I got a 13-piece makeup & skincare haul at Dollar Tree for $16.25 – they even had a dupe for a cult favorite moisturizer
YOU may have heard the expression “pain is beauty,” and the saying couldn’t be truer than it is on wallets.
Makeup and skincare can cost an absolute fortune — but does it have to? Or could I find cute and effective products at my local Dollar Tree?
An overwhelming percentage of online shoppers invest in beauty, with a study suggesting that nearly 70% of online consumers purchase skincare, cosmetics, hair, or fragrance products monthly.
While online shopping can grant instant gratification with the click of a mouse, it doesn’t come cheap — 27% of online shoppers spend, on average, between $51-$100 per month on products alone.
As a salaried 22-year-old, the numbers seem high but reasonable — products expire, run out, and frequently need to be replaced.
For teens with less disposable income, however, spending on beauty has never been higher.
The average teen spends over $300 a year on beauty, the most they’ve invested in the category since 2019.
It’s no wonder, then, that thrifty beauty influencers and shoppers priced out by the likes of Sephora have turned to more affordable alternatives for their next holy grail product.
Instead of sitting at my vanity staring at my expensive big-girl cosmetics … I decided to take a trip to Dollar Tree to hunt for treasure
Videos of beauty influencers perusing their local Dollar Tree for makeup and skincare bargains have gone viral, inspiring many to check out the closest location near them, myself included.
For weeks, I’ve watched as influencer after influencer stumbled across makeup goldmines, finding brand-name eyeshadow palettes, lip liners, lashes, and even full brush sets for just $1.25 apiece.
One shopper even found stacks of a palette that had sold at Ulta for $38, while another scored Flower Beauty buys for dirt cheap.
Instead of sitting at my vanity, staring at my expensive big-girl cosmetics and feeling left out, I decided to take a trip to Dollar Tree to hunt for treasure.
Hopping on a bus, I ventured to my nearest location in Brooklyn with low expectations.
Many of the influencers I’d seen score the best finds at Dollar Tree lived in small towns — and I didn’t expect the New York City stores to have the same vast inventory.
But with everything costing $1.25, I figured it was worth a shot.
Making a beeline for the beauty section, I immediately noticed a large and well-stocked aisle for haircare, filled with Tresemmé-esque shampoo, conditioner, and treatment dupes.
Although I wasn’t interested in most, I did pick up an avocado and papaya hair mask that looked promising.
Next, I stumbled across dupes for Cetaphil’s Moisturizing Lotion ($9.99 at Target) and Gentle Skin Cleanser ($8.79 at Target) and was even surprised by their clean ingredient lists.
Not only were both products paraben-free, but even included key ingredients like glycerin, avocado oil, and essential vitamins.
As someone with frequent acne, a tea tree oil and salicylic acid face wash also stood out to me, especially with its fragrance-free and sulfate-free formulation.
To finish up my skincare haul, I picked up an eye cream with collagen and peptides which promised to de-puff and tighten the under-eyes, and a multi-vitamin face serum.
Moving onto makeup, I was surprised to see what a huge selection of products they had, ranging from 9-pan eyeshadow palettes to lashes to lip gloss.
Unfortunately, I didn’t find marked-down name-brand products by the likes of Maybelline and Rimmel, which some shoppers have discovered hiding in plain sight.
But I was intrigued by what they had.
I decided to pick up essentials including a blurring primer, serum foundation, and pressed powder that reminded me of CoverGirl products I started out with in high school.
Next, I picked up a brow pencil and sorted through the eyeliners in search of a liquid pen type.
Although I decided to skip mascara, there were plenty available. One even looked like a dupe for the iconic pink and green tube of Maybelline Great Lash ($5.98 from Amazon).
Other standouts included color correctors and lashes that looked to be high-quality and most importantly, came in wearable styles — there were even individual smaller clusters of lashes available.
The find I’m most excited about was less conventional — a freckle pen.
As someone with natural freckles, I find myself having to re-draw them after applying higher-coverage foundation, but to my surprise, freckle pens do not come cheap.
Popular brands like Freck Beauty cost $22 a pop for a tiny bottle of freckle-colored pigment — a splurge I can never seem to justify — but $1.25 at Dollar Tree? No sweat.
Last but not least, I picked up a jade gua sha that I had hoped could rival the $30 stainless steel one I already owned.
Unfortunately, the gua sha cracked into pieces in its plastic packaging by the time I made it home.
I couldn’t be too disappointed even with the unlucky pick — for 13 products, my total still came to just under $18 after tax — and if I wanted to, I could still exchange the gua sha for a replacement.
All in all, I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with my haul, and although I didn’t find anything fancy like a Harry Potter make-up brush set, a bargain is still a bargain.
Now I can’t wait to try out everything from my haul, especially the freckle pen and cleanser.
Stay tuned for updates as I figure out if I’m replacing pricier buys in my makeup stash for Dollar Tree bargains for good.