While the literature on temptation and self-control typically views the agent as behaving strategically in order to deal with urges and desires, we view desires as using self-deception as a strategy to attain fulfillment. Desires motivate the agent to construct rationalizations that justify actions that eventually lead her into temptation: she may form of an exaggerated view of her ability for self-control, or relax her normative attitude toward indulgence. An axiomatic model of temptation-driven self-deception is presented. It is demonstrated that Gul-Pesendorfer's framework puts strong restrictions on the kind of self-deception it can accommodate. Implications of self-deception for welfare policy are derived.