We Tested Dollar Store Skincare & Found 5 Radiant Wins We'll Buy Again

The last 100 years of skincare have seen the cosmetic industry bloom into a formidable force that has more consumer choices than many others, and that's not even to mention the celebrity-backed brands that boast sky-high price tags with supposedly superior ingredients. But are these products really the holy grails you need to let your skin glow?

I'm always in search of cheaper skincare products that can rival higher-end products — for example, I previously found that Tonymoly's watermelon serum is the best affordable Glow Recipe dupe — and I'm now taking that search to my friendly neighborhood dollar store. More specifically, I hit up my local Dollar Tree to purchase 10 skincare products to see how they fare against the ones I'm used to. My typical must-haves are fairly budget-friendly. I stick to the aforementioned Tonymoly Dew All Over Serum, as well as the DERMA E Vitamin C Serum, CeraVe Moisturizing Cream, and CeraVe Skin Renewing Retinol Serum. 

But if there are more affordable options, why stick to what I know? My journey saw me test out lotions, cleansers, serums, and more that cost just $1.25 each, and after a week of use, I can attest that five of them are skincare items I'd pick up again. 

At present, my nighttime skincare routine only consists of retinol and moisturizer, so I was excited to try the Global Beauty Care Calming Nighttime Skin Cream. This cream contains aloe to soothe the skin, lavender for similar calming properties, and melatonin for that oh-so-coveted sleepy feeling. To test this, I applied it evenly to my entire face, starting with little dots so as not to overdo it. I did this just before bed with the hope that it would sink in quickly, and I was pleasantly surprised on my first use that it did, indeed, melt into the skin beautifully.

Now, I can't say for certain that this product helps you sleep — I'm not great at sleeping as it is — but I can say that it felt good on my skin and did help it stay hydrated overnight. It has a lavender scent that isn't too synthetic, making it a nice, mellow smell to drift off to dream land with. My one confusion with this product is that its name specifies "nighttime," yet the instructions say to use it "morning and night" every day. I only used this product at night, and that, I can recommend. 

Look: When it comes to lotions, I'm picky. Between playing with makeup and being an avid baker, I wash my hands a lot, so I have pretty dry skin. To date, the best lotion I've used is the CeraVe Daily Moisturizing Lotion, but I knew I wanted to try a couple of dollar-store options to see if they could provide similar results. I tried two of B.Pure's lotions, but the one that came out on top for me was the Hyaluronic Acid Hydrating Body Lotion.

Overall, this is a pretty solid lotion, and it felt like butter on the skin in the best way. It dissolved quickly, and it made the skin feel plump and hydrated. The main reason this won over B.Pure's other contender — the Collagen Revitalizing Body Lotion — is simply because this formula has hyaluronic acid, which aids with moisturizing. If your main concern were brightening dull skin, then you might prefer the collagen formula.

Ultimately, I wouldn't say it hits the same marks as CeraVe's product, but that's largely because of my own habits. This B.Pure lotion is one I'll continue to use on my legs and arms — I'll just save the CeraVe for my dry hands. 

It's probably no shocker at this point that my daily face wash is the CeraVe Hydrating Cream-to-Foam Cleanser. What can I say? CeraVe makes a great product, especially for sensitive skin! But again, this product typically retails for about $20, so if I could find a cleanser that's equally gentle and effective, then I would be one happy skincare enthusiast. Luckily, I did just that thanks to Dermasil Labs' Oatmeal Facial Cleanser, which uses oats and mushrooms to refresh your face and help you glow. The oatmeal also makes it sensitive-skin friendly, so I was happy to see something so considerate at Dollar Tree.

This cleanser lathers up nicely, which was a great start, as I've experienced too many cleansers in the past that stayed creamy and never sudsed up. Maybe it's just me, but I tend not to trust formulas that don't lather well. In either case, this has a pleasant, mild smell, and I felt thoroughly clean after each use. This is one of the products I was most nervous about — I didn't want to break out from switching cleansers — but it proved me wrong in all the best ways. 

I've tried many face masks, sure. But hand masks are new to me, so I knew I had to grab one to try when I saw the Spa Luxury Collagen Infused Hand Mask. The premise is pretty simple: Just remove the glove-like masks from the package, separate them (they come attached), slip them on, and wear them for 20 minutes to reap their full benefits.

One of my favorite aspects of this product is that each hand comes with a built-in sticky tab located on the bottom of the wrist that you can pull over to tighten and "close" the mask so nothing leaks out. This allows you to still use your hands, though I'd only recommend doing tasks with small amounts of movement. I cooked with them on to really put this product to the test — don't worry; I didn't chop anything with slippery hands — and while they stayed fastened, a few drops of the serum inside did leak out onto my arms. 

Another pleasant surprise was the subtlety of the coconut scent. I like coconut, but it can get strong quickly. Thankfully, it's a sweet, mellow scent in this case. Overall, these left my hands feeling reinvigorated, but I'd only buy them as an occasional skincare treat due to the environmental impact of throwing away the gloves each time.

Anyone who has followed the beauty brand Glow Recipe after "Shark Tank" knows that the company is massively successful. With its fruity serums and moisturizers, Glow Recipe aims to brighten and plump folks' faces with natural ingredients, and as a longtime admirer of the brand, I knew I had to grab the B.Pure Glow Up Serum the second I saw it. The pink packaging and watermelon iconography make it obvious that it's meant to be an affordable version of Glow Recipe's famous Watermelon Niacinamide Dew Drops, and it honestly didn't disappoint.

This serum contains real watermelon extract, though a peep at the ingredients label shows it as the second-to-last ingredient, meaning it's a small percentage of the overall formula. Cucumber extract is also included, which is always welcome since cucumber is soothing for the skin. When I put on this serum, it was cooling on the skin, and it dissolved quickly. It didn't leave any greasy feeling behind, and it actually made my skin feel more hydrated and radiant. If you don't already have a niacinamide product in your routine, I would recommend this one. The travel size of Glow Recipe's serum retails for $20 on Amazon, but for just $1.25, this one is largely comparable. 

Now, fore more stellar budget beauty finds, check out the dollar store nail polish dupes that are spicing up our fall 2025 manis.