AND THEY QUIT MAKING THESE WHY?

Does anybody else have a tendency to fall in love with something only to have it get discontinued? This phenomenon has become a standing joke at my house because it happens all the damn time.

For many years I kept my hair blonde simply by using a John Frieda hair gel that was made with a small amount of peroxide. Using my blow dryer and flat iron kept my hair light, and in the summertime my hair would go really blonde from the tanning bed and just being out in the pool. Cost for said gel....around $4.50. Loved it. Used it religiously for years. Asshats discontinued it. Since I didn't really want to do salon color because of the damage to my hair, I promptly found it on eBay. Cost per bottle after discontinuation? Anywhere from $40 to $80 a bottle. Still cheaper than going to a salon because a bottle lasted a long time, but still.....eventually I did find a cheaper replacement from La Bella; under $10 for a big 8 oz bottle. I've been using it for a couple of  years now. And when I went to buy more for this summer?  Yup!! Asshats discontinued it!! eBay didn't have any of it, but I got two of the last few bottles Amazon had.....$20 each. Kill me. Guess who now has to go to the salon to stay blonde.....this girl.

My perfume?   Pique by Paula Kent for Redken. Fell in love with it in the early 80's, and it was my signature scent. Almost anytime I wore it at least one man would mention how good I smelled. And I did! It was sold in hair salons, and I remember how pricey I thought it was at the time for the big 2 oz. bottle; $14.95. Late 80's, asshats discontinued it. I really tried to find other things I liked as well, but I just was never able to do it. Right over to eBay I go; it's one of my "saved searches" in my account, and I check it every day because anytime somebody lists that 2 oz bottle, it gets scooped up immediately. In the past year I have managed to stockpile 4 of the 2 oz sprays. Cost? $65 for one (cheap!), $95 for one, and $125 each for the other two. I also snagged two of the big body splashes which are 8 oz, but those just don't smell the same. For awhile the splash was all I had, and when I got my first bottle of the spray, I saved it for only occasional use. Now that I have 3 bottles on backup, I use it every day again. Crazy to pay that, but dammit, that smell just makes me happy.

My fave summer body lotion? Jergens shimmer stuff; can't think of the name right now, but it goes on and just leaves the slightest bit of golden sun-colored shimmer which is super pretty over a summer tan. Asshats discontinued it. *sigh*  A year or so ago I bought a lot of 6 on eBay....I think I paid around $60 for that, so it wasn't "too" bad.

Just once I would like to have a stockpile of some popular item that gets discontinued so I could make a killing over on eBay. I'm living proof of what a desperate fool will pay.

Then I got an email a few months ago from Borba saying they were having a going out of business sale. I figured I'd just go check that shit out. I picked up a couple of things. Of course, I love 'em, so I rush back over to get some more, and they are sold out. All of their stock went quick, and I can see why. Great products; sad they are now gone. I did pick up a couple of their items on eBay, but the mask stuff which is amazeballs hasn't shown up anywhere. This one is my own fault because I totally set myself up for that.

So that's just 4 things off the top of my head, and there are others I'm not remembering right now. Probably so painful I've blocked them from my memory banks.

When I started doing my nails, I guess it never occurred to me that polish companies pull this shit, too.  I think all of them do it. I think it's just plain mean-spirited. The only discontinued polish I know of that actually had a reason was Clarins 230, and that was because they could no longer get some pigment they needed to make it. So I'll forgive them for that even though I would KILL for a bottle of that amazingness. I won't, however, pay upwards of $90 for it. Because I'm really not insane. Honest.

But the OPI DS polishes? I call bullshit, OPI....there was NO reason to stop making these. Even my poor husband has had to venture out searching for them in different cities when he's working. I managed to get DS Original and DS Signature, but the others that I want are just way too expensive on eBay. Even Sally Hansen and Cover Girl have done it. I have been searching for Cover Girl Perplexed for a year now with no success. I haven't even seen it on eBay. But seriously, go look at it, and you'll see why I want it:  Perplexed  Pretty, right?  And then we have Sally Hansen Prisms. Really, Sally? What the hell is wrong with you? Check this one out; I have never seen it anywhere. I love it. I want it. I need it. Who do I have to sleep with to get it?  Turquoise Opal

I guess I'll just call that portion my VOTD, although it could actually be considered a "vent of the year" because it's an ongoing thing.

So here's one of those DS beauties that I threw on after playing with Halloween mani's the other night. I had no time left for nail art but still wanted something pretty. When that happens, I will usually grab something holo because they stand alone in their gorgeousness.                              

This one is OPI DS Signature. It's pink, full of holo yumminess, goes on like a dream and is just fun to look at. Especially while driving. I behaved myself, though, and waited until I got home to take an outside picture.

I have gotten increasingly cranky while writing this post. I trudge along very happy with my collection for awhile, and then something reminds me of the ones I can't get, and it pisses me off.  In my mind I should be able to get whatever I want. Always.

Instead, here I sit, on a self-imposed no-buy since Labor Day weekend, wallowing in self-pity over these gems I can't find or have.  

Yes, I most certainly know there are real problems in life, but right at this very second (and it could change 5 minutes from now), me not getting what I want seems to be a really awful thing.