Sweaty Pits and Ashy Skin

I'm a sweater.  Not like the kind you wear when it's cold.  Nope, sweat wears ME when I'm hot...or anxious...or, well, okay...I just sweat.  A lot.  All the time.  When I was in middle school, I had this awful prescription liquid that was toxic enough to make me not sweat and smell like a patch of onions as long as I used it nightly.  At some point, I was able to stop using it and regular(Secret, I've always been a Secret girl) deodorant worked just fine.  Every once in a while, I have had to change types of deodorant because my pits become immune to it, or something.  It stops working and I start stinking, is all I know!
And then I discovered Secret's Clinical Strength deodorant.  It was amazing!  I didn't even notice myself sweating(and going from sopping armpits in middle school to not noticing seems pretty miraculous)!  The only problem was that this deoderant is about as much as a pack of diapers.  And, true, it lasted for a while, but I hated spending that much for anti-sweat and anti-stink.

So last month, I discovered Suave's version of clinical strength.  It's about HALF the price!!  And it works!  I like it much better than the other brand...whether that's all product or mental, I love it!

two of my cheap-o beauty tricks...they work well together

Suave also happens to make my new fave lotion.  I'm a redhead and have some of the most ridiculously sensitive skin.  Ashy, splotchy, rashy, bumps on arms...pretty common for me.  I'm also pretty picky about my lotion.  My mother in-law uses Suave's cocoa butter, so when she recommended the oatmeal one, I jumped on it!  It smells good, but doesn't have a heavy floral scent, and is lightweight but lasts for a really long time(and that huge thing PLUS my deodorant was still less than the "other" deodorant)!  Score!

Does anyone use any less expensive "beauty"(or others) brands that you feel are just as good as or better than the more expensive competing brands (any BareMinerals lovers tried the drugstores' "equals," etc)?!