The 16 Best Affordable Skincare Brands Our Beauty Editors Love

The days of unimpressive drugstore skincare are behind us. These days, the best affordable skincare brands are stepping up formulations, innovation, and originality without sacrificing budget-friendly prices. Even more impressive, plenty of our favorite affordable skincare brands, like Maelove, Cocokind, and The Ordinary, to name a few, perform as well or even better than luxury skincare products.

If you're looking for products designed for sensitive skin or need potent exfoliators and actives to amp up your glow, our team of beauty experts is here to test new products for their quality and value, so you don't have to. We cherry-picked a list of affordable skincare brands that carry effective skincare and are definitely worth your time and dollar.

Maelove is a relatively new skincare founded by a group of MIT graduates. They set out to create simple, effective skincare products without compromising luxury quality. That's why they formulate products for all skin types in the same high-end cosmetics labs luxury brands use.

Its cult-favorite $32.95 vitamin C serum (which consumers have pointed out is very similar to SkinCeuticals' $182 version) put the company on the map and is prone to frequent sellouts.

Read our review of the Maelove Glow Maker Serum, our review of the Maelove NIA 10 Calming Serum, and our team's full review of Maelove skincare.

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Cocokind is an affordable skincare line that puts superfood-focused, sustainable values into its products. Each product is certified organic and doesn't feature a long scroll of ingredients. We love the brand's attention to customer reviews and interests, often reformulating and ideating to create the best product possible. We love the MyMatcha Moisture Stick for on-the-go hydration and the Vitamin C Glow Serum for brightening and firming. But you can't go wrong with any of their natural formulas.

Read our full review of Cocokind skincare.

The Ordinary is a well-loved, affordable skincare brand known for "clinical formulations with integrity." In other words, it uses familiar, effective clinical technologies with transparent communication and pricing. The Ordinary's new Soothing and Barrier Support Serum, or "pink serum" as TikTok calls it, is a blend of vitamins, lipids, and soothing Centella to rejuvenate the skin and reduce signs of redness. Most products range from as little as $6 to as much as $30. With their super simple ingredients and excellent results, The Ordinary is a go-to brand for building out your skincare routine with basics.

Read our review of The Ordinary AHA + BHA Peel, our review of The Ordinary Niacinamide + Zinc serum, and our team's full review of The Ordinary.

Naturium launched in February 2020 and took the skincare scene by storm. Founded by beauty expert and YouTube guru Susan Yara, the formulations are rooted in a clinically effective and scientific approach. She wanted to create a line dedicated to teaching customers important skincare ingredient knowledge through the ingredient library on the Naturium website. Every product launch feels intentional, and the brand develops product lines that assist with particular skin concerns like fine lines or uneven skin tone.

The brand's best-selling products are pretty much endless, but the Vitamin C Complex Serum and Multi-Peptide Moisturizer are some major fan favorites. Not to mention, the TikTok-viral Café Collection, which has four gorgeous nude-tinted Phyto-Glow Lip Balms, is one of the best lip balms we've tried.

This Korean skincare brand took the industry by storm with its use of a controversial ingredient: snail mucin — a snail secretion filtrate that has been shown to plump, hydrate, and soothe the skin. Now, if that doesn't intrigue you, we've tried COSRX's Advanced Snail Mucin line and have been left with deeply nourished skin after just a few weeks of use. They're an affordable skincare brand surely climbing their way to holy-grail status.

Like The Ordinary, The INKEY List strives to educate consumers through simple yet effective skincare and marketing. Their products are low-cost but certainly high-performing, with many winning beauty awards. Our favorites are their basic staples like the Hyaluronic Acid Serum and BHA Serum which both easily fit into any skincare routine.

Farmacy makes relatively affordable farm-to-face skincare that combines effective natural ingredients with scientific advancements. One of our favorite collections is the Honey line, featuring powerful products like the Honey Glow resurfacing serum and the intensely hydrating, antioxidant-rich Honey Drop Cream.

Read our review of the Farmacy Green Clean Makeup Removing Cleansing Balm and our review of the Farmacy Honey Potion Renewing Antioxidant Hydration Mask.

Mario Badescu, founded in 1967 by the European facialist, is the brand behind the popular acne spot drying lotion that everyone from beauty editors to supermodels like Bella Hadid and Kylie Jenner swear by. Badescu products have a potent combination of the usual scientific suspects as well as botanicals.

Read our review of the Mario Badescu Drying Lotion.

Neutrogena has been a trusted drugstore brand for years. Their classics, like the Norwegian Formula Hand Cream, remain staples in our routines, but they've recently expanded formulas to feature some holy-grail ingredients. Their Hydro Boost line is one of our favorites, focused on the hydrating effects of hyaluronic acid. Each product offers lightweight gel textures that leave the skin glowing.

Acure is making a name for itself as the 100% vegan and "0% pretentious" brand for skin, hair, and body products. You won't find any parabens, sulfates, mineral oils, petrolatum, silicones, or animal testing — and the Brightening Facial Scrub, which works on all skin types and uses a chlorella growth factor to stimulate new cell growth, has over 3,000 five-star reviews on Amazon.

Read our review of the Acure Seriously Soothing Cleansing Cream.

Hero Cosmetics makes Hydrocolloid patches that draw pus from pimples, resulting in noticeably minimized and less inflamed blemishes overnight. The treatment was initially used to treat wounds, but it has gained popularity lately as an answer to acne.

Here's how it works: Place a sticker on top of a blemish and remove it after a few hours or overnight wear. In a nutshell, it's an overnight miracle product. Multiple Insider Reviews reporters credit the Mighty Patch as the only quick fix worth its money — and one we earnestly wish had existed years before.

Read our team's full review of Hero Cosmetics hydrocolloid patches.

Developed by dermatologists, CeraVe is another excellent standardized skincare system. The hero ingredients in each one of the brand's products are ceramides, which help maintain the skin's barrier, making it soft, moisturized, and protected against irritation and air pollution.

Read our review of the Cerave Hydrating Facial Cleanser, one of our favorite products from the brand.

Cetaphil is a favorite brand among our minimalist colleagues and many dermatologists we confer with for articles. The brand specializes in simple, universal formulas — and they work well. It's a great affordable brand to try if you're just beginning to delve into the world of skincare with their easy-to-use, no-frills products.

Every Man Jack is one of the few grooming brands that prioritizes being eco-friendly. With 97% of the ingredients in its body wash being naturally derived, the brand uses as many clean ingredients as possible without limiting its effectiveness. Not to mention, each of their products has an intoxicating and soothing scent that leaves you smelling good all day.

Read our review of the Every Man Jack subscription.

Aveeno was built on the philosophy that natural ingredients and science-backed formulations develop nourishing, solution-oriented products. In our experience, Aveeno makes one of the best affordable body moisturizers: the Daily Moisturizing Body Lotion. It's hydrating, packed with nutrients, and is an accessible price point. We've found that our skin feels hydrated for hours with a noticeable "glow" throughout the day. It's also lightweight and fast-absorbing, so it's the perfect lotion for after a shower.

After finding their options lacking, Josh Meyer and Matt Bolduc founded Brickell Men's Products to introduce a premium men's skincare line that uses natural and organic ingredients. The products are almost all standouts, but we especially love the Purifying Charcoal Face Wash for its ability to deep-clean pores and leave a refreshing and invigorating sensation without any of the harsh chemicals.

Read our team's full review of Brickell Men's Products.

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