Flawless-Complexioned Cate Blanchett

Sharyn Belkin Locke knows better -- she does -- but she's admittedly attached to her anti-aging products.

"If I run out when I travel, it's a problem," says the 44-year-old art director who co-founded the handbag collection Kelly Locke. "I don't like to put something on my skin that I'm not familiar with. I don't like unknown elements."

 She also knows that her loyalty to SK-II products, a Japanese skin-care line endorsed by flawless-complexioned Cate Blanchett, is based as much on the allure of sleek packaging and the luxurious formula as on the possibility that the reported active ingredient, Pitera (derived from sake yeasts), can rejuvenate the skin. "When I use it, it immediately feels great on my fingers and feels good on the face. And when I look in the mirror, my skin looks dewy and radiant."

She attributes much of her success at looking younger to exercise, eating well, drinking lots of green tea and, most important, being vigilant about sun protection. But still, she has no problem spending up to $200 on a product that probably won't do what it promises. "There are so many products out there that claim to do this or that," she says. "Do you really ever see that kind of difference? I never do."

Women's complicated relationship with their anti-aging products is of course perpetrated by the beauty industry from which they spring.