CENTSable Beauty: Store Brand Adventures, Target

It's happened to all of us at one time or another.  We've run out of something essential, and there is not a sale or coupon in sight.   It's happened... We're going to have to bite the bullet and pay regular price.

I hate this as much as the rest of you do.  On the other hand, I also hate going without body wash or make up remover just because I'm waiting on a sale.  So what's the frugal option? Store Brands.

Today, we're going to explore 5 products that Target has to offer.  The really great thing about Target is that they DO offer coupons on some of their store brand products (Market Pantry for food items, and Up & Up for Home, Health and Beauty items).  In this post, I will review and rate five different beauty products that Target has to offer!

Up & Up Exfoliating Apricot Facial Towelettes 30 Ct.
Price: $ 2.54
Grade: D+

Let me preface this by saying that I normally use Neutrogena towelettes for make-up removal, which is the cheapest name brand on the shelf.  These store brand towelettes did not cost that much less, and only had 5 more towelettes in the package than the Neutrogena brand.  If I needed makeup removers, I would probably just spend the extra cash to get the name brand product that works.

Pros:

• Freshens a clean face (no makeup)
• Smells Nice, the apricot smell was present but not overwhelming

Cons:

• Did not remove all my makeup. It did get a good portion off, but I went back with an Almay wipe to check residue, and there was A LOT of product that came off with the second wipe.  
• Very dry.  I like a wet cloth, and this one was hadn't moist when the package was first opened.  As I got closer to the bottom and more air got into the package, they continued to get even dryer.
• The exfoliating beads were a nice touch, but it's too rough with a dry formula.

Bottom line, I wouldn't repurchase.  I'm going to use the rest of these up as a "refresher" for days I'm not wearing makeup, but it doesn't function as a cleansing cloth or as a makeup removing towelette.  Skip this, and buy name brand.

Up & Up Facial Scrub
Price: $ 3.97
Grade B+

I was pleasantly surprised at this product.  The packaging says that it is comparable to the St. Ives Blemish and Blackhead Control Apricot Scrub, and it reminds me a lot of that product.  If you're a big fan of St. Ives, this will not completely duplicate the feeling that product gave me, but it comes really close and is was a great general scrub.

Pros:

• Smells great
• Was rough enough to exfoliate, but still gentle.
• Didn't break me out (BIG WIN)

Cons:

• Wouldn't recommend for sensitive skin.  I don't have sensitive skin, but I can see how some people that LOVE the St. Ives product will be disappointed with how big the exfoliating beads are.
• Didn't give me the fresh/tingly feeling that St. Ives did.  This isn't really a negative mark, just that I hoped that it would.

 I would purchase this product again.  It did was it was supposed to do and didn't irritate my skin.

Up & Up Oil Free Body Wash
Price: $ 4.19
Grade: A+

This product got such a high grade for one big reason: it's better than the product it's trying to imitate.

Pros:

• Smell is great.  Fragrant but not overwhelming.
• Lathered well.
• Left me feeling clean!
• Oil free, but still moisturizing.  This was why I thought I WOULDN'T like this product.  The Neutrogina Oil Free wash, for me, is so "oil free" that it dries out my skin.  I hated it.  This body wash left mys kin soft without it feeling "slick."

Cons:

• I found none for this product.

I would absolutely purchase this product again.  Price was great for the amount of product I got, and I found that I liked it even better than the name brand.  Win, win!

Up & Up Oil-Absorbing Sheets
Price: $ 2.54
Grade: B

Pros:

• Compared to the Olay sheets (which these are trying to emulate) they work close to the same.  I needed to use an extra sheet now and then, which I never had to do with Olay, but overall they did their job.

Cons:

• Price.  I think the $1 sheets from Elf are a better value than these sheets are.

The main reason these sheets got so low a grade was completely because of price.  It is still a good value compared to Olay, but next time I will end up buying Elf brand blotting papers instead.

Up & Up Nail POlish Remover Dip-It Acetone
Price: $ 4.04
Grade: A+

This remover was the reason I wanted to do Target products first.  I saw a raving review about this product and wanted a reason to try it.  This is not your typical "sponge" pot remover, but instead has a rubbery plastic interior with bristles to help scrub off polish.

Pros:

• Remove regular nail polish in less than 5 seconds, very little scrubbing
• Removes glitter polish within 15 seconds, moderate scrubbing.
• Removes Acrylic nails with moderate soaking and scrubbing, depending on how thick the nails are.

Cons:

• I wasn't completely happy with the acrylic nail removal, but it worked better than any other method I tried.
• This product is pure acetone, which some people have issues with.

This is will probably be my #1 nail polish buy from now on.  The packaging doesn't state that it's comparable to any name brand product, and I have never seen anything quite like it.  From what I can tell, this is a Target invention.  I purchased this originally to remove my acrylic nails, and it took much longer than I expected to remove them.  On the other hand, it was still easier than any other method I've tried.  Fantastic product!

Are there any Target products that you love? Any store brands you'd like me to look at next? Let me know in the comments below!