Today on AO Hell - "cherry popsicle colored lip gloss by Fresh, Gloss Absolute in 'Desire'". Wheeee! It's New! It's Kicky! A Fun, Fun Summer Trifle! Buy.It.NOW!!

Price: A mere $24.

WTF? For a lip gloss? And I just learned the food pantries here in my suburban wonderland are putting out a call for contributions because they can't keep up with applications by all the hungry families.

If you have $24 to blow on one unit of one cosmetic, maybe you're making too much money.

I can't issue a blanket condemnation for the users of one particular product.

This is a perfume forum. Presumably we all indulge in perfume purchases, to a greater or lesser extent. Some might think that frivolous at any price; others might have benchmarks. Morally ok if the bottle is less than $50, say, but reprehensible if it's a cent over?

I don't think any of us are living at subsistence level. One person's extravagance is another person's (near) necessity. I think the conjugation goes like this: "My need, your want, her extravagance." For some who love lipstick, a $24 lipgloss might be their main indulgence; all other disposable funds might go to the Salvation Army. Impossible to say. And some who shriek moral bankruptcy at the very notion of a $24 gloss might be dining on foie gras.

I think it's important to be very, very sure of our own foibles in this area before we go pointing fingers at consumers whose taste just happens to differ from our own.