Beauty

[Nuttmeg]

On 10/28/2014 Colonel Meow said:

I'm no snob about buying certain items from The Dollar Store (cleaning supplies, household items, etc). However, I would never buy beauty/personal care items there. JMO.

I only buy paper goods in the Dollar Store. I would place Big Lots into this category.

[Nuttmeg]

On 11/4/2014 HonnyBrown said:

On 11/4/2014 suzeecat said:

I love scouring dollar stores for deals on stuff, but it's usually household items, storage or seasonal décor, wrapping paper type things. I always assume that the food items and personal care/beauty stuff is expired goods bought in bulk. I just don't bother with it.

Am I being naïve to assume that if items contain toxic ingredients that are banned in the U.S. that they can't be sold in the U.S.?

Lead paint on toys is banned in the US. When Mattel recalled toys painted in China, they ended up at the dollar stores.

This would seem to be illegal. The product would have to be destroyed.

[Nuttmeg]

On 11/30/2014 ShopMonkey said:

On 10/31/2014 ChynnaBlue said:

On 10/30/2014 ShopMonkey said:

On 10/28/2014 kivah said:

Never buy food or makeup, toothpaste, cologne --- or anything u put on or in ur body from the Dollar-type stores. Most of the products are made in foreign countries (like China) and they try to make the packaging look like it's American made. They use toxic ingredients -- which are unsafe - below American standards. When u buy from ur local stores, the prices aren't that much more. You also don't know how old the products are. Don't take a chance.

Kivah, you are making dangerous and erroneous generalizations. When you buy a BRANDED product at a national retailer like DOLLAR TREE, you can rest assured that you are getting the real thing. Whether it is Nivea, Colgate, Oral B or whatever, they are not selling knock off products.

Yes, many of the stores' own brands are manufactured globally (including China) and price vs value is a decision to be made by the buyer. If the product has an expiration date, you can always look for that.

The one thing you do need to consider is that, when comparing prices, always make sure you know the product size (ounces, etc) and compare the unit prices.

ShopMonkey, you are also making dangerous and erroneous generalizations. WHICH real thing you're getting is the issue, not whether it's a counterfeit or not. This is not about counterfeit items, it's about manufacturing regulations in different markets around the world. You may be getting the REAL Crest made for South Africa, not the US. That's the problem. If the brand name toothpaste was manufactured for another market, it's manufactured to the standards of that country. Those standards may not be as high as US standards - and that may be for legitimate reasons. If a country does not have fluoridated water, they may allow higher fluoride content in their Crest toothpaste, while the US does not because then you'd be getting too much fluoride.

You can read more about it here: http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/household/toothpaste.asp

If you did a little research, you would find a few problems with this article. The first is that the news story is more than 10 years old and was proven to be inaccurate with conflicting information reported. The "counterfeit" toothpaste was not sold at any national retailers (including Dollar Tree) but were sold at a handful of independent retailers in New York, New Jersey & Pennsylvania.

The toothpaste sold in Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Dollar General are all safe for use in the US and Canada and meet the safety standards of both countries. Sometimes these reports get out there and they are like one of who shot John stories that get more ominous with every interpretation and sharing.

I was in a 99 cent store the other day. The toothpaste was not that cheap. My local supermarket had a better price.

[HonnyBrown]

Crest and Pronamel are my toothpastes of choice. I see a lot of Crest and Proctor and Gamble products in Big Lots. I called and asked why they were there, specifically the toothpastes.

The rep told me that Crest toothpaste goes to dollar stores because they are close to expiration. An expired toothpaste is fully functional, but has less flavor.

[Group 5 minus 1]

Hey! KIVAH-- next time you get an RX ask where it comes from.

[151949]

I am pretty careful of what I buy at the Dollar Tree. Potholders - AWESOME , because it's awesome and Dollar Tree is the only place that sells it. I bought some cute Coca Cola glasses there. Mostly I buy cards , pencils , stuff like that.

[EVE25]

These are mostly bought from stores who are going out of business or are overstocked. If the toothpaste is not FDA approved how are they selling it? Riduculous.