Was your mother right? Do you really get what you pay for? Is spending the extra money worth it?

We ask ourselves that whether we're buying a lipstick or liposuction.

One day not long ago, I wandered into the drugstore to buy myself a little treat, some bright-red nail polish. And there I stood, utterly confused and unable to make a decision.

Was the $8 Essie better than the $1.99 Wet n Wild?

Should I believe Revlon's extravagant ad campaigns and plunk down $5.99. Or do I split the difference with a $3.99 Sally Hansen?

That's when I decided to buy them all and put them to the test. But why stop at four?

I went online and bought a bottle of OPI, a favorite at nail salons. And my final stop was Barneys because the cosmetics there are notoriously decadent.

I breezed in and demanded, "Show me your most expensive nail polish!" When the Barneys sales associate presented me with a small vial of Serge Lutens and I saw the price — $65 for a bottle of nail polish! — I needed CPR.

"How about the second most expensive?" I croaked. That was By Terry, which was still a laughable $30 for 0.33 ounce, the teeniest of all the brands I bought.

Then I rounded up a team of five co-workers who were willing to paint their nails crimson for many weeks as they tested the six polishes through spring cleaning, orange peeling, dishwashing, lots of typing and, yes, wine cork yanking.

And the bottom line? You can get a great polish for $8. The cheaper ones were inferior. And don't waste your money on the $30 splurge.

ewarren@tribune.com

The testers (not pictured): Fauzia Arain, Cheryl Bowles, Maureen Hart, Regina Robinson, Kristin Samuelson. (All testers used Revlon base and top coats, $7.99 each, Walgreens, walgreens.com)

(Above: Manicures and Martinis at Clybar in this November 14, 2006, file photo.)