabel the product. Nope, fifty dollars was correct. Then my cynical nature kicked in...maybe this is not even the most expensive shampoo. In less than a minute the good folks at google directed me to this. Yes, this one is $66 dollars for 10.1 ounces.

Because I couldn't drop the topic right there, the voices in my head forced me to calculate the cost per ounce. Philip B. clocks in at $6.25 per ounce with Alterna posting $6.54 per ounce.

Now clearly this is ridiculous, and I am justifiably filled with some bizarre version of righteous indignation. But then I began to think about the number of times that I have bought shots of rare scotch that, trust me, would have been a steal at $6.54 per ounce...and that the scotch is going to annihilate liver and brain cells without giving my hair the lustrous sheen it so clearly deserves.

I guess it all depends on how you want to waste your money.