Get the affordability and convenience of clean beauty at the drugstore! Here’s the top brands…
If you want to stick to a strict budget without searching for hours online, try your local drugstore! These clean beauty brands are affordable and nontoxic.
Companies are finally starting to branch out into accessible drugstores and giving us better options. But how do we know they’re clean and safe?
I’ve done all the hard work for you by testing out and scanning the ingredients lists of the brands on this list. I’ve used some of these brands for several years and you can find them literally anywhere!
But first, let’s get into some basics of navigating the beauty section of a drugstore.
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Aren’t Drugstore Beauty Products Safe??
Yes and no. It really depends on what brands you pick. It also depends on specifically what drugstore you shop at.
If you like places like Walgreens and CVS, you might find that your options are a bit on the narrow side compared to places like Whole Foods. But I’ve discovered that the beauty sections of most grocery stores are a gold mine!
If you’re aware of all the toxic chemicals lurking in your beauty products, congratulations! You’re one step closer to drastically improving your health and quality of life. But if you’re just starting to catch on, I’ll give you a quick rundown.
The last time a law was passed in the United States that prohibited certain ingredients from being used in cosmetics was 1938. Yes, 1938!! (source)
And this law only banned a total of nine ingredients. Today, there are thousands of ingredients used in cosmetics that have questionable origins without anyone knowing for sure what it does to us over time.
This only scratches the surface of what’s wrong with our beauty products these days. There are so many ingredients commonly found in traditional beauty products that have been linked to cancer, infertility, and even mental illness.
Not to mention your run-of-the-mill rashes and horrible acne. It’s time to start showing with our wallets what we really want in our cosmetics!
*Steps off of soap box* Now that we’ve got that out of the way and we’re on the same page, Let’s go a little more in-depth on the exact places you can find these clean drugstore beauty brands.
Which Drugstores Can I Buy Clean Beauty?
When I say drugstore, I mean basically any place that sells beauty products that isn’t a specialty store, like Sephora or Ulta.
So this could be the beauty section at Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, or any grocery store that also happens to sell personal care products.
It’s quite a few places that carry these clean, natural beauty brands, but I want to insert a little disclaimer that I’m only well-informed on what stores carry the best clean skin care products that are in my area. More specifically Colorado.
This means that I only know for sure about what the stores in my area carry (and I go to a lot!), and not so much about the different stores that might be on the East Coast vs. the Midwest where I’m at. I don’t live near an Aldi’s or any other grocery store you can find on the East Coast.
But that doesn’t mean my knowledge is limited by any means! Most of these clean beauty brands can be found in big chain stores all over the country. Just keep this in mind if you want to know what your drugstore carries on the more local level.
The places you can find these affordable clean skin care brands include Target, Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, and/or King Soopers (Aka Kroger) or your local grocery store. Again, things may vary from one region to the next and even from store to store. But I’ve been able to find most of these things pretty consistently.
Physician’s Formula Organic Wear Line
Okay, so there’s really only one or two products from this company that I recommend. But this brand still made the list because you can find it in literally any drugstore makeup section!
Physician’s Formula makes a fantastic line of mascaras and eyebrow gels that are all completely clean and natural. They have a couple of different lines that you can find in stores, but their Organic Wear line is the only one that’s “clean.”
And by that, I mean that only their mascaras are truly clean. But at the time of updating this article, their eyebrow gel also gets a passing grade from me!
Just be wary that the eyebrow gel has alcohol denat in it, which could cause dryness and irritation. I would only worry about it if you have extremely dry or irritated skin.
My personal favorite mascara of theirs is the Bb Bigger Mascara because I love the shape of the applicator! Half of the brush is meant just for your lower lashes.
Not to mention it makes my lashes look great. The BB mascara comes in a little white tube, while others come in a rainbow, metallic grey, black and green colors. Each color has a different effect on your lashes, and I’ve tried them all.
As for the rest of Physician’s Formula’s Organic Wear products, I would steer clear of them if you can. But if your options are pretty limited, it’s a great starting point.
Most of the Organic Wear line gets a 3/10 in EWG’s database, which isn’t bad. But if you have a budget with some wiggle room and more store options, check out the rest of these brands!
I absolutely love that I can simply walk up the makeup section and pick out some mascara when I’m in a pinch. But don’t worry, there are plenty more brands where you can do the same.
Cocokind
This brand is a bit on the “rare” side, but if you can find a Cocokind display near you, you’re golden! They carry everything you could ever need with skin care, including cleansers, toners, moisturizers, serums, and more.
One of my personal favorite products from Cocokind is their Oil to Milk cleanser. I loved how it made my very oily skin feel clean but not stripped.
Cocokind’s products are filled with intentional, natural ingredients that really help your skin glow and be its best self. So if you have a specific problem you want to treat, Cocokind likely has an answer for you!
At the time of updating this article, Cocokind is becoming more widely available! I’ve found them at Kroger, Walmart, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and Target!
