The Quality Threshold

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My Pawpaw (maternal grandmother) is a Chinese Dragon Lady. She takes no prisoners and she doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She has infinite opinions, which are all Absolutely True and Correct and she will tell you ALL about them whether you like it or not.

Hence I found myself in the middle of a lecture one Saturday afternoon when all I wanted was just
to paint my nails in peace - a very dragqueenesque, sparkly hot pink (Kiko Makeup Milano #278).

“HOW MUCH DID YOU PAY FOR THAT?” Pawpaw asked. No, she wasn’t really yelling at me, but she has a unique voice that I liken to alarm clocks – try as I might, I just can’t tune that sh!t out. I can’t ignore it; it provokes reaction effortlessly. When Pawpaw talks, I can’t not listen.

“3,90 €.” That opened up an old wound – last summer, to my delight, I found that Kiko nail polishes were only 1,90 €. Then sometime in late August/early September they went back up to their regular price of 3,90 € and it wasn’t until then that I realized that they were even on sale.

“WELL, THAT’S NOT TOO BAD. I’M TELLING YOU, NEVER BUY EXPENSIVE NAIL POLISH! IT’S THE STUPIDEST THING YOU CAN DO!” Actually, according to Pawpaw, there is an infinite number of stupidest things a person can do, which people around her have all committed at some point – buying expensive nail polish is just one of them.

Seeing that I had nothing to add, she continued, “I DON’T CARE IF IT’S HIGH END OR LOW END. THE STUFF YOU CAN GET AT DOLLAR STORES ARE EXACTLY THE SAME AS $40 BRAND NAME BOTTLES. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE MY FRIEND, CHA SIU BOW, GOT INTO THE NAIL POLISH WHOLESALE BUSINESS IN 1961 AND HE TOLD ME THAT HE SELLS THE SAME THING TO CHEAP BRANDS AND TOP LABELS!!! THEY ALL COME FROM THE SAME SUPPLIERS!!!”

She kept going in the same vein for roughly another hour. A week later, after my ears stopped ringing and I could reflect on what she said, I realized that she had a point. When shopping, it’s important to know exactly where the Quality Threshold is.

There are some things in the world that are expensive for no reason – pricey designer clothes with labels that read “Made in China/India/other countries with cheap labour”, for example – and then there are things that cost roughly how much they are actually worth, be it cheap or expensive. The trick is to find the crucial point where product quality is at its highest and cost is at its lowest – or at least at an affordable point for you, wherever that may be.

In the 50 years since Pawpaw got her info, things have changed, you see. It’s true that some companies sell dollar-store-quality nail polishes at a higher price, but a lot of nail care companies have sprung up in the last half-century that sell quality products at reasonable prices – and companies that sell high quality products for big bucks.

Somewhere in there, there’s a nice medium.

Take OPI for example, one of my absolute favourite nail polish brands and an industry leader for a reason. Their polishes sell for about $10CAD in Canada and roughtly $8USD in the States. Definitely not cheap but it won’t break the bank. Their products consistently have the best consistency and durability on the market, they come in trend-setting colours and their superb functional packaging (by that I mean their brushes) really set them apart.

Compare that to…oh, NYC for example. Their colours are kind of common and/or bland to appeal to most people, their prices are as low as $2 at Wal-Mart. No one cares much that they only last for a few days because the product is so inexpensive they can just buy another bottle.

Then there’s Chanel. They have really cool, interesting, innovative colours, but their brushes are pretty much the same size as NYC brushes and the polishes don’t really last that long (although they're definitely better than NYC). They retail for $35-40 in North America, which is downright expensive for nail polish! So - nice colours but their quality is mediocre at best.

The best bang for your buck would then be OPI, which is why they are such a boss in the industry.  So you see?  It's important to always look for products that give you the most value for your money, where the quality is at its highest and the price is at its lowest, compared to competitors in the industry - it's where the Quality Threshold is. 

I had a friend who once complained to me how everyone was wearing "her" sweater - this simple, thin, cotton, open sweater with no discernible design from Aritizia for $90.  "I saw copies of them at Wal-Mart for $20 and now everyone is wearing it!" she wailed. "Mine is the REAL one."

Well, if people out there are spending a fraction of what she spent to get something similar in quality and design...who wins? ;P