The statement that we are a nation of consumers has never been truer than it is today. If you want merchandise there are no limits on the way you can get it. There are catalog shopping, online, shopping, online auctions, mega mall and superstore shopping and there are small shops and specialty shops. With all the retail possibilities that are available there are times when there seems to be too many choices. I have found myself standing in an hour for half an hour reading labels and trying to choose which item to buy.

I had this dilemma a few weeks ago when I was trying to find a skin care product for my poison ivy. The week before I had been standing in the medicated creams aisle looking for something to help relieve the itching. I was going crazy trying not to scratch. When I did scratch it would begin to hurt. I bought several different lotions that were supposed to relieve the itching. I ended up doing some research and found the home remedy of rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana peel. Within ten minutes the itching was gone and it did not return for eight hours. Now that I was through the itching and weeping stage I wanted something to help sooth and heal the area. I was in a superstore and went to the skin care product aisle. There were so many products that I did not know where to begin. I knew that I did not want anything with a heavy scent because the scented creams I had at home had seemed to irritate the area. I had heard that vitamin E is a good vitamin to promote the healing of the skin and that aloe was a natural soothing ingredient. I thought that concentrating on these two ingredients would narrow down the number of skin care products that would be available. That was not the case. It seems that these are two of the main ingredients in well over half of the skin care product available on the shelves. After about thirty minutes of reading labels my husband came looking for me. He could not believe that I had stayed in one aisle since we walked in the store. He started looking at the different skin care product that was available. He found one that combined oatmeal to sooth the itching, vitamin E to prevent scarring and Aloe and a natural healer. This seemed to cover all the bases so I decided to buy that one. It was unreal to me that there were so many different tubes, bottles and jars. It was one time where there were too many choices. The cream that I did pick had healed the poison ivy.