Does anyone use the cheap Equate brand found in walmart? They make medicine, moisturizer, shampoo, etc, and I look at the ingredients from other expensive brand name and Equate has the same ingredients as well, should I stick to it because it's cheaper?

If it's made in China, I wouldn't.

Years ago, companies were not required to list their ingredients, and so there was always a "secret ingredient" that made one stand out or be overpriced, depending on marketing. Not so now, so ingredients can be copied and sold--like the Equate products. The overpriced stuff is overpriced because of marketing (which creates the illusion that it is superior)

I use many of their brands and have usually been quite satisfied. I often marvel at the prices the name brand manufacturers get away with charging!!

I use a lot of their brands and have been very happy. Their brands are often made by a lot of the same companies making the name brands we pay more for. You can compare the ingredients to get a good idea of whether or not you think it will work for you.

Yes, I always buy Equate or store brand when I can. Not only is it much cheaper then name brand but in most cases is manufactured and is the same product as store brand. For example Equate brand contact lens care products are manufactured by Bausch and Lamb. Doesn’t say so on the package and there’s a definite price difference, but just compare the two. Same packaging, same colors, and wow same 1-800 number! You might even notice that Wal-Mart caries a large selection of Bausch and Lamb products. Think about it. Listerine makes Equate mouthwash; Unisom makes Equate sleeping bills, and so on. If it says, “compared to ingredients in…” then most likely that’s who manufactures it. It’s a way for a company to get in good with Wal-Mart, get their products on the shelves, and make more money. So yes, always buy store brand!

I buy Equate all the time. Even the allergy tablets work as well for me as the name brands. Just compare the chemical names of the ingredients. If they are the same as the name brand and in the same proportion,...it is the same. The difference in price is usually because of advertising costs that name brands pay. Also, because the established name makes them think they can add more to the price. And then, there are the stockholders,..who want to see a profit, naturally.

i work for a company that makes equate products and name brand products.and to answer your question....no this is no difference,the only difference maybe a gram or two of an ingredient but its all the same.

I use store brands if the ingredients are comparable. I have never had a problem or been able to notice much difference, if any. They are certainly a better value.

actually the truth about cheaper shampoo products is that while they may be very similar, they also contain filler ingredients(plastics) which are bad for your scalp... they clog the follicles. my hairdresser told me this, and then she showed me the buildup by pulling out a strand of my hair... their was this white waxy stuff all around the follicle. i havent used equate since.

Only when it's a huge difference, it's supporting negative sources that effects our economy.

I have used quite a few equate products and i'm quite happy with them. Intially i was a bit skeptical about the perfomance of the products and how can they still be so cheap. But its real value for money.
Still i like to stick to my fav shampoo brand & the brand of medicines which i have relied all these years. But for Mouthwash, moisturiser and stuff i dont mind buying Equate

Generally I've been happy with the brand.
But bear in mind that, like generic drug, often times the patents are not on the active incredients but on the carrier formula-so you can get diffenrent reults from the same formulary.
So buy, try and observe the results.

Generally speaking, they are just a generic equivalent. There are a few things you should keep in mind, though.

Ingredients are usually listed in order of most-to-least in terms of how much of it is in the product. However, even if those lists look the same, the actual quantities of them may NOT be the same, and may make one significantly more effective than another, even though the ingredient list is identical.

Second, please keep in mind that if any of these are medications for children or elderly people - or anyone who may be more sensitive if a particular medication is dosed less precisely, that many off-brand medications do not have the same standards to which the major brands are held. For example, a Tylenol pill may SAY it has 400mg in it - but it could easily have 401mg and it won't make a big difference. However, if it's a children's Tylenol and it's 20mg, a 1mg difference can be significant. And off-brand medications could have significantly more error in the dosage than on-brand medications can.

I use quite a few of the Equate products and find them to be adequate. I always try them and have found some to be fine and others I don't care for as well as the name brands. Depending on what the product is sometimes I can save money by using them and on other products it's not worth the savings because they're inferior. I suggest you try them and decide for yourself.

i love both equate and great value.. this saves me money for things that are really are important.. .brand names are not in my priorities but living is.

