#9 "What Makes a Nail Polish Worth $50?"

           Designer nail polishes are very popular, not only for its quality, but also for the exclusivity. Its prices are very high, and that, for consumers, has been a way to express their superiority and elite status. Marc Jacobs and Jason Wu’s nail polishes have set the bar as the most expensive nail polish, being $32 each. However, recently, the record has been broken. Christian Louboutin nail polishes, 31 bold and vibrant colors, are currently priced as $50 each. It is hard to believe that the impractical, tiny bottle of nail polish, “jewel-like faceted glass bottle with a conical cap as spiky and tall as a steeple”, cost so much. Surprisingly, according to experts and the NPD research, people do buy such products that are way too expensive for what it truly is. Because the brand or designer’s name is great, the price doesn’t matter for consumers. Consumers all fall in the trap of thought that to be part of the elite, one must be exclusive. In this case, the $50 nail polish would be the ticket for exclusiveness. What truly makes the nail polish worth $50 is not the quality of the polish, the bottle, or the brush, but the name and history that the designer holds.

           Ruth La Ferla, author of the article, begins the article with a short story about her encounter with Federica di Martino at a Christian Louboutin boutique. From there, she begins her argument of how “function has never ranked high on Mr. Louboutin’s priorities”. She then moves on to how the nail polishes not only are inconvenient, but also expensive. With that, she builds her argument on how the prices of nail polish do not vary in the quality, but the name it has. To support her article, she inserts quotes about the matter from experts in the nail polish industry and the fashion industry. She also uses evidences from researches to support her article. Her overall tone is disapproving and negative. She makes her point very clear on how the values of the product vary depending on the name of it instead of the product itself; her tone also suggests that she finds this funny and quite ridiculous.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/11/fashion/christian-louboutin-nail-polish-rare-price.html