Gloss.

I've never been one to wear a ton of makeup. Back in college, in fact, I hardly wore any. But one product has been essential to my beauty routine since I was a teenager. I can't live without my Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers lip gloss.

This may seems a bit silly at first. After all, makeup is a luxury item and we're in a recession. Plus, Lip Smackers are for kids! And yeah, I have to admit that the bubblegum and grape glosses have never been my thing; some of the flavors are pretty juvenile. But the Dr. Pepper variety is actually useful as an adult beauty product. The red tint gives lips an understated, yet glamorous, sheen. If you don't feel like wearing any other makeup you can get away with only wearing this gloss--it brightens up your entire face. And who doesn't dig a product that costs less than two bucks?

I love this stuff so thoroughly that I once wrote a letter to the Bonne Belle cosmetics company and earnestly asked them never to discontinue their Dr. Pepper gloss. I explained to them that I'd been wearing it for years, and it's the only beauty product that has been a mainstay in my life. They never replied to my letter, but they've also never taken it off the shelves. I think that deep down, they know they've got a good thing going on.