Take a minute and visualize your makeup bag or bathroom sink. When was the last time you added a product to your beauty regimen that was ... store brand? Did you just turn your nose in the air? I'll be the first to admit that some of us have an aversion to store brand products. Maybe it's the blah packaging, the half-hearted promise that it's "just like" whatever you really want to buy, or we simply don't want to be thought of as cheap, but many of us will happily pony up a couple extra bucks to buy brand name everything.
That's probably because whether you'd like to admit it or not, it feels good to sneak in a quality name-drop or drape that logo-heavy designer bag over your shoulder (knockoff or not). But we should know by now not to judge a book by its cover -- especially when it comes to beauty products. I'm here to tell you that it might be time to just get over ourselves and start going generic because we're overlooking some real gems out there.
We challenged the editorial staff to spend a few weeks trying out beauty products from store brands like Target's Up & Up line and Ulta, and guess what? We all managed to find standout beauty products that have us rethinking our name brand favorites.
Keep reading to see which store brand lipstick might take the place of your favorite Nars or L'Oreal tube and the mascara that puts MAC and Lancome to shame.
"I put this nail polish remover up against some of the toughest polish I've ever come across. A few days ago, I put on Deborah Lippman's "I Wanna Be Sedated," a recent addition to the Punk Rock collection. The polish is a dirty lime green and has the gritty texture of gravel. Which means it's practically impossible to get off. I used one small cotton ball drenched in the Up & Up polish remover. While it wasn't a one-swipe job (I had to put a lot of pressure on it to get this stubborn polish off), the polish on one hand was removed with the first cotton ball. Just to give it a fair shot, I tried it with a regular, non-texturized polish. The verdict: it works." -- Emily Woodruff, Editorial Intern
"The bottle says to 'compare to Neutrogena Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover,' so that's what I did. And I have to say, they really are similar. The Up & Up formula is a little thinner liquid, so you may notice it sliding down your face as you apply, but it took off my mascara and liner just as well as my usual Neutrogena -- for $2 less a bottle." -- Sarah Carrillo, Senior Editor
"I can't imagine why anyone would pay three or four times the price for a makeup wipe that performs like Target's less-expensive house brand. These wipes have the same look, smell, and feel as Pond's Clean Sweep Towelettes, $4.69. Diehard fans of Pond's might notice a slight difference in the quality of the towelette (Up & Up's is not as plush), but for something that literally gets wiped across your face and tossed in the garbage in about 13 seconds flat, I'm willing to make that barely-noticeable sacrifice. But I will say this: Up & Up's packaging needs help -- as soon as the "re-sealable" adhesive flap over the opening gets rubbed with enough makeup remover, it never re-seals again. (A problem I cured by storing the package in a zip-top bag, so the towelettes don't dry out.)" -- Colleen Rush, Executive Editor
"If I'd applied this in a dark room, I would've sworn it was the old standby I always use -- Coppertone Sport Continuous Spray. Same beachy smell, same quick-absorbing formula that dries to a clean finish. But instead of a 6 oz. Coppertone can, with Up & Up I get 10 oz.-worth of product for the same price. After a long day at the Santa Monica beach last weekend, I reapplied every 90 minutes and didn't get a lick of burn. I'll be buying this for sure." -- Beth Mayall, Editor in Chief
