One woman wants shoppers to stop overpaying for beauty products. In a viral video with over 3.3 million views and 368,000 likes, TikToker HiSavRi (@imjustagirl368) shared a hack for getting a popular beauty product for cheaper.
“Stop falling for marketing and read the label,” she said.
She held up two products with entirely different bottles and labels and claimed that they were, in fact, the same product. One was called “Cleansing Spray” and sold by Walgreens. The other, “SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray,” is sold by Tower 28 Beauty.
The woman claimed the only major difference was the price of the two items.
“This was $4, and it is five fluid ounces,” she said of the Walgreens product. “This was $12 at Sephora, and it is one fluid ounce,” she said, referring to the Tower 28 spray.
She also offered up some silver lining for customers who bought the more expensive product from Sephora. The item is sold in a spray bottle, which she explained is reusable.
“Once your spray runs out, just go to the store and buy [the Walgreens product] and refill it,” she said. “Same exact thing. They smell exactly the same. They do the same thing.”
Are price and size really the only differences?
According to Tower 28’s website, the SOS Daily Rescue Facial Spray contains water, sodium chloride, and hypochlorous acid. The Walgreens website states that its Cleansing Spray contains water, sodium hypochlorite, and phosphoric acid.
Hypochlorous acid, the key ingredient in the Tower 28 Spray, is, in fact, different from the sodium hypochlorite in the Walgreens spray. However, both ingredients function as disinfectants.
According to skin care company Prequel, hypochlorous acid “is a weak acid and antimicrobial molecule naturally produced by immune cells in the body.” It is also formed when chlorine dissolves in water. Meanwhile, sodium hypochlorite is what is commonly referred to as “bleach.”
“Hypochlorous acid is more reactive than hypochlorite and many considerations have to be made during the production, filling, and storage of the product,” Prequel states. “Formula pH and stability are crucial because they influence the concentration of hypochlorous acid. The potent form is hypochlorous acid, predominantly present at pH 3-6, but outside of this range it converts to sodium hypochlorite.”
@imjustagirl368 You can get hypochlorous acid anywhere for way cheaper!
♬ original sound – HiSavRi
In the comments section of HiSavRi’s video, many thanked the woman for her insights.
“Yes! I got like 24 oz off Amazon and keep refilling my travel bottle and my continuous spray bottle,” user Tori wrote.
“This needs to be a series!!” eileen_gruber said.
Walgreens even left a message for the woman.
“Yessss! So glad you love queen!!” the company commented.
The dupes don’t stop there
Viewers also shared purported dupes they have discovered as savvy shoppers.
“And Albolene (from Walmart) is the SAME THING as Clinique Take the Day Off Balm, but less than half the price with triple the product,” one viewer said.
“Trader Joe’s Marula Oil & Drunk Elephant are the same!!!” another wrote.
Additionally, other TikTokers have gone viral for sharing videos of dupes they discovered while shopping. One woman racked up hundreds of thousands of views for sharing a cheaper alternative to Sol de Janeiro products found at Five Below. Another woman shared brand-name dupes she found at Dollar Tree.
The Daily Dot reached out to HiSavRi, Walgreens, Sephora, and Tower 28 via email for more information.
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