These Are The Best Pharmacy Beauty Brands
Good beauty doesn’t always have to have a big price tag.
If 2023 taught us anything, it’s that our pennies are precious. With cost of living pressures still very real, it unfortunately might be time to forgo our much-loved luxe beauty buys for something a little more affordable. The good news? Some of the best beauty is now sitting proudly on the shelves of our local pharmacies, many with a much nicer looking price tag to match. For a long time, we’ve been told that the bigger the price tag the better the quality. News flash: this isn’t always the case when it comes to beauty. Lucky for us, pharmacy brands have come a long way since harsh face scrubs and foundation that always managed to leave you looking like you got a bad fake tan (IYKYK). That’s right, some of the brands on pharmacy shelves are now at the top of our beauty must-have list.
Below, we’re rounding up the best pharmacy beauty brands and the products you should be wishlisting for the next time you need to stock up.
SKIN
La Roche Posay
Beloved French beauty brand, La Roche Posay, is a gold mine for good skin care. With its range of high-quality products, there’s something for every skin type and concern. Arguably most well-known for its magical barrier repair product, Cicaplast Baume B5+ Balm Cream, the brand’s products have all been developed alongside dermatologists and are bound to be your new best friend.
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Avène
Enriched with Avène Thermal Spring Water, Avène’s range of gentle and effective skincare products are an essential in any beauty cabinet. Crafted specifically for sensitive skin, the brand’s collection harnesses the benefits of its scientifically proven Avène Thermal Spring Water to soothe the skin and deliver some much needed love. From serums to mists and moisturisers, you’re sure to find a new Avène favourite.
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Bioderma
Another French beauty favourite, Bioderma can be found in skincare cabinets of beauty experts around the globe. With the goal of making good skin accessible to everyone, Bioderma’s products are designed with skin health in mind and created using the brand’s wealth of expertise. Perfect for those with sensitive skin, Bioderma products are skin-strengthening, barrier-supporting and provide the skin what it needs to thrive.
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The Ordinary
It wouldn’t be a pharmacy beauty brand round up without a mention of The Ordinary. Known for its no-fuss clinical formulations that have been made available at affordable price points, The Ordinary is a brand you can rely upon for products that work. Born out of the desire to create products in their truest forms—that is, without the fluff that sometimes comes along with beauty—the brand’s range includes products like squalane cleansers, niacinamide and retinol serums. Trust us when we say this brand is a must-try.
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CeraVe
If, like us, you’re seeing CeraVe recommended what feels like everywhere, trust us, it’s for a very good reason. CeraVe’s collection of dermatologist developed skincare and bodycare products are enriched with a unique blend of essential ceramides to not only strengthen your skin, but leave it feeling nourished and healthy. Suitable for all skin types, there is something in the range to suit everyone. After a new and more affordable cleanser, moisturiser or serum? CeraVe is your answer.
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Embryolisse
A brand that manages to fly under the radar, yet one that is found in nearly every professional makeup-artist’s makeup kit, is Embryolisse. Another French pharmacy win (the French really know their beauty), Embryolisse’s products are luxe without the luxe price tag. The Lait-Crème Concentré Moisturiser is one of its most coveted products and makes for the perfect makeup base for any occasion. Available in a sensitive skin formulation for those with more delicate complexions, this product, and Embryolisse’s entire range, is a must.
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Lait-Cremè Concentré Moisturiser, SHOP NOW
tbh Skincare
One for the congestion-prone girlies, tbh Skincare is here to break barriers when it comes to acne treatment. Created to help young people through their skin challenges, tbh Skincare provides a welcome alternative to traditional acne treatments with its range of skin-loving and barrier-supporting products. With acne-targeting skincare products that actually work now available on the shelves of our local pharmacies (without that dreaded prescription), the only question we have left is: where was this when we were in high-school?
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MAKEUP
L’Oréal Paris
With new beauty brands launching what seems like daily, it’s often easy to overlook the classics. But, we’re here to remind you that they’re classics for a reason. One of those icons is the much-loved L’Oréal Paris. Having been an iconic name in the beauty industry for decades, L’Oréal Paris’s products truly stand the test of time. With its range of skincare and makeup products having been some of our go-to’s since high school, this is a pharmacy brand that should never be overlooked.
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Flower Beauty
Flower Beauty, the brainchild of Hollywood icon Drew Barrymore, is an Allure Best Of Beauty Award Winner, and now sits on the shelves of our favourite, Chemist Warehouse. The brand’s range of makeup products, including foundations, eyeshadows, lip colours and even setting sprays, are affordable beauty at its best. The formulas are silky, long-lasting and rival even some of our most-loved high-end beauty brands. We suggest you run, don’t walk.
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Revlon
Another long-time beauty favourite is Revlon. Its history is deep and its products reflect the decades of research and experience that has gone into crafting the brand that we know today. From makeup, hair, beauty tools and even nail products, some of Revlon’s products remain among our beauty editors’s favourites and ones that we find ourselves reaching for daily. Revlon knows how to do beauty.
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Essie
One for the at-home manicure girlies, Essie’s range of nail products are a must. A go-to brand for beauty enthusiasts all over the globe, Essie should not be slept on. For over 35 years, the brand has been a leader in the nail-game, from setting colour trends, to gracing the fingertips of celebrities and even Royals—yep, the Queen of England herself once donned Essie’s iconic ballet slippers nail polish. So, next time you’re considering a salon visit, stop past your local pharmacy and pick up Essie instead.
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HAIR
Klorane
Dedicated to providing hair care products that are good for your hair, as well as for the planet, Klorane is a pharmacy brand we can count on. With products like shampoos and conditioners, hair masks, treatments and even dry shampoos, Klorane knows hair. Crafted using primarily naturally-derived ingredients, the brand’s passion for providing quality plant-based products shines through its formulations. Whether you have fine, oily, textured or thick strands, you’re bound to find a Klorane product you love.
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Daily Naturals
Re-launched in early 2023, Daily Naturals, the clean haircare brand known for its nourishing formulations, came back with a bang. Proudly Australian made and owned, Daily Naturals create high-quality haircare loved by locks all over the country. The brand takes pride in designing clean hair care products at an attainable price. We speak from experience when we say the Daily Naturals range will leave your hair feeling silky, smooth, and like you just left the salon.
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INGESTIBLE BEAUTY
JSHealth
A name that has been at the top of everyone’s ingestible beauty lists for some time is JSHealth. But did you know that the brand is available at the likes of Chemist Warehouse and Priceline? You do now. From collagen powders and multivitamins to hair and energy formulas, JSHealth has an ingestible for all your health needs. Packed with quality ingredients, each product from the range has been carefully crafted to help you glow from the inside out.
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WelleCo
Sold exclusively at Chemist Warehouse, world renowned ingestible beauty brand, WelleCo, should be at the top of your must-try list. Founded in 2014, by none other than Australia’s very own Elle MacPherson, the brand is home to a carefully curated collection of wellness solutions like collagen and protein packed elixirs. Believe us when we tell you The Evening Elixir is simply contentment in a bottle.
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