You can buy Pond's for about $8 at the local pharmacy. People online say it's really good, especially when the winter wind nips at you and makes your face feel tight.

My mom hasn't used it for a while though. She's into Olay, Lancome, Shiseido, etc. now. I guess our standard of living has changed.

Last Friday, Douglas, the cosmetics place by the Bookstore, had a 20% off sale. I went with my Penn bestie to check it out after our last client meeting. Philly water has been making me break out a lot more than I ever did in North Carolina. In high school, all I used for my face was, occasionally, St. Ive' s Apricot Scrub, but I usually just splashed warm water on my face a few times before closing my pores with cold water, and afterwards applying Olay SPF15 as moisturizer on especially cold days. Unfortunately, my Olay has not been able to stand against the Philly cold. I'm obviously not in North Carolina anymore.

On Friday, lured in by the 20% sign, I decided to purchase Peter Thomas Roth Chamomile Cleanser, which was originally $32, to help fight break-outs from the icky water. I also bought my mommy her Christmas present, the Shiseido Benefiance Revitalizing Emulsion. In total, I spent $70 on two items at Douglas. $70 is a lot of money.

The next day, as I was walking out of Hill to go to the gym, my face felt ridiculously dry, so I came to the conclusion that I needed a better moisturizer. Maybe a brand-name. I made the mistake of walking into Douglas again.

When I walked out, I was thoroughly convinced that I needed a new cleansing regimen. Cleanser, toner, and moisturizer, with special exfoliation two or three times a week. And what better way to do so than to stick with the brand-name line? I went home and took all my Wharton Behavioral Lab earnings out of the lucky red envelope I keep them in. Then I went back to Douglas and spent it all, and then some, on $32 aloe tonic, $52 moisturizer, $15 Mario Badescu Strawberry Scrub, and two bath fizzies for 50 cents each to bring my order up to $100.00 and 8% tax. $108.00 is a lot to be spending on skincare.

I went home that night and moped. I went online and looked for cheaper alternatives. And it was then that I stumbled upon Pond's Dry Skin Cream once again.

It was like remeeting a childhood friend.

I was so excited, that I got up earlier and rushed to CVS the next morning before church to buy generic alcohol-free toner and the Pond's Dry Skin Cream. Ecstatic, I applied a thin layer before church. In the afternoon, after lunch in Hill with my GCC freshmen brothers and sisters, I went with my buddy Patrick in the pouring rain to return $91.80 of skincare products back to Douglas. I kept the Mario Badescu exfoliating scrub. I plan to use it for a very long time.

I've been using CVS toner and Pond's Dry Skin Cream now for a few days, and it has been absolutely phenomenal. So great, in fact, that I've considered returning my mom's Shiseido emulsion and getting her Pond's for Christmas. There's nothing quite like a tried-and-true product.

I think it's a been a lesson well-learned. Brand names aren't really what counts. And when it comes down to it, I'm really just not a designer brand girl.

I wonder how my mom will feel when I bring Pond's skin cream back to her over Christmas break.