Chanel

You know how when you buy a car or a house or a boat or a new winter coat, you never start looking with the most expensive one? I mean, if all you can afford is a Honda, you don't want to look at the Jaguar or the Bentley first because then you'll never be satisfied with the Honda. If all you can afford is a one bedroom condo in the suburbs, you don't start by looking at the beach front property.

I'm pretty careful about this - I tend to buy objects (whatever they are) that are in my price range.

And then, one day, everything changed.

I've been wearing the same perfume pretty much all of my grown-up life. I wear Chanel No. 5 eau de toilette - the perfume's a little too strong for me - but I love the eau de toilette. I don't think I could wear anything else. It's the only Chanel thing I've ever bought.

Until now.

But because I've been buying it for a long time, the lovely Irene at the Chanel counter where I shop knows me, and a few weeks ago I was in to buy some perfume and she asked me if I'd like a free facial. I foolishly said yes, little realizing that prize really does make a difference. I fell in love with their products and now I'm moving from my relatively inexpensive beauty (laughing uproariously) regime into a very expensive one. And it feels great. And because it feels great, it makes me look great. Really it does.

Is it worth the money? I don't know for sure but I do know it makes me feel good and if I have to work a couple of extra hours a month to pay for it, that's fine by me.

Now if I had to work 80 hours a week to afford the Jaguar, that wouldn't be fine, but those couple of hours? I can live with that.

Kate