9 Seriously Underrated Cheap Makeup Brands You Won't Find at the Drugstore
When we talk about the best makeup brands we know of, generally drugstore makeup gains a mention due to its affordability and accessibility. Being able to run into your nearest local pharmacy on the corner and grab a new lipstick, eye shadow, mascara, foundation — or anything really — sometimes really is a revelation when you really need it. (Hey, it's how Cardi B's makeup artist discovered the greatness of Milani foundation.) Beauty tends to be one of those markets where price really can skew one's perspective anyway, with luxury rice tags tricking you into thinking that just because it's expensive that it will work — how very Emporer's New Clothes. While "affordable" means something different for everyone, "drugstore beauty" definitely means the same thing to all of us: a price point around but not surpassing $10, right? To me, anything over $15 defeats the purpose of drugstore shopping. So many of the best makeup brands are only sold directly online or have a less omnipresent in-store placement than the typical drugstore brand — but they may be even better than our drugstore favorites, often for just as much or even less money. Worth noting is that many of the drugstore big guys are not cruelty-free. Lame. Many drugstore-adjacent brands are certified cruelty-free. (All of them on this list certainly are.) So you get all the benefits of the drugstore prices, even better formulas (yeah, I said it), no animal testing, and more wide-ranging shades than the drugstore foundations (which never seem to go deep enough, anyway). The idea of "drugstore beauty" is evolving, and these are the brands at the frontier of the great affordable makeup expansion.
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BH Cosmetics
BH Cosmetics has an expansive collection of quality products, from foundations to everything else you need to finish your look. The Take Me Back To Brazil palette is a favorite among makeup experts and newbies alike, they frequently work with your favorite influencers to create collaborations that are very different from everything we're used to seeing (like a double-sided palette) and the liquid lipsticks are drag queen-approved. If you can't trust a drag queen about makeup, who can you trust?
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L.A. Girl
Everyone's favorite $3 concealer comes from a collection that doesn't get nearly enough hype. A growing collection of beautiful formulas for complexion, eyes, lips, and nails that offer long wear and a killer shade range definitely should not be overlooked. Oh, did I mention the also offer a full range of brushes, too?
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Milani
Milani is a gorgeous collection, affordable or otherwise. The brand's products feel luxurious, wear well, and look so beautiful that you barely want to use them. Beauty editors and makeup artists alike always cite this brand as their go-to for high-quality and affordable makeup — in fact, the Conceal + Perfect 2-in-1 Foundation + Concealer earned a Best of Beauty award, and the Rose Powder Blush is the most Pinteresting blush on the Internet. Clearly, Milani is onto something.
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Nyx
A true makeup artist's brand, Nyx (pronounced "nicks," not "N Y X") has it all. Powders, pigments, liquids, creams, glitters, more lip formulas — hell, more formulas for everything you can even imagine. I always go to Nyx with an idea of what I want and leave with ten more ideas than I came with (and ten more products than I meant to buy).
NYyx is also a great place to start when experimenting with makeup. Fill your kit with products from NYX before splurging on more luxury products, just to make sure they'll work for you. But after using them, I doubt you'll want to venture away from them.
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Black Radiance
Lots of brands love to bang on about diversity and inclusivity without offering foundation shades darker than light tan, but brands like Black Radiance are essential. Black Radiance offers a full, expansive line of makeup especially for people of color. Whether you're just looking for a lip gloss or want a full face of primers to setting products, Black Radiance has multiple products for each step, all made especially for rich, deep skin tones.
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ColourPop
I won't ever shut up about how much I love ColourPop because, while the "Most Expensive Makeup" trend thrives on YouTube and brands are selling out of $125 eye shadow palettes, ColourPop proves over and over that you don't have to spend a fortune for luxury products. Always matching innovation, quality, and affordability, the brand knocks it out of the park time and time again with shade, formula, and wear. The liquid lipsticks are lovely, the Super Shock Shadows could sell for six times the price without anyone asking any questions, and I legitimately haven't used any other concealer (or foundation for that matter) since its No Filter Concealer came out.
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E.L.F.
Simply put, E.L.F. is luxury makeup at an affordable price. What I like about the brand is that while its products might not be the type I reach for every day, it has a really strong sense of what it is and there's never a launch that seems like it's reaching for relevance or a viral moment. E.L.F. is sophisticated, elegant, and affordable, I'd almost venture to call it the Nars of the drugstore. In fact, you'll often hear of E.L.F. in many conversations about dupes for more expensive brands.
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Morphe
OK, follow me on this one. While Morphe isn't at the drugstore price point necessarily, it is affordable and offers unbeatable value. The brand has the best makeup brushes for the best value, along with concealers, lip colors, and the legendary Morphe eye shadow palettes — the most famous of which were created in collaboration with YouTuber Jaclyn Hill. You get crazy mileage out of these palettes and they're well worth the investment.
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Wet N Wild
Alright, I know Wet N Wild has been in the drugstore but it's the perfect example of how greatness can be right under your nose. The brand's pressed powder highlighters and liquid lipsticks are as good as (if not better than) a lot that you'd find in Sephora, the PhotoFocus Foundation is said to be comparable to Luminous Silk, and its liquid lipsticks set the standard for drugstore liquids.
Along with the brand's high-quality permanent collections, its seasonal releases are very trend-driven and they're able to turn out products responding to what we're all excited about at the time (like this epic Halloween collection).
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