One day, as I was flipping through some old pictures of LBJ, I noticed that his wife, Lady Bird, had a discolored front tooth. Rather than be disgusted or repulsed, I was actually kind of impressed. Growing up in a time when image often (always?) trumps depth, it is hard for me to imagine a woman as prominent as Mrs. Johnson refusing to get her tooth capped.

Looking back at pictures from my grandparents' day, I see a similar phenomenon: the images are filled with men and women who are blotchy, overweight, have crooked teeth, or otherwise fail to live up to the beauty ideal of my generation. Part of the reason for this, of course, is the fact that styles have changed; similarly, the beauty industry is constantly developing new technologies for pampering and self-glorification. A few years ago, the idea of injecting a biotoxin into one's skin would have seemed outlandishly repulsive, yet Botox is now a multi-million dollar business.

On the other hand, earlier generations often didn't have the disposable income necessary to support today's massive beauty industry. Expensive plastic surgery was reserved for wealthy people and the victims of disfiguring accidents. For anybody else, it would have been an outrageous extravagance.

Mary Kay ladies are notorious for citing all sorts of phantom statistics to recruit anyone and everyone into their cosmetics "business opportunity." To hear them tell it, Mary Kay has made more female millionaires, has more women making $50,000 or more, has given away more free cars,.... and on and on and on. (Yes, all these statements are pure fiction with no hard facts to support them.)

Amazingly, one often cited "fact" might just be true. It's been said that during difficult economic times, women buy more cosmetics. When money is tight they might not be able to justify buying a new outfit or handbag, but a relatively small purchase of an "extra" like makeup will boost her spirits.

If you love Smashbox products, this deal is for you. Smashbox puts together great kits with almost full-size products that are worth far more than the price you pay for the kits.

The spring kit is the Double Take Color Kit, which includes: travel size Photo Finish Foundation Primer (if you haven't tried it, you must), Doubletake Fusion Eye & Cheek Palette (4 eye colors, 2 cheek colors), Creme Eyeliner Duo, Double-Ended Lip Gloss, Double-Ended Eyeliner & Smudger Brush.

The kit is selling for $47 at Ulta.com, with a retail value of products of $137 (usually pretty close to actual price, I've found). The last kit I got from Smashbox was well worth the price, so I'll be getting this one too!

The other day I went to get my hair cut at a place I hadn't been to before -- I'm new in this town. After the haircut, I asked how much it would cost to have my eyebrows done. The stylist told me $10 and, while I consider myself a penny-pincher in most respects, I do occasionally indulge in luxuries like that.

I told her that I would like to have them waxed and then she looked at my face and said "They look fine. I could clean them up a little but honestly, I don't think anyone would be able to tell the difference. Don't waste your money on it."

This came from the stylist! Warren Buffett once said that you should never ask a barber if you need a haircut but I guess he didn't know about this wonderful lady's sense of honesty!

So what was the outcome of it? I didn't get my eyebrows waxed, costing the salon $10, and costing the stylist the couple bucks I would have given her as a tip. But on the other hand, I gave her a very generous tip for the cut as I appreciated her saving me $10 and, more importantly, I've decided that I will use that salon as I long as I live in this town. Honest service at the expense of short-term profits is hard to come by these days, but I think it does pay off the businesses that really do decide to put their customers first.

The Daily Deal for January 23 is The Best of Stila Set, a $120.50 value selling for $40 at Ulta.com. Back in the day, cosmetic companies gave gifts with purchase or offered sets at a discount to customers, but the gifts and sets weren't that great. They often contained unpopular products, odd colors, or items that simply weren't worth the "value" given them.

But no more! You can find some great sets from great cosmetic companies and save yourself a boatload of money. This Stila set is one such example. It contains a 1.7 Oz. Stila Illuminating Tinted Moisturizer SPF 15, Stila Convertible Eye Color in onyx, Stila Major Lash Mascara, Stila Lip Glaze in brown sugar, Stila Eye Shadow in kitten, and Stila Convertible Color Dual Lip and Cheek Cream in peony.

The colors are generally versatile and will match quite a few skin tones. And if you add up the cost of these items separately, you see that they do in fact add up to over $100 and they come in a cute container. So even if one of two of the items aren't for you, you'll probably still get a great value out of the set.

Oh... and Ulta is offering free shipping on any order over $50.