Aging ( and the mindfuck of glorious consumerism )

I recently had a lapse in self confidence and bought an eyeshadow kit from a mega mall brand, just so I could partake of the free skincare samples. I still get carded when I buy cigarettes, so there are at least a few deli owners in the world who think I look seventeen, which is awesome, but some tiny but permanent lines around my eyes and forehead were enough to make me reconsider my stance on skincare. Now that I've been using it religiously, I can't tell if it's making any difference but I definitely feel a little worse about myself.

There was also recently an epic and unflattering article in NYT magazine on mega brands and how they target consumers. The opener actually had something like a giant chain wondering, can we find out if a customer of ours is pregnant, even if she doesn't want us to know? And the bulk of the rest of the article went on to compare is to mice in a lab who get triggered by positive/negative reinforcement into behaving a certain way (behavior = purchasing things.) There are supposedly a few major life events that create big opportunities for companies to squeeze themselves into our wallets. Which sounds super sinister, but is it really? It's kind of what I do for a living, and we use all kinds of language to rationalize what can seem like an ethical gray area. The noble purpose of a brand, the genuine human benefit that companies at least claim to be driven by, can be stripped of all the insidious financial implications into a beam of light for our most primitive needs. My new anti-aging skincare products make women feel better about themselves, and make them feel like they have some control in a chaotic world. It can stall death, and provide a second chance now that you know more about life.

And we're all the same way, really. In one moment, completely self-sacrificing and benevolent, and in other, selfish and opportunistic. Is that moment of weakness really justifiable to condemn ourselves as bad people? I'm still conflicted. But in the meantime, my skin looks the same, and I'm glad I got those samples for free.