Archived Post
Temptalia Asks You - What are some of your favorite drugstore brands?
What are some of your favorite drugstore brands? What works?
Explore Temptalia
We're here to help you make better beauty purchases that you'll enjoy and love! We recommend signing up to take advantage of personalized features like tracking products you own, viewing dupes that you already have, and more!
Here are some useful resources for you:
Compare Any Two
Curious how two shades compare to each other? Type in the shades below to get instant side-by-side swatches!
52 Comments
Comments that do not adhere to our comment policy may be removed. Discussion and debate are highly encouraged but we expect community members to participate respectfully. Please keep discussion on-topic, and if you have general feedback, a product review request, an off-topic question, or need technical support, please contact us!
Please help us streamline the comments' section and be more efficient: double-check the post above for more basic information like pricing, availability, and so on to make sure your question wasn't answered already. Comments alerting us to typos or small errors in the post are appreciated (!) but will typically be removed after errors are fixed (unless a response is needed).
We appreciate enthusiasm for new releases but ask readers to please hold questions regarding if/when a review will be posted as we can't commit to or guarantee product reviews. We don't want to set expectations and then disappoint readers as even products that are swatched don't always end up being reviewed due to time constraints and changes in priorities! Thank you for understanding!
Comments on this post are closed.
We try to approve comments within 24 hours (and reply to them within 72 hours) but can sometimes get behind and appreciate your patience! 🙂 If you have general feedback, product review requests, off-topic questions, or need technical support, please contact us directly. Thank you for your patience!
I really like Maybelline lipsticks & their new glosses which look a bit like mini juicy tubes.
Bourjois are just generally fab – their eyeliners are really nice.
GOSH – love them. Their brushes are brilliant, so is their pressed powder foundation and the eyeshadows are very pigmented.
Milani! Their eyeshadows are gorgeous and actually last a good long while. Also, Rimmel is good for eyebrow pencil, and Cover Girl makes some decent mascara.
Rimmel makes a great eye makeup remover, and it costs about half of what I was paying for Clinique.
Love Milani! Their eyeshadows are VERY pigmented. Also their Blush in Luminous…its a dupe for Nars Orgasm. Loreal Voluminous mascara in waterproof, my HG mascara..
Bourjois. I like their Yes To Volume mascara, their blush and their loose pigments are quite good too.
Loreal H.I.P. is great! I also like Maybelline mascara – the new colossal is great (yellow and purple tube).
I LOVE that mascara ! I was using Lash Blast for a few months, then I found this and WOW it’s wayy better. Especially with prep + prime lash under it. It goes on much easier.
Awe man, that’s the only prep + prime I don’t have. You’ve just given me an excuse to spend more money…not that I need it (the excuse) 🙂
Maybelline mascaras!!
Maybelline and Revlon. But more of Maybelline… because I prefer their packaging 😀
Maybelline mascaras and lipglosses are great cheap stuff!
I live for Gosh!
Rimmel has AWESOME eye liners. And Loreal has some really creamy lipsticks.
I like their lipsticks in the nude shades and the new 8 hour gloss.
I’m not sure you guys have this at your drugstores, but I like Majolica Majorca!
Loreal makes this great “glam bronze” spray bronzer for legs. It goes on great with some elbow grease on the Sonia Kashnuck (target brand) body brush.
Quo brushes (SDM in Canada)
Bourjois, ArtDeco, Manhattan, Deborah & Pupa
I second the Quo brushes! Also LOVE Gosh, and I like L’oreal and Cover Girl for their lipglosses. Revlon makes decent lipsticks too but I find they dry my lips it worn too often.
nyx!
i’m a mac whore and nyx has a few eyeshadows that are dupes of mac. nyx blends well, and is very pigmented – at half the price!
What NYX colors are MAC dupes?
Annabelle (Canadian brand) for their cheap eyeliners, CoverGirl for their mascara, and Maybelline for their line of Mineral Power blush.
I just got a rimmel blush that I’ve been using as a contour for my cheeks- love it. I also love netrogena- I’m not sure the exact name, but its like a very light foundation with retinol. That’s the only netrogena thing I like tho. I like milani. Oh, and hip. I really like the paints, I just wish there were more colors.
