Apparently home spa products, "an amorphous category that can include anything from tooth-whitening strips to plug-in steam facials" is a growing market, since penny-pinching rich people are now skimping on spa retreats and plastic surgery. The article goes on to quote various experts who, unsurprisingly, debunk the products' claims. But snake oils aside, Marie Antoinette-like conceptions of economy aside, what the hell is wrong with us that this kind of a placebo is necessary?

I'm not under the illusion that rich women pampering themselves is a new phenomenon — Cleopatra, asses' milk, etc. and heck, even the Tin Man gets a shine in the Emerald City — but as we all know, the prevalence and attainability — nay, the pressure to pamper yourself! — of such products is relatively recent. I saw Cindi Leive, the Glamour editor, on the Today show the other morning talking about ways women could save money, and obviously beauty treatments came up. She made the point that small luxuries we take for granted — manicures and pedicures and facials — would have been pretty much unthinkable to prior generations. But whereas once getting treatments was the purview of luxury, now it's a necessary sign of the aggressive "self-love" that is apparently measured, ironically, by very traditional mercantile standards.

I for one am heaving a silent sigh of relief that the pressure to get professional grooming — because we're worth it, or something — is abating. What's obviously been a boon for various beauty and spa industries is a serious waste of money for the rest of us. Don't get me wrong: I know a thorough facial is a good thing when I can afford it, my home-polished toes never look any good and I enjoy a free ride in the massage chair when I'm at the Sharper Image, too. But the feeling that luxury — and more to the point, getting other people to do things for and to you — is an accepted part of women's lives might be one of the healthier casualties of the economic turmoil.

A Tupperware Party For The Body [New York Times]

I always do my own brows, though I only got one bikini wax this summer and getting another seems like a waste of cash, especially in New York when bikini season is fleeting. I do, however, get an overpriced haircut once every 2 months, so I spend about $45 a month on grooming. Anna spends about $20 a month on various beauty regimens, while Megan got her last brow wax/pedicure in May. Maria usually gets a pedicure and bang trim once a month, though after the summer is over, pedicures will be out.

Have you cut salon visits out of your schedule since the economy's been in the crapper, or do you continue to wax with reckless financial abandon? Women and finance expert Suze Orman probably thinks even our modest beautification efforts are completely frivolous and would recommend making bikini wax out of old peanut butter and fishing tackle or some shit.

California Beautiful [NPR]