Trader Joe’s Skin-Care Dupes Have A Cult Following — But Do They Hold Up?

When I spot the signature black-and-white stripes of Sephora, I can’t help but nearly beam myself into the store. When I walk in and see aisles and aisles of my favorite skin-care products, my shoulder tension eases, my childhood traumas recede to the back of my mind, and my self-image gets a jolt to the system. I leave happier, but I also leave with my bank account at least $100 lighter — especially when I’m buying my go-to Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen, which costs $36 for just 1.7 ounces. 
 
After seeing the internet go crazy over Trader Joe’s latest buzzy skin-care dupe, an $8.99 sunscreen that’s said to mimic Supergoop!’s clear gel formula, I wondered if I could ease my beleaguered wallet by replacing some of these pricey (but beloved) Sephora essentials with the much less expensive options from Trader Joe’s. Dupes of existing products are controversial for a number of reasons: In most (but not all) cases, products are expensive because of the quality of the ingredients and the research and development that goes into their formulations. Even when the ingredient list is nearly identical, those same ingredients might be used at different concentrations or be of lesser quality, yielding completely different results. There’s also the ethical question of whether it’s even okay to pass off the work of other beauty brands as your own.

At the end of the day, though, saving money takes precedence over brand loyalty for many shoppers, which is how the grocery store’s almost-exact copies of skin-care products have achieved cult status and inspired large social media accounts, with many swearing that they’re as good as the original or better. In fact, it was hard to find some of these products — namely the sunscreen and Brazil Nut Body Butter — because everyone was grabbing them off the shelves. It also doesn’t help that you can’t order Trader Joe’s products online (and while you can find them through third-party sellers, doing so is not advised unless you’re willing to risk exorbitant markups and expired or counterfeit products), so you have to go hunting IRL for the most sought-after items. 

But there was one question I wanted to answer: Sure, they have a huge fan base, but do Trader Joe’s skin-care dupes actually hold up? I wasn’t so sure, so I decided to head to my local Trader Joe’s and my local Sephora to figure out what’s quality and what’s just hype.