There I was, standing in front of the Philosophy display at Sephora, mulling over whether to get the “Hope in a Jar” moisturizer or “Hope in a Bottle” treatment moisturizer for congested skin. A well-meaning employee approaches me and says, “have you used ‘Hope in a Jar’ before?”

“No, I haven’t,” I replied, interested to see what he was going to recommend.

“Perhaps I can show you some other moisturizers that might be more suited to your skin type,” he started, and it would’ve been just fine if he had left it at that, but he went on, “…because ‘Hope in a Jar’ is more for young skin.”

Good heavens, now I have old skin.

“‘Hope in a Jar’ is the most basic moisturizer that we carry, it doesn’t contain anything for anti-aging…” he continued, but I had already shut him off as he went took me to displays for other much more costly products. He gave me a few options, small one-ounce tubes for around $75. More than I had wanted to spend on moisturizer. I picked one up and saw the words, “for mature skin.” That was it.

I thanked him politely and walked away from the displays and went to find Joyce, who had been corralled into a make-up seat by a beautiful waif-life woman extolling the benefits of a product line that was sure to be perfect for Joyce’s skin type. I’m sure she didn’t insinuate that Joyce had old skin.

I listened with interest and decided that if it was good enough for Joyce, it was good enough for me. We both went home with a starter kit of Dr. Susan Taylor’s Rx for Brown Skin, which is a product line that is specially formulated for people of color. The starter kit, which includes a cleanser, toner, moisturizer and brightener was only $55. All that for $20 less than the one-ounce tube of moisturizer the other guy tried to sell me.

Geez, it’s no wonder I rack up Sephora Beauty Insider points so quick. I get a sample every time I stop in. (You qualify for a free sample of something whenever you spend $100 at Sephora.) The price of beauty is high — especially if you have old skin.

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