A dermatologist uses this $3 multi-tasking beauty product every night

Welcome to ‘Dear Derm,’ our new beauty series in which dermatologist Mona Gohara, MD shares serious skin-care realness. In each episode, she’ll answer your most burning beauty questions and give you all the tools you need to take your glow game to the next level. 

Dermatologists have access to the best skin-care products and ingredients on the market (it is, quite literally, their job to help mend skin from whatever aggro situations confront it), which means their routines tend to be stocked with the types of high-end, medical-grade products you’d expect to find in their offices. But as Mona Gohara, MD, recently revealed, it’s not just the luxury stuff that makes it into the haul they take home: Her favorite multi-purpose product makeup remover a $3 pick from the drugstore.

We already know that Vaseline is considered the “Swiss Army Knife” of beauty products for its skin-soothing properties. But as Dr. Gohara spills in the latest episode of Dear Derm, it also works as a makeup remover, which is why it’s a permanent staple in her evening regimen. “One of the really cool things I do is use Vaseline under my eyes,” she says of the first step she does after cleansing her face. “I think it’s a great eye cream actually, but it also gets rid of any residual concealer that I’ve had on my face, too.” Because of the oil base in Vaseline, it’s able to whisk away old eye makeup, which also has an oil base using the “like-dissolves-like” philosophy. At the same time, it seals in moisture by creating an occlusive barrier or one that prevents water loss. Seriously—is there anything this stuff can’t do?

And Vaseline isn’t the only under-$5 buy in Dr. Gohara’s beauty cabinet. To find out which drugstore cleanser she swears by to wash her face (Hint: it’s super gentle, lathers like a dream, and can be used on any skin type), plus the other products that have earned their permanent placement on her shelves, check out the video above.

Another beauty product Dr. Gohara loves to buy at the drugstore? Retinoids. Plus, everything she wants you to know about  vitamin C, and SPF, two ingredients that everyone should integrate into their routines.