Shaving blades - I don’t think the Gillette Mach 3 blades are plated with gold, but at the cost of $20 for 16 of them they sure as hell should be.
What’s that? Shave my head with the cheap Bick disposable ones? Are you fucking crazy!?!
Same here! I was disconcerted to see that they’ve minimized the ridges. Just when you find the right product, they change it on you.
Glasses. Last time I had to get new ones, I went to two or three different stores to try on glasses. Finally out of exasperation, a friend of mine pointed to the Really Swank glasses place in Pike Market since we were there eating lunch anyway and suggested we go in there.
I found this out when they suggested a pair of frames that had everyone agreeing that I looked fab in them, took my scrip on the spot, and then presented me with an bill for the lot that made me go *absolutely * pale. Somehow, I found the courage to hand them my credit card.
I’ve had these glasses for several years now and lurve them to death, apparently paying a lot really does make a difference in some cases. Knock on wood, my eyes better stay where they are right now for a good long time – I certainly paid enough!
It’s not politically correct, but in my case, I’ll say Tobacco. I enjoy fine cigars and pipe tobaccos.
In the case of my cigars, I tend to only smoke premium hand-rolled cigars. Mostly, they are Havanas (which are legal in Canada, where I live), and I’ve sampled most high-end, hand-rolled, and well-reviewed Cuban cigars. But I’ve also been willing to try hand-rolled cigars from other cigar nations: Dominican Republic, Honduras, Nicaragua, Phillippines (which produces a surprisingly pleasant mild tobacco, by the way). Heck, I was once gifted a box of ten aged puro vintage Dominicans by the plantation owner (puro = the filler, binder, and wrapper tobaccos are from the same country; in this case, they were from the same estate; and vintage = all tobaccos from the same year), and they were superb!
My pipe tobaccos tend to be the nice, tinned tobaccos that are only available from proper tobacconists; but I’ve been known to be willing to try custom blends that the tobacconist is willing to prepare for me. Still, I have a number of pre-blended tinned favourites that will never be carried by supermarkets or corner stores. My pipes are only hand-made briars, from Denmark, Italy, Germany, and Canada; and smoke beautifully; I hate to sound like a snob, but I wouldn’t trust a pipe I didn’t buy from a manufacturer or buy at a tobacconist’s. With pipes, quality tells, and you certainly do get what you pay for.