+5

Equate products work for me!

:):)

Yes, I always buy Equate or store brand when I can. Not only is it much cheaper then name brand but in most cases is manufactured and is the same product as store brand. For example Equate brand contact lens care products are manufactured by Bausch and Lamb. Doesn’t say so on the package and there’s a definite price difference, but just compare the two. Same packaging, same colors, and wow same 1-800 number! You might even notice that Wal-Mart caries a large selection of Bausch and Lamb products. Think about it. Listerine makes Equate mouthwash; Unisom makes Equate sleeping bills, and so on. If it says, “compared to ingredients in…” then most likely that’s who manufactures it. It’s a way for a company to get in good with Wal-Mart, get their products on the shelves, and make more money. So yes, always buy store brand!

I use equate for certain things (i.e. toilet paper, vitamins, etc). For most skin care products, I use Dove. They're probably the same though.

Meds, Vitamins, Minerals, Other Supplements, Soaps, Lotions, Ointments, etc. are just about all made in China and or India now by American owned company's. And these same American owned company's do not list on any of these products where they are manufactured and by US Law they do not have to list any of that on the labels. I have worked in both Private and Retail Pharmacies and know where they all come from.

Even the higher priced, name brand food items are now being made in China and India. I was shocked the beginning of this year when I read on the expensive canned soup and canned vegetables that a friend buys were all made in China. They about died when I showed it to them and they packed them all back up and drove right back to a higher priced grocery store and returned them, with me in tow. The store manager said most foods are coming from China and India now, even bread and eggs along with fresh vegetables, and the majority of seafood in these higher priced grocery stores. He got rather rude and argumentative as he was having to refund over $100.00 worth of items and said = "unless you grow it yourself or harvest it and prepare it all yourself, you have no idea where it is coming from and it is all precooked, etc. so it should not matter. " Now although a lot of these company's have much stricter quality controls and manufacturing rules than company's right here in the United States, it was still a shock to me. They just have really cheap labor and no unions so the American Company's pay a lot less but charge us, the consumer's the same prices as if it was made in America.

And the prez just spent all that time in India making deals for more of the American big businesses to send more business offshore to India and put even more American's out of jobs, etc.

And the American Public is doing absolutely nothing about it. I called and emailed every politican in my State and complained. And when I voted, I voted everyone in office out. I know they did nothing for the American public, just lined their own pockets with kickbacks, etc. so it is time to put new people in there and see if they get the hint and do better if they want to stay in. Just my opinion = but it was my vote and my right so that is how I did it and according to all the ones who got thrown out, so did a lot of other American Voters.

Also the most popular and most expensive Name Brands usually have the most dangerous and unhealthy ingredients, chemicals, artificial ingredients and preservatives added because they are produced in such higher quantities than other manufacturers and the shelf life stamped on the product is usually a scam. Company's are manufacturing actual products this year that will show an expiration date of 2015 or beyond and only be put out to the stores to go on the shelves in 2013 or 2014 but will sit in no climate controlled (no heat no air ) warehouses from this year until those years. Mostly for greed as the cost to manufacture them now is cheaper than what will be in 5 years but the price the consumer has to pay will be much higher.

The EQUATE brands sold at WalMart are all made by the big name brand company's at the same manufacturing plants they use. Whatever other expensive Name Brand item they are placed next to is usually the brand name who is manufacturing it under the Equate name brand.

For goodness sake people, use your brain = do you really think there are that many different cereal company's, soup company's, paper company's, soap company's, cosmetic company's, etc. and other food item company's in America. The answer is No. They just stop the production line and change the labels then start up again. Just go to a canning factory or other manufacturing plant = even meat, poultry, etc. and clothing, etc. and since they usually are all locked down and fenced in now-a-days, just sit outside nearby and watch for all the different company named trailers going in and out. Of course now the company's are getting smart and using no name trailers and hiring other trucking company's to pick up and deliver their items to their warehouses. So if you can wait and talk to an employee after work, they will tell you more than you want to know.