I am in love with Milani eyeshadows and glosses!
They have a eyeshadow called Illusion that looks pink, but when you apply it looks like a golden yellow. It looks great as a highlighter too.
NYC pressed powder.
Sally hansen nail polishes.
Revlon colorstay foundation.
I like Covergirls lash blast mascara! I like NYC too when Im trying out new nailpolish colors to see if I like them.
has anyone tried rimmel stay matte powder? I’ve been getting so shiny and wonder if anyone has an opinion?
I used to use this powder a lot, I found that it stuck to the shine and came off quite easy where my skin wasn’t as shiny – that was just me though. Have you tried any blotting papers? The Body Shop do teatree ones that work amazingly and teatree smells so good! MAC have some blotting papers too I believe. Hope this helped.
I love Milani color brilliance eye liners!! Also Milani blush in Mai Tai. L’oreal has some quality products such as their Glam Bronze line. I also like Rimmel because it is soo cheap. essence of Beauty brushes from CVS are quality and affordable.
Oh yeah the essence of beauty brushes are the bomb!
L’Oreal Voluminous mascara is pretty good. 🙂 Also like the Olay complete moisturiser with spf 15 – a really good one to go back to if your skin starts to play up. 🙂 A final product I like would be the Bourjois lipglosses – so pretty!
Makeup:
Rimmel, Loreal
Skincare:
St. Ives, Olay, Neutrogena
question: i thought bourjois was semi-high end? i’ve only ever seen it in sephora……….
Essence of Beauty (I think it’s a CVS brand) for brushes.
Wet N Wild for very pigmented, matte blush and bronzers, and some eyeliners and shadows are good as well.
NYX and Milani for lovely eyeshadows.
L’Oreal has some good eyeshadows and a great liquid liner, and I love their lipglosses, especially the new one, “infallible.” Oh and they have a knockoff of UDPP that’s not bad.
Jane blushes are pretty good, they have one that’s a pretty good dupe of Orgasm I think.
NYC has a good translucent powder.
Prestige has great eyeliners and some really lovely, pigmented eyeshadows.
I like Neutrogena for foundations and they have one great mascara, Healthy Volume, which is the only one I’ve used recently that causes no breakage on my wimply lashes.
And L’Oreal HIP is great. Love their eyeliners, paints, shadows, and lipglosses.
I love Rimmel and Covergirl mascaras.
Loreal – I love using their SPF50 sunblock (guess I had used a dozen),telescopic mascara (my 4th tube) and aqua moisturizer.
Pupa – their mineralize eyeshadows are so pretty & pigmented but I think their No.1 product imo is their Baked Face Powder. It covers all the flaws perfectly and the powder just blends so nicely into the skin,perfect!
Deborah – another Italian brand.Love their mineralize eyeshadows & blushers.
Kiko – from Italy too,they have a no. of stand alone outlets at Italy & Europe. Love their eyeshadows,extremely pigmented & lots of colors varieties (similar to MAC). Thumbs UP!!!
Essence of Beauty – brushes
Ardell – lashes
DUO – lash adhesive
NYC – translucent powder, setting powder, nail polish
L’Oreal HiP – liners and glosses
Wet n Wild – liners, brow pencils, liquid liners, glosses
Cover Girl – SPF moisturizer
Revlon – color stay foundation
Prestige – liners
*I definitely like Milani – they have these Black Magic liners that are kind of fun for night (black on one end, a colored glitter pencil on the other). Their eyeshadows are super cool too.
*Physician’s Formula makes a great mineral finishing powder – it comes in this container with a brush attached so the powder supposedly flows thru. Take that thing off and dump the mineral powder into another container because 1. the brush is scratchy and 2. it makes the powder come out in gobs. BUT, once you do that and use your own brush, the stuff is amazing!! They also do pretty decent bronzers, but I don’t use bronzer that often…
*Olay Regenerist Daily Regenerating Serum is great to put on at night under your regular moisturizer.
Maybelline
Loreal HIP
Prestige.
Sometimes I’ll use HIP iver MAC.
