Obsession with perfection

My drawer of lotions, toners, soaps, hair creams, etc.

The reality is that women are imperfect. We have stretch lines, baggy eyes, uneven skin tone, wrinkles, freckles, acne, large pores, dark eyes... and that's just our face. Their are entire aisles dedicated to relieving us women of our imperfections. Once we relieve our selves of our stained canvases we must then begin to paint -eye shadow, blush, foundation, mascara, lip gloss, lipstick, concealer... And once we've got our face looking presentable we must move on to our hair. Flat iron? Curls? Waves? Don't worry every thing you could imagine yourself to be the beauty industry has created -perhaps that's because they have created everything we could imagine ourselves to be. Unfortunately I am just another consumer, with some reflections, but still just another consumer. Searching for the right products to help me reach perfection.
My biggest rebellion against the beauty industry was to go natural but now that they have a number of products geared to my natural hair I still end up in the aisle looking for products to help it reach perfection -curly fro? wavy? straight-ish? Whatever I want, they have, because they have created all my beauty desires. Last month alone I probably spent over 300 dollars on beauty supplies. My perricone products where the bulk of that cost. I don't know when I decided that spending 100 dollars on lotion was OK. But in another sense I'm proud of myself for finding a regimen that works and sticking to it. But obviously the idea of giving in to "the industry"doesn't sit well. A part of me never wanted to believe that advertising actually worked. But a few days ago I had the scary realization that Perricone advertises on a majority of the sites that I frequent. It hit me how scary and evasive advertising can be in the decision making process. But then again I can tell myself maybe they have the best advertising because they have the best products and if it works who cares if it cost 500 dollars as long as you have the money to spend. And then again I reach a conflict -their are people starving! Not just in Africa or some other far away place but in the streets of Bedstuy and Timesquare. 100 dollars could buy 10 meal for 10 people. 100 dollars could be better donated to Islamic Relief.
Its a conflict of being rich, of course I'm not 'rich' but I certaintly, in theory, have money to throw around. Its the parallels of being American. Wealth isn't -ideally, handed to anyone, everyone has to work for their share so everyone feels as though they deserve the money they have. As logically as this is and as sound as the reasoning seems you'd be hard pressed to find that Africans work any less then Americans. One must say that it is God's divine will that we are wealthy. And too is his will to command us to give in charity. So why not "obsess" over a pure heart, clean intentions and a sound judgement, good deeds and a character that wants what God wants. Maybe because its easy to spend time and money on the perfect image then to go deep inside and spend time on our hearts.

Consumer Drain

When the kindle came out I was beyond exicted. I look at the features over and over then at the many videos talking about how great they were. I was convinced! I told myself when I have enough money I was was going to get the kindle. Soon enough I had enough money and I set my eyes on it. Then, the Kindle Dx came out, it was bigger and could hold pdf's files -I wasn't quitÉ convinced that these features should result in the dramatic price increase.
For some reason I didn't purchase the kindle straight away. First I figured the price would go down then I just wasn't sure I needed it now. Soon after I decided I was unsure about the kindle -the Nook came out. Again I got my hopes up it was better looking the kindle and it was backed by my favorite book store. So again I set my sight on it. I told myself I'd get it for school. But the was a detterent that I couldn't quite get over, some of the books that I knew I would want to buy and read on my device weren't available in ebook form. This again got me to stray away from the product, also I felt that I should be able to watch movies and music videos on my device but that was not a feature.
I began wondering whether this whole ebook reader explosive was a worthwhile investment. Then I saw the device of my drems -the apple "ipad". As my sister showed me the device my eyes lit up with exictement. "This is what I've been waiting for" I exclaimed. Then I started making jokes that kindle and nook were things of the past and that apple was a genuis.
This device being a bit pricier I would really have to save up. The next day I woke up with an ipad hangover. My exictement was gone and I thought to myself "what exactly does this thing do again? It is as and man ither consumersave realized a bigger version of the ipod touch and a tablet version of a netbook.
Being that I had my netbook in the repair shop, I officially knew I did not want any of thes laptops. "Who said I wanted a new way to read?" "Who said it was okay to reproduce the same technology and call it innovative" and finally "Who said I needed more stuff?
I think the bubble of consumer yearning and spending has officially burst for me. I'm tired of waiting for some amazing technology that's gonna "change my life". I'm doing just fine, without it!