If you’re looking to clean up your makeup but would like to stick with the convenience and affordability of finding makeup at your local drugstore, I’ve got you covered! After finding brands and natural beauty products at stores like Target and Walmart, I bought them and used them. I share the best products that I will definitely buy again with peace of mind knowing that they are safe and affordable. Read on to find the best pure drugstore makeup!
In the past, I’ve focused on using makeup from pure beauty companies like 100 Percent Pure, Hynt Beauty, Kosas, and Lily Lolo. Since my oldest daughter wears makeup, it’s hard on my bank account to buy her more expensive products! I don’t want to buy her expensive products from luxury brands, but she needs clean, more accessible and affordable options. Additionally, she runs out of various products more often than I would like, so I wanted to see if it was possible to find clear makeup products for much less that were available for pickup at stores like Amazon, Target, Walmart, or Walgreens.
I bought several products mostly from Target and Amazon that had more natural ingredients and used them personally for 2 months. I am so happy to say that I have found some really great products that I will not only be repurchasing for my daughter but will be using myself!
I also found drugstore makeup brands that I thought would be purer than they were and found some drugstore brands that I had no idea had so many different products that contained cleaner ingredients and were overall safer products. And the best part is that all of these products are much more affordable than typical clear makeup brands.
What defines a pure product?
For this post, I used the EWG (Environmental Working Group) Skin Deep Database as well as the Think Dirty app. I wanted all the products I selected to be rated 3 or below. If you’re not familiar with the EWG rating, they give products a score from 0-10. 10 is an extremely toxic product. EWG bases the rating on a product’s ingredients as well as product usage, demographics, and brand and company information. They also look at whether a brand is cruelty-free.
They also hand select the products and mark them EWG VERIFIED® A verified product is the safest, purest product you can find.
“When a product is EWG VERIFIED®, means it meets EWG’s rigorous, scientific standards for transparency and health. Our team of toxicologists, chemists and epidemiologists scrutinize every product, enabling you to buy safer products.”
ELF Cosmetics-Clean & Cheap:
The cruelty free brand, ELF turned out to be such a pleasant surprise. They offer quite a few pure beauty products that perform well. You could achieve a full makeup using only cosmetic elves. This cruelty-free makeup and skincare brand is a winner in the clean beauty world. You can’t beat how low their prices are, but be sure to check out each individual product. Just because they have fairly clean items doesn’t mean the entire product line is safe. However, they are 100% vegan and all products are free of phthalates, parabens, nonylphenol ethoxylates, triclosan, triclocarban and hydroquinone. All skin treatments are also sulfate free.
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Clean Drugstore Makeup Products:
When it comes to makeup companies, it can be difficult to avoid toxic chemicals that harm your health. I’ve found that some makeup brands have some promising products, but they also have some super gross products. I’ve rounded up a bunch of drugstore makeup products that are safe, affordable, and wear well!
Please note that the rating of a product may vary from color to color. Below are mainly products I bought and used. You can see the products in action in the image above. I also threw a few more makeup products on my wishlist that are also safe.
Related Post: How to Clean Makeup Brushes + DIY Makeup Brush Cleaner
- Physicians Formula Bronzer Booster Air Brush: I love this bronzer for a subtle tan. I even use the brush that comes with it and use this product not only to give a natural glow but also to contour. There is a slight shimmer that is minimal enough to be very natural. Many Physicians Formula products rate high on the EWG scale, but this bronzer scores a 2.
- Burt’s Bees blush of 100% natural origin with vitamin E in shy pink: This is my favorite blush that I have been using for a long time. The color is a perfect balance between pink and peach and the blush is very pigmented. A little goes a long way. EWG rating is 2.
- ELF Liquid Metallic Eye Shadow: This is not a product I purchased but plan to. I wanted to include this because I couldn’t get over the beautiful colors and great reviews. Additionally, most of the colors scored a 2 on the EWG scale.
- ELF Shadow Lock Elid Primer: I tend to have oily lids and grabbed this a while ago when I was preparing to update my hooded makeup tutorial. I needed something that wouldn’t crease my eye makeup. This product did the trick and ended up being clean too!