NYX is the best! I don’t have the funds for higher end brands; I have a couple MAC eyeshadows but I find the NYX shadows to be really similar in pigmentation, quality, etc. Their whole line is just superb, and I love them.
GOSH for foundations and eyeshadows
and Rimmel for mascaras.
Also Bourjois and NYC.
I really like Quo brushes!
I ALWAYS end up buying anything I need from MAC even after I just bought it from a drugstore…so I just waist money on drugstore beauty products so as of a year ago I stopped even looking…learned my lesson..lol..!
I ADORE Maybelline mascaras!They r fab and long stay too not too clumsy also.
Zzainy..
Hail to the drugstore! I am all about it when I find something that works well at a good price…leaves me more funds for extra MAC (or shoes and handbags, lol)
Brands I like:
NYX – eyeshadows, liner pencils, lipsticks (most everything, actually)
Milani – love their eyeshadows (so pigmented!), also love lipliner in “bonfire,” as it is a (close) dupe for MAC “cherry,” and looks great with MAC “Ruby Woo” 🙂
Wet n’ Wild – tinted moisturizer is pretty decent, and lipliner in #712 is great natural color similar to MAC “Spice”, also bronzer in “Acapulco” is a beautiful highlighter for cheekbones
Jane – again, eyeshadows are nice, but what I really love are their blushes (try “blushing earth” – a sheer neutral that looks great on everyone I’ve ever tried it on).
Aveeno – their facial sunscreen is the only one I use 🙂
Jordana – their eyeliners come in so many colors, and they easily compete with my HE stuff…at $1.99, why not try them?
Physician’s Formula – their matte pyramid bronzer is great for lighter-skinned ppl like myself (I belive they make a darker shade, though), and their talc-free loose powder is great with a kabuki brush for light summer foundation
Whew! Long comment…sorry. But can you tell I love me some makeup? lol
essence of beauty and posh brushes
loreal, covergirl and maybelline cosmetics
neutrogena,olay and cetaphil skincare
i wish, i wish i could try gosh cosmetics, does anyone know if they’re sold in the states. and i’m hoping they would sell quo brushes, heard so much about them, not fair they only sell them in canada.
^Hey, don’t even talk.. Canada has like 1% of the brands the US has! Let us have our Quo lol
My two drugstore brands I buy from:
Quo and GOSH (well, high-end drugstore products LOL)
Then of course there’s La Roche Posay, Avene, Clarins, etc.
Maybelline Great Lash Mascara
Loreal HIP duo eyeshadows
Revlon lipstick
I love Barry M! Superdrug always have it on offer 🙂
definitely NYX
MILANI by a mile! Next up, L’Oreal HIP, and my recent discovery ( shame on me!) Jordana! Wet and wild maked fantastic liquid liners for the odd/rare occasion I line my upper lids. I let my sis in law(well kinda, her bro and I aren’t together anymore, but we’re still family, LOL) raid my stash this weekend and she’s in love with WnW liquid liner. I ended up giving her some HIP shadows and an E.L.F. eyeshadow brush. I love those as well. I mean, a DOLLAR? Who can complain about that?
Oh yeah one more thing- where are you guys that are getting Bourjois @ a drugstore? I can only find them @ Sephora and Ulta, where I am.
Milani, Loreal, Jane… Walgreens is my beauty pimp.
CVS pharmancy is where it’s at for me 8)
I like:
Milani
L’Oreal HIP
Covergirl eyeshadows
Rimmel
Neutrogena for my facial cleansing products
Lumene- a cosmetic line from Finland, I found a great silver base pigment for eyeshadow
Maybelline- Great Lash mascara!!! (the best in my opinion)
Wet N’ Wild- They have awesome liquid eyeliner in great colors
NYC- I love their black glitter liquid eyeliner
Revlon
Essence of Beauty- a pharmacy brand line of cosmetics
Just to answer those questioning Bourjois being a drugstore brand: In England (not sure about other European countries) Bourjois is sold at drugstores, particularly Boots (which you may know from their lines sold at Target) and I’ve heard from some that countries in Asia also sell Bourjois in drugstores.
Hope that helps!