I don’t even wear enough make up to merit the $200 price tag the Kylie Jenner Birthday Bundle costs. Why entertain this? Because it’s exclusive and we’ve been conditioned to seek out and covet what’s unattainable. Or it could be that I’m a Leo and it’s special to those born on this Zodiac sign. I have no clue which one of these reasons is clouding my better judgment; what I do know is that I found myself gearing up for the KY-tastic sale last Wednesday at 6pm  EST. With three devices in hand, I was ready to spend my hard-earned freelance money on KYshadow, poppin’ gloss, the exclusive Leo lip kits and the Kylie makeup bag. Alas, I could not get my hands on these beauty products. I spent 27 minutes refreshing like nobody’s business with zero results. A half hour not well spent. I get it. I was under the Kardashian-Jenner juggernaut spell. It’s mindboggling to think that this teen – just alone with the birthday bundle @ $200 each – sold over 200K units in less than half an hour. Kudos to you, babe!

Refinery29 recently wrote an article – complete with Kylie Jenner illustrations – on her “Queen of Instagram” status. All of her Selfie poses are deliberate, the fashion/beauty pop-culture website claims. Not just some run-of-the-mill: “Hey, look at me. I’m snappin’ a pic of myself.” Ultimately it’s to sell a brand. And, love her or hate her, she does it well with a huge following!

http://www.refinery29.com/2016/08/117975/kylie-jenner-hand-gestures#slide

I had to experience this frenzy for myself, being a pop-culture junkie. What’s the tally now between the Kardashian-Jenners’ fortunes? One billion? For me, the thrill of the chase was reminiscent of my childhood – back in the 80s, before social media and massive swarms of people crashing sites. When I was 8 years old, my mom fought the good fight to get me the latest Cabbage Patch Kids. As a child I don’t recall people fighting, it was more like rude shoving, nobody was getting mauled or trampled in stores and malls, yet. My mother had created a distraction at the Toys-R-Us to get her hands on one of the last twin Cabbage Patch preemies for me. She had a water balloon in her purse – thanks to the kids she babysat. With one swift toss of the water balloon, she distracted parents to get the last set of twins.

Today, it’s a combination of star power with enough influence to sell products and the speed of your Internet service to get your “exclusive in-demand product” checked out!