- Morphe 2 Ready in 5 Eye Shadow Palette in Malibu: This is one of my favorite eyeshadow palettes of all time and it’s only $7! In fact, I don’t even need to use primer with these shadows. They go on smooth, blend well and are richly pigmented. I can’t find this palette on EWG again, so I looked it up on Think Dirty and it scored a 4. I could swear it was rated lower, but I’ll keep researching.
- Well People Bio Stick Foundation: This was the most expensive product I bought, but I needed a foundation and preferred a creamier, lightweight formula that gives a dewy finish. I love how this product evens out my skin tone without feeling heavy, cakey or dry. It’s great for sensitive skin and contains vitamin E to help with fine lines. This foundation stick is EWG verified which means it has been approved as a pure product. Well People is a natural brand sold at Target with the most toxic product being only a 3.
- Makeup Revolution Highlight Reloaded Highlighter in Just My Type: This is an easy to use highlighter that gives a beautiful glow without looking cakey. I also use it as an eyeshadow. These highlighters are rated 3.
- ELF Camo Concealer Corrector in yellow: This color correcting concealer works really well on blemishes and dark circles under the eyes. It is not thick and cakey and long lasting. It comes in many other color correcting shades. Many ELF concealers rate a 2, however, it varies from color to color.
- ELF Bite Sized Shadow in I Love You A Latte: I have not purchased this product but it is rated 2 on the EWG scale and has great reviews. It would be a great alternative to the Morphe 2 palette if you’re looking for a lower rated and cheaper product.
- ELF Camo Powder Foundation: Another product that I haven’t tried personally, but it’s also rated a 2 on the EWG scale and is much more affordable ($5) than the Well People Foundation Stick. It is a buildable coverage foundation that is said to be lightweight.
- ELF Brow Products: I’ll admit I’ve had better brow pencils, but this one Instant Lift Brow Pencil it’s great in a pinch and has a handy brow brush. It also scores a 2 on the EWG scale. i love it Double-sided eyebrow and eyelash mascara and have yet to try it Lock on Liner and Brow Cream which is also on my list to try and also scores a 2.
- ELF Expert Eye Liner: I bought 2 liquid eyeliners and found both to wear comfortably and apply just as easily as any other more expensive brand I’ve tried. However, after I bought them, I realized that Expert Eye Liner rated 4. ELF Eye Liner Waterproof Pen scores 3.
- NYX Professional Makeup Lip Lingerie XXL Matte it scores a 2 on the EWG scale, which is unheard of for a lip color. I found this out after I bought all the products for this post. I’m excited to try it. I bought it NYX Line Loud Vegan Lip Liner in Born To Hustle. I love it and can attest that it lasts quite a while. He puts 3.
- ColorPop Lippie Liner and Lippie Stix: I ordered the wrong colors so I didn’t like these 2 products but the line would be fine if I had the right color. The Lippie Stix in Oh Snap was a subtle lipstick that wasn’t flattering. I bought too ELF Lip Plumping Gloss in Sparkling Rosé and fell in love. However, it is rated a 4 on the EWG scale which isn’t bad, but I like to stay below a 3 in daily use products.
- Honest Mascara: I have bought it Honest Extreme Length 2 in 1 Primer and Mascara many times. It’s a great natural mascara and tends to work well for sensitive eyes. It is at a higher price. I also tried it Honest Healthy Serum Infused Lash Tint which is also at a higher price. I tend to wear this on a daily basis for grooming. Contains castor oil and other natural ingredients that help thicken and lengthen eyelashes. I find the brush makes it difficult to apply and can be difficult to remove, but I feel like it does my lashes a little good. I bought too ELF Big Moods Volume Mascara. I wasn’t impressed but it’s very affordable and rated a 3. I can make it work as long as I do 2-3 coats. My daughter confirmed that it was difficult to work with and the mascara didn’t seem to transfer from the brush to our lashes.
SHOP CLEAN Drugstore BEAUTY:
If you’re looking for a sheer lip balm, Dr. Bronner’s are all verified with EWG and available at Target. Also, the super popular NYX Fat Lip Oil in transparent color scores a 3 on the EWG scale. Tinted lip oils don’t rate that low.
After this post, you should be able to fill your entire makeup bag with affordable, clean products that you can easily find at a drugstore near you! And I don’t have to shut down every week when my daughter tells me she doesn’t have anything new!
xx, Jenny
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