Watch out, e.l.f. — it appears your biggest rival is on a swift come-up. Miss A, if you haven't been introduced yet, is a beauty brand where everything costs just one dollar.
Miss A might not be in every single drugstore like e.l.f. Cosmetics, but its products are even more affordable — and it has just opened a retail location.
So, is Miss A worth the hunt? I bought a full face of products and found out.
This is all of the makeup I snagged online from Miss A. Everything you see here was $1.
From left to right, that's BB Cream, highlighter, setting powder, matte liquid lipstick, mascara, eyebrow pencil, and a beauty sponge, for which I also found an adorable egg-shaped holder.
I bought all of these items to recreate the exact makeup routine I use on an average work day, which is a pretty light load for me.
While I was at it, I also grabbed this vegan, 10-piece brush set for $10 because why the hell not?
The first thing I noticed about these is that for their price, they were incredibly soft. The brushes that needed to be fluffy were fluffy, and the brushes that needed to be dense were dense — none of them shed on first contact. It was not at ALL the quality level I was anticipating for $1 a piece.
The faux-leather brush roll also held up — it didn't look tacky or synthetic like *cough cough* SOME BRANDS' brush rolls.
To start my super subtle daily complexion, I began with BB cream, a staple in my routine.
Miss A claims this lightweight $1 cream can adapt to different skin tones and meld into the skin for unclockable coverage.
Its waxy odor concerned me a little until I put it on my face and found myself pretty impressed.
I had to remind myself that the odor is pretty common among drugstore face creams — in fact, this smells almost identical to e.l.f.'s tinted moisturizer.
This might not be the full coverage foundation you're used to seeing on me, but this is the barely-there look I'm used to — and the $1 BB cream performed as promised.
BB creams and tinted moisturizers are the kinds of products I use so much, I only really have them for a couple of weeks. Therefore, I'm not inclined to buy high-end or more expensive brands.
This $1 alternative is exactly the kind of thing I'm constantly looking for.
What REALLY blew me away, though, was the beauty sponge — and its holder.
I am extremely picky about my beauty sponges — you'll be hard pressed to find me using anything that's not beautyblender or Real Techniques — and I often find that cheap alternatives are dense to the point that they can't blend.
But that is NOT the case with this sponge ($1, Miss A). Once wet, the density completely disappeared and, shockingly, actually got the job done. And about that silicone holder ($1, Miss A): I have been searching for one of these for what feels like decades, and this adorable one was literally the cost of pocket change.
So far, I was feeling blessed.
I grabbed some translucent setting powder, too, because I knew I'd want a little shine control.
This is the loos translucent setting powder ($1, Miss A).
With a flat contour brush from the Miss A set, I used it to subtly cut my cheekbones and mattify my shiny spots.
I could tell this powder ($1, Miss A) was very finely milled because it immediately sank into my lines and pores. The best part is that it didn't have a trace of fragrance and therefore didn't irritate my sensitive skin.
Next, it was on to brows. For another buck, I bought the Sculpting Brow Pencil in Ebony.
Like any standard brow pencil, this one was double ended with a spoolie brush.
Compared to the Benefit pencil I used before I had my brows microbladed, this pencil had a far waxier consistency which was hard to get used to.
But with a light hand, I made this brow pencil work.
Not bad for $1.
This Wonder Matte Liquid Lipstick in the shade Famous was the product I found myself most excited to try.
I thought, "If there's REALLY a quality liquid lipstick out there for one singular dollar, lives will change. The lipstick market will END."
The downside? The formula didn't glide so easily, and the applicator bent just so slightly as I put it on.
That made getting the perfect lip line VERY difficult, as you can see in the above shot. But the color was amazing, it wasn't drying — and for $1, I could honestly learn to love it.
Lastly, highlighter. This Baked Highlighter in a shade called Cream Puff was giving me Champagne Pop vibes, but for 1/40th of the price.
The highlighter was subtle — I had to apply several layers with a damp brush to really make it gleam.
I like a dramatic highlight, so ultimately this product wasn't for me. It's the only one of the bunch I know I likely won't pick up again.
Usually, I finish off my look with a few swipes of mascara. This Hyperlash Fiber Mascara intrigued me.
It's essentially supposed to be eyelash extensions in a tube ($1, Miss A).
But when I pulled the spoolie out of the tube, I was terrified of the clumpy, fluffy fibers that were immediately visible. I decided to skip using this product for eye safety reasons.
Had I gone with one of the brand's normal mascaras, ($1, Miss A), I would have been fine. Curiosity killed the cat once again.
All in all? I'm impressed! There's just one caveat.
Miss A products are not as accessible as e.l.f.'s. So far, the brand has only opened one store, and although the brand ships worldwide, my order was exhaustingly delayed. That might be the only thing keeping me from adding this brand to my regular lineup.
That being said, almost everything delivered shockingly high quality for its $1 price point — ESPECIALLY the beauty tools. I'll never spend $20 on a beauty sponge ever again. Well done, Miss A.