Great Value Brand - WalMart's Private Food Brand - is manufactured and packaged by a number of agricultural and food corporations, such as ConAgra, Sara Lee, Carnation, Nestle, Nabisco, Kellogg's, Post, etc. and all other expensive name brands = but at more than half the price.

Sorry this is so long, but besides working in positions where I saw all of this first hand, I also always checked into who was making what I was using and eating ever since we studied it in high school over 40 years ago. Which they do not teach now-a-days either. Plus with the Internet = it is so easy to find this stuff out. Again, as this entire post is my opinion, In My Opinion = EVERYONE just needs to take responsibility for finding out this information on their own because it is covered up from the bottom up. Only a few foods have to list on the product or labels where it is actually grown. If you notice = a lot of items and products will list on the label = packaged by and distributed by = which will usually always be a company in the United States but it does not list where it was grown, created, manufactured, etc.

Yeah! go for it,I use some equate stuff and the products work Really good. No use paying more if you don't need to!

my wife has used it for years and has not had any trouble...but we have a hard time finding it at Walmart.....seems its never on the shelf when we are looking for it...

I have used a few of those products , though find some don't work as well , if it works for you , keep using it !

Share your answer...

I love the Equate brands...never had any ill effects. I used to buy this Equate face cleanser in a big blue jar...it was the equivalent of Noxema, only a lot gentler and not as smelly...and then suddenly they stopped making it available. This is probably just a Canadian problem, however.

Perrigo in Alergan, MI makes some Equate products.

All those things are regulated by the FDA. Companies can not make inferior medications or things that go in/on our bodies. If they tried the FDA would recall the product. There are strict guidelines. So go ahead and save the money and buy the generic. Most of the time when people say that the generic doesn't work it's because they are biased about a certain product. That just proves that the major brand companies have done a good job brainwashing, I mean marketing, their products. And, most of the time when the generic brand does not work the name brand probably won't either. Also, my friend is a hairstylist and she freely admits that they are trained to tell you just about anything to sell the products in their salon. So use your own judgment. Enjoy!

I'm picky about shampoos because I have naturally curly hair..but I use the Equate body wash and I love it!

Read the label. Most Equate brand products contain the same ingredients as the popular brand. The only difference is the label.

I use cheaper products all the time because of what you just said, the same ingredients...It's the brand name you are paying for with the other expensive products...

I use quite a bit of Equate products. I usually don't care much for what WalMart sells, but the Equate stuff is great - every bit as good as the brand name products! I would buy Equate before brand name even if the price was the same because I've grown to trust it.

A product that I have a complaint about are the Equate pantiliners. I have talked to several women who have the same complaint, no matter what brand you buy, but quality IS NOT of concern and the items need to be worth the price, even for a FEW cents more. What is being charged now for the item is way out of line since there is no quality and no real protection. Seems a few layers more of the pad would be so easy to do and not cost anything at all. Anyone else have the same problem? The hardest part of getting a solution is finding someone to talk to and getting satisfaction and the production of a better item.

I always use Equate and have never been disappointed. Especially the medicines which are 50-75% cheaper. I have migraines, and the Equate Migraine works as well as Excederin Equate. Save money and use them!

I am only questioning the fact that I bought a Monostat 7 equivalent from Equate brand and it listed the same ingredience but did not list where it was made, only where it was packaged. I always like to see where a product is made..Any ideas?

I just purchased the Equate Hygenic Cleansing Pads because I was taking medication that caused me to have hemorroids. It was so annoying with the itching and swelling and I bought the Equate over the other expensive products. Today is the 2nd day of using it, and the itching and swelling is completely GONE. I am amazed at this product. I was going to write the company to tell them, but found no contact information on the container. I also use Equate shampoo, body wash, conditioner and soaps. I love the products and they are so inexpensive. Well worth it.

I have and will use several items but NEVER meds I fear the origins I dont need a recall of lead laced asprin from china that i have used.