vanity is my middle name

Umandar na naman vanity ko. I had already spent a couple of hours online, and was about to log off already, when I decided to visit the VMV Hypoallergenics website. And while I’m at it, I thought to myself, why not go to the Nivea and The Body Shop websites as well? So I ended up staying for almost half an hour more. Oh well.

As I had visited Nivea’s site a month ago and Body Shop’s didn’t offer much, I pretty much “hung out” at VMV. Although my dermatologist recommended I use VMV instead of other more expensive brands, I had told myself I would only buy branded skincare and cosmetic products when I’m already earning my own money. But seeing VMV’s products online, without having to deal with pesky sales agents, made want to take back my words. Oh, man. The lure of beautiful skin is just too irresistible. No, I’m not interested in their make up… yet. All right, only their Lip and Cheek Tint, but Tita already bought me one (it was on sale in SM Iloilo). Forgive me, but I’m obsessed with my lips. I need to prettify them to take the attention away from my ugly weird unusual nose. And I will get a nose job in the future, but only when I’m already earning six or seven digits per month. Hah. I wish! No, my nose is not pango (flat), but the tip is just too wide. There’s this procedure that “shaves” a bit of flesh off the sides of the tip, to give you a thinner-looking nose.

But I digress. I’m interested in VMV’s skincare line. They have this set of cleanser, toner and moisturizer in smaller sizes (perfect for travel or as a gift) for combination skin, and I really want to try that. It’s incredibly vain of me, I know, but do you have any idea how difficult it is to find products specially made for combination skin?

I also want to try their Armada Face Cover Sun and Light Screen (SPF 30). It’s a bit pricey, but dermatologists really recommend using sunblock, so I’m just following doctor’s orders.

The products I’ve mentioned are reasonably-priced, considering the amount of research and efforts poured into the stuff. But when I saw Glykeros Lift-Contour Eye and Lip Serum (designed to make skin around eyes and lips smooth and taut and minimize the appearance of fine lines, dark circles and puffiness.), I thought it was manna. My manna. Then I saw the price and my jaw almost dropped to the floor. 45 effing US dollars! That’s more than 2,000 pesos! And for a tiny container that probably wouldn’t last a month. I could buy the whole set of Chronicles of Narnia or Anne Rice’s vampire novels instead of that stupid serum. But I want that serum. I know more than half of the world’s population is starving, but I just can’t bring myself to care. Actually, I do care about them. I also care about myself as much, so I guess I’m just ambivalent.

*sigh* You’re probably gonna ask if that serum is actually worth its price, and I should just start having healthy habits like going to bed early, drink enough glasses of water daily, etc. And you’re right, of course. So I wouldn’t buy the serum… yet. Actually, I can’t buy it even if I really want to. It’ll just have to wait, just like that nose job.