This Online Dollar Store is Just for Beauty Supplies

If you’re among the makeup obsessed but would rather not drop whole paychecks at Sephora, here’s a store you need to know about. Miss A is the first and only online dollar store devoted to beauty products.

Not that we’re knocking Sephora; even as a card-carrying VIB Rouge member, I got excited by Miss A‘s plethora of bargain beauty deals. Sometimes you’re not sure if a trend is right for you, but when everything is only a Washington, you can try out new things to your heart’s—and wallet’s—content (hello, tattoo lip stain, it’s very nice to make your acquaintance).

With a background in fashion and a passion for beauty, Jean Baik, a graduate of Parsons School of Design, founded Miss A in 2013 with her husband, Kenneth Baik, who has over a decade of experience in retail and imports. The company works directly with manufacturers without a middleman, and that’s a big reason why they can offer products for just one dollar.

“We started Miss A with the vision to create a fun space for people who love makeup and beauty, like myself, who just want to have fun and experiment with products and not have to worry about too much money,” Jean says on Miss A’s About page. “We have a unique business model where we rely on social media to get the word out, not traditional advertising, and as a result we’re able to pass the savings directly to our customers.”

Miss A also sells jewelry, hair accessories, nail products, and more, but makeup is by far their most popular category. Last year, the company introduced their own line of makeup tools called AOA Studio. It includes brushes and brush sets, brush cleaners, makeup blenders, makeup remover wipes, and canvas pouches.

This spring, Miss A is launching a20 Lab, a new line of high-quality makeup that will retail for $2-$5. The line will include products like single eyeshadows, highlighters, blushes, and bronzers that fit in magnetic palettes, as well as on-trend items like rainbow highlighters, liquid eyeshadow, setting sprays, and high coverage concealers “that rival, if not better, MAC, Colourpop, L’Oreal, and NYX.”