Dermatologist Tested Dollar Store Skincare "Dupes" (hidden gems)
Global Beauty Care$6.79- “For a little over a dollar, this is good”
- “This dollar store dupe has ceramides and squalane, but it's missing the friends. It's an incomplete version, but for the price, this isn't a bad product”▶ 4:36
- “It has a thin serum consistency, and when I put it on my face, it's kind of like I repeatedly splashed my face with water”▶ 4:46
- “It's a decent first layer in a skin care routine, but if this is your only moisturizer, you're going to feel dry in 5 minutes”▶ 4:53
- “But you get an A because you're good for a dollar”▶ 5:01
Glow Up Serumshade · Watermelon + Niacinamide- “This pink serum is a little bit of a weird dupe. It can't really decide which Glow Recipe product it wants to be”▶ 5:01
- “Niacinamide is the headline ingredient, but it's listed after the preservative. Again, this is like a chocolate chip cookie with only one chocolate chip”▶ 5:24
- “The actual product is a thin serum that barely has any niacinamide, which is the star ingredient. It didn't improve my skin in any way”▶ 5:30
- “I find the tiny niacinamide content to be a little bit deceptive, but my skin didn't fall off, and I'm willing to use you on my feet, so you get a B”▶ 5:37
Xtra Care$5.99- “I used this next product once and I'm not sure I can emotionally bring myself to use this product again”▶ 5:47
- “After using this product for 30 seconds, my skin felt stripped”▶ 6:01
- “This uses harsher detergents than the Neutrogena version and it left my skin worse than before I used it”▶ 6:30
- “So, this guy is a C”
B Pure$4.99- “This next one says it right on the packaging, 'Compare to Olay Regenerist.' So, I'm thinking maybe this isn't just a packaging dupe this time, maybe the ingredients are actually similar here”▶ 6:47
- “The Dollar Store dupe has no peptides”▶ 7:14
- “The only potential actives I see on the ingredients list are niacinamide, panthenol, and tocopherol, but all of them are listed after phenoxyethanol, so this is just a sprinkle”▶ 7:16
- “This is all about the short term, just get me to my next paycheck. You're getting me through the short term, but doing nothing for me in the long term”▶ 7:39
- “I'll use it on my feet so you can get a B”
- “The vitamin C is in the form of ascorbic acid, and it's in the bottom three of the ingredients list at position 27 out of 30. This is a baby amount. There is half a chocolate chip in this chocolate chip cookie”▶ 8:18
- “But when something says that it has vitamin C in it, I don't think I'm being unreasonable to expect that it has a meaningful amount of vitamin C”▶ 8:44
- “The Dollar Store eye cream also has a little bit of fragrance to it, which is an interesting choice for an eye cream”▶ 8:53
- “I'll still use you on my feet so you can get a B”
Spa Luxury$5.95- “I put it on, it's silky, it has a nice vacation in a jar scent. I feel like a fancy lady with this cream”▶ 10:10
- “The cheap version doesn't have cupuacu butter or acai oil like the expensive version does. It has petrolatum and mineral oil, but I'm not mad at fancy Vaseline because all this promised me was that it was a nice smelling rich body lotion and it delivered”▶ 10:13
- “This one smells great, it feels luxurious, and it makes me feel fancy for $1.25. I would happily buy this again. That is an A”▶ 10:44
- “The scent isn't for everyone. I like it, but this is a risk with fragranced products in general. Some people are going to love it and some people are going to hate it”▶ 10:58
Moisturizing Creamshade · Sensitive Skin- “This plain sensitive skin cream is dressed up like Cetaphil or CeraVe. No big promises, no hero ingredient claims, and no fragrance”▶ 11:16
- “And it's the one product here that I would rebuy without thinking twice”▶ 11:26
- “It's a simple rich moisturizer that does exactly what a moisturizer is supposed to do for just a dollar 25. No gimmicks, nothing buried at the bottom of the label. It just works”▶ 11:31
- “This is my 1S”
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