Every month or two, Manhattan magazine hits my mailbox, and I flip through it with a mixture of glee and disbelief. It’s one of those free city mags published by Modern Luxury Media, and I love their take on what’s new and “hot,” because it’s often things that are completely inaccessible to most of the population.

In the January/February edition, they listed the top 11 beauty items for 2011. Of course a La Mer product was on there, as was something containing argan oil, the trendy ingredient that is popping up in everything lately. Inexplicably, there was also a lilac Essie nail polish. Not a fan. Anyway….

Then I came to the Philip B. Russian Amber Imperial Conditioning Creme, which is $150 for a six ounce tube. I realize that we often write nonchalantly about a lot of ridiculously expensive things here at Fashionista, but for some reason I’m totally offended by the price of this product. I don’t blink an eye at $300 face creams, but the thought of spending $150 on something that is going to be on my head for two minutes then washed down the drain is outrageous.

Philip B. is a high-end celeb hairdresser based in LA, and he has a line of hair products to match. They’re all made with botanicals and essential oils (in addition to more traditional ingredients), without parabens or phthlates.

To be fair, many of his products fall in the $30-$50 range, which while still pricey, is not as heart attack-inducing. The Russian Amber line has garnered rave reviews from tons of magazines. I found a two ounce version on Amazon selling for $41. Maybe I’ll try it and come back for my mea culpa.

What’s the max you’ll spend on hair care?