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Is it Worth it to Buy Off-Brand Items?

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Bates chapter.

A tale as old as time, whether or not to buy on-brand or off-brand things. This question often haunts me whenever I go to a CVS and find myself trying to get the best deal. Is this Aveeno face wash really worth $8.79 when I could buy this CVS Beauty 360 brand face wash for $6.99?

I recently went to my local CVS on Sabattus Street in Lewiston to solve this predicament. The current display of face products in CVS is interesting. They place identical options side by side on the shelves. For example, the have Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips and right next to those are the CVS Beauty 360 Deep Cleansing Pore Strips! Here’s the best part, the packaging is almost identical to the on-brand option!

Without even noticing almost grabbed the CVS option. I was really shocked. My friend, Sophie, quickly told me that each option has the same ingredients and you are essentially paying for the brand name. this made me think, what if she is right and I am just paying for the name and not the quality.

So, I bought the Beauty 360 Deep Cleansing Pore Strips Combo Pack For Nose And Face, 14CT. I washed my face as directed and made sure my skin was wet before applying the nose and face strips on. I left them on for around 10-15 minutes depending on how dry the strips were.

Usually, when I take off the Biore Deep Cleansing Pore Strips it’s a bit painful. When I took off these Beauty 360 strips, it was painless. I didn’t flinch as I usually do and I was shocked by the results. My skin was left super soft and looked very clean. The strip removed a decent amount of dirt from my pores.

I definitely recommend buying these strips and using them on your nose and face, it’s a great investment and worth the savings. But I know in this day and age we are very accustomed to the buying merchandise because of the brand it is associated with. Although I know CVS has a Beauty 360 version of my favorite foaming face wash, I know that I will still buy my on-brand version instead.

Elizah Laurenceau is a senior at Bates College. Her hobbies consist of rewatching Call Me By Your Name, using Huji to take pictures, and playing with her dog. She spends her days either glued on her computer or late nights finishing up work.