Ok, I recently wandered into the land of unbelievably cheap beauty fixes: Dollar Tree. Something about snagging a $1.25 serum just screams either a stroke of genius or the beginning of a chemical experiment on my face. Anyway, desperate times call for desperate measures, and my bank account is still recovering from that time I splurged on an all-natural avocado mask (which, spoiler alert, smelled like guac but did zip for my skin).
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So there I was, standing in the Dollar Tree aisle, eyeing this tiny bottle of Global Beauty Care’s multivitamin serum. The thing is, I’m usually all, “you get what you pay for,” but today? I felt rebellious. The packaging claimed a magic concoction of vitamins meant to make my skin thank me. For $1.25? Sounded like a bargain or a potential skin hazard. Can’t lie, the allure of cheap cosmetics made me chuckle a bit (like, what even is my life).
Back home, I had to Google if this serum had made its rounds in the beauty community blackout list. Surprisingly, it hadn’t, which either means it’s undiscovered wonder stuff or nobody dared to risk it yet. Of course, Instagram influencers make everything look like liquid gold. But when I tried some on my wrist, prepping for a possible hives situation, I was kinda shocked. The serum felt, dare I say, decent? My wrist didn’t morph into some alien landscape which I took as a win.
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But using it on my face? That level of bravery is what I usually reserve for winged eyeliner days. A couple of cautious drops later (seriously, if this goes wrong and transforms into a Facepalm-for-life moment, nobody’s finding out), it felt slightly sticky at first, like any serum I’ve dropped way more than a dollar on. Just missing that Eau de Luxe fragrance you get with pricier goods. Can’t help but wonder why we subconsciously equate high end with better quality (thanks, aggressive marketing).
Honestly though, if you exclude paranoia and my inner critic yelling, “you missed a spot,” the serum’s aftermath was rather meh. No miracles (shockingly). Didn’t turn my skin into porcelain nor caused a sudden breakout. Maybe looked a smidge more glowy? Or maybe that’s the lighting in my cramped bathroom. Who knows. For $1.25, though, I’m not exactly mad. It’s more like a benign skin care experiment without (hopefully) dire consequences. But do I dare trust my face with it in the long run? Remains to be seen. If you catch me in a future post with a steak on my face, then you know where it went south.
Anyway, that wrap-up only took me into a marveling reverie of how many weird things we’re willing to try for the sake of beauty. But my eyes still feel suspicious every time I think of applying the serum again, like, “did we really go there?”…