Dr. Bronner’s
I know for sure you can get absolutely anything from this brand without worrying about the ingredient list! Dr. Bronner’s is ultimately a soap company that produces fair trade castile soap made with natural ingredients, but there’s so much more to them.
Their most well-known products are the giant bottles of castile soap that you can use for a whole lot of DIY products! But there are certain DIY’s you should be cautious about. That’s why I made a guide on how to use castile soap in home and beauty products.
The most underrated thing about this company is that Dr. Bronner’s makes way more than just soap!
I absolutely love their nontoxic chapsticks because they actually keep my cracked lips hydrated during the winter. I personally pick their chapsticks over Burt’s Bees because the ingredients are much better. You can get even more chapstick recommendations in my lip balm article!
They also make a great shaving soap that I talk about in my top three natural shaving creams.
As for where you can get these products, it’s a bit of a dice roll depending on where you’re at. I know for certain that you can get their soap and other products at Target and Walmart, but your local drugstore might not have the widest selection.
While you can find the liquid castile soap just about anywhere, finding more Dr. Bronner’s products in stores isn’t always a guarantee. But I’ve noticed they’ve really branched out recently! I’m finding their shaving soap in a lot more stores now.
Acure Organics
One of my personal favorite brands for shampoo and conditioner! I’ve been using Acure’s hair care products for years now, and that’s because you can find them in just about any grocery store!
They’re one of the most accessible and affordable beauty brands. They’ve been known mostly for their line of natural shampoos and conditioners, but they offer fantastic skin care options too.
I know I can completely trust their shampoos and conditioners, but it seems like they’re still working out some kinks in their skin care products. You can read more of my honest thoughts in my Acure Organics Review.
As for who carries them, I’ve seen them at Target, Walmart, Kings Soopers (Kroger), and Walgreens! You can for sure find great hair care options at all of these locations, but it’s going to be hit or miss for skin care. I just noticed that my Kings Soopers started carrying a few of their cleansers in the specialty “natural” section of the store. So who knows?
Pacifica
This is a brand that does “okay” in terms of ingredient lists for a quite a few products, but they’re still better than most and you can find them pretty easily.
You can get Pacifica at Target, Walmart, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and CVS. I’ve noticed that Whole Foods and Sprouts tends to have the widest selection of their products.
I love Pacifica because they offer great eyeshadow palettes that score a one on EWG. Their palettes come in a wide variety of colors that everyone will love; the Pink Nudes pallete is my favorite!
Not only do they have great eye makeup at an affordable and accessible price, but they also sell clean perfume!! Do you have any idea how hard it is to get your hands on clean perfume?!? I even wrote a whole post on clean perfume and it was a challenge sourcing the best products.
I won’t buy a perfume unless I can smell it first, and Target always keeps a cute little display of their perfumes to try out. My personal favorite is the Tahitian Gardenia perfume, because it smells just like the real deal!
And the French Lilac is a very close second. I’m a sucker for floral perfume, and having a clean perfume with some of my favorite floral scents makes me so incredibly happy!
W3ll People
I didn’t start seriously looking into W3ll People until recently because I thought they were a luxury clean makeup brand, but it turns out I was wrong!
You can find this completely clean brand only at Target, but it’s so worth the extra trip if you don’t normally shop there.
W3ll People is a very affordable makeup brand that sells everything from concealer to foundation to eyeshadow. Their products lean more towards the nude “no makeup” look, and I’m completely on board with that!
My favorite product is their Expressionist Eyebrow Gel because it’s been great for my blonde, barely-there brows that disappear when I take my makeup off! It doesn’t rub off and dries very quickly, so I love wearing it on hot days.
Honest Beauty
This is seriously one of the most underrated brands when it comes to finding clean beauty at the drugstore! Honest Beauty carries everything from makeup to skin care (no hair care).
And the best part is you can find them almost anywhere! I recently found a huge display of their at my Walgreens with both makeup and skin care options.
My personal favorite product of theirs is their mascara. I love the lash priming half of the applicator that lets you make your lashes as dramatic as you want!
Honest Beauty can be found at Target, Walmart, Walgreens, Whole Foods, Sprouts, and CVS! Don’t pass this brand up next time you see them!
Before You Go!
Finding these brands through trial and error took a long time for me to figure out when I first started my clean beauty journey! That’s why I’m so glad to make things easier for you.
If you want to expedite your ingredient education and get only the information that matters, you should check out my ebook Essential Moves to Clean Beauty! It’s everything I wish I had when I started.
You’ll understand ingredients, certifications, and more in no time with bite-sized information. Click the button below to learn more!
Related to Clean Drugstore Beauty Brands:
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- How to Use Essential Oils Safely (It’s Easier than You Think!)
- EWG Healthy Living | The Only Clean Beauty App You’ll Ever Need!
- How to Start a Seamless Transition to Clean Beauty Today