The Best Vegan Skincare Brands And Products At Walgreens

By Anett Rannamets. Updated: May 2023.
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Walgreens is an American retail chain based in Deerfield, Illinois. It is focused on selling pharmaceutical products. Walgreens was founded by Charles R. Walgreen, who opened the first retail store in 1901.

Now, the company has over 5000 retail locations throughout the United States, and many of these stores are open 24 hours a day. Walgreens is one of the most popular drug stores among Americans.

However, finding vegan skincare at Walgreens can be tricky. So let us show you how to find the best vegan skincare brands and products at Walgreens easily and quickly.

Vegan Skincare At Walgreens

Walgreens carries some vegan skincare. It also has a vegan filter, which can be found on the skincare subpage. However, soon after searching for vegan skincare, you can see that it can only be named partially vegan.

After applying the filter, you can see brands like Olay, CeraVe, Vichy, Biore, Avene, and Jergens. These brands sell their products in China. Mostly, in order to sell in the Chinese market, companies conduct animal tests. Therefore, these companies nor any of their products should not be considered 100% vegan-friendly.

Vegan skincare never contains any animal ingredients. In addition, skincare should not be called vegan if its components have not been tested on animals. However, it is important to mention that a lot of retailers still use a limited vegan definition to only refer to ingredients. As does Walgreens.

Its “vegan” refers to ingredients, leaving out the aspect of animal testing. A more comprehensive vegan definition, however, means no animal exploitation at all. Including refraining from animal testing as well.

How To Find Vegan Skincare On Walgreens Webpage?

Although Walgreens has both vegan and cruelty-free filters, they do not work accurately. So, the best way to shop for vegan skincare at Walgreens is to familiarize yourself with the vegan skincare brands they carry. Or do additional research on their products.

To be honest, the Walgreens website is a bit confusing. You won’t find a vegan and cruelty-free filter just that easily. In order to find a place that mentions “vegan” or “cruelty-free”, go to the skincare subpage and scroll down a little to find vegan skincare online at Walgreens. Watch the video.

After clicking “shop now” under the “know what’s in your products” paragraph, a page will open with a lot of different filters. In addition to vegan and cruelty-free, you can also see paraben-free, gluten-free, and many others.

If you remove all the unnecessary ones and those that interest you, the right selection of products should open up. But it is not exactly so. Even under cruelty-free, for example, we can still see products that cannot be actually called cruelty-free.

This leads us to say that Walgreens’ vegan filter is not totally reliable either. It still shows you products that are not cruelty-free. Therefore, Walgreens’ vegan filter only shows you products that are vegan by their composition. Meaning, they do not include animal-derived ingredients. However, these “vegan” products might still be tested on animals.

Of course, it is always possible to write a specific request in the search bar. For instance, “vegan moisturizer”. However, this does not work at Walgreens either.

Luckily, Walgreens has created a vegan sticker on its webpage. So every time you open a product page, scroll down and see if it has a green “V” marked under “wellness in a snap”. It means that the product’s ingredient list is free from animal components.

Vegan Brands And Products At Walgreens Signs

However, this does not mean that the product is cruelty-free. So, when you find a skincare product with a vegan sign, do additional research on it. Just to find out its status on animal testing.

We also noticed that some vegan products do not have a vegan sign on them yet. For example, Derma-E vegan products are all vegan but are not marked with a V-sign. So, it is probably wise to do research and double-check everything just in case.

How To Find Vegan Skincare At Walgreens?

Vegan skincare at Walgreens can be found both, in-store and online. Of course, it is faster to do background research on the product when shopping online. However, when you shop in the store, the best way is to look for vegan labels on the packages.

If you want to pick up the product, you can also check online which Walgreens closest to you has it. Just go to the product page and find the location under “pickup”. In addition, Walgreens offers free shipping on many products to your nearest store.

However, if you do not feel like doing background research before shopping, you can find vegan products in the store by looking for certified vegan labels. Official and verified labels usually fulfill both, vegan and cruelty-free conditions.

Still, it is important to emphasize that the misconception that veganism is only about composition is quite common. Therefore, if you find an independent vegan label on a product, it might only refer to the product’s ingredients.

So, it is good to familiarize yourself with the official vegan labels. If the product has an unofficial vegan sticker, you should also do background research on it just in case. If the product only has a cruelty-free label, check the product’s ingredient list.

Vegan Skincare Brands At Walgreens

Walgreens carries tons of different brands, and searching for vegan brands can take time. So, we have made a list of totally vegan brands that are represented at Walgreens.

It is important to know that product availability and brand representation vary everywhere. These brands are 100% vegan, meaning they do not include animal-derived ingredients and are not tested on animals. All the brands are presented in random order.

The 2 Best Vegan Skincare Brands At Walgreens

These are the best vegan skincare brands at Walgreens that can always be trusted.

1. e.l.f.

e.l.f

e.l.f is mostly known as a vegan makeup brand that creates affordable vegan makeup and beauty products for all. However, the American brand also creates vegan skincare. Some of e.l.f’s skincare products start as low as $3.

We believe that e.l.f is one of the best and most effective skincare brands when talking about the price-quality ratio. It is great that e.l.f is accessible to everyone. Meaning, that effective active ingredient-based skincare does not have to be pricy.

Shop e.l.f at Walgreens

2. Derma-E

Derma E Skincare

Derma E has been a vegan beauty brand from the start. It is an American skincare brand that creates natural vegan products for all skin types. Skincare gurus especially recommend Derma-E’s anti-aging vegan products with peptides and hyaluronic acid.

Derma-E is one of our favorites as well. Ee chose this one among other vegan brands offered by Walgreens because Derma-E makes effective vegan skincare based on active ingredients and scientific formulas.

Shop Derma-E at Walgreens

The Best Vegan Skincare Products At Walgreens

We have listed the best vegan skincare products that Walgreens carries down below. In addition, you can see a specification behind each product whether the brand is 100% vegan. Or if it is a non-vegan brand offering vegan options.

The Walgreens drugstore does not have that many 100% vegan brands represented, but it has some. So, most of the vegan products it carries are from non-vegan brands.

The Best Vegan Moisturizers At Walgreens

  1. Derma E Hydrating Day Creme with Hyaluronic Acid — 100% vegan brand
  2. e.l.f. Holy Hydration Face Cream — 100% vegan brand
  3. CoverGirl Clean Fresh Skincare Mattifying Oil-Free Moisturizer — not a vegan brand

The Best Vegan Cleansers At Walgreens

  1. Garnier Micellar Cleansing Water Cleanser & Makeup Remover — not a vegan brand
  2. CoverGirl Clean Fresh Skincare Hydrating Cream Cleanser – not a vegan brand

The Best Vegan Exfoliators And Face Scrubs At Walgreens

  1. Alchimie Forever Gentle Refining — 100% vegan brand
  2. Human+Kind Face Scrub Scrub — 100% vegan brand

The Best Vegan Serums And Oils At Walgreens

  1. Botanics Organic Facial Oil — not a vegan brand
  2. Sky Organics Vitamin E Oil — not a vegan brand
  3. Pixi Overnight Glow Serum — not a vegan brand
  4. Derma E Firming DMAE Serum — 100% vegan brand

The Best Vegan Toners At Walgreens

  1. e.l.f. SuperTone — 100% vegan brand
  2. Pixi Vitamin-C Tonic — not a vegan brand
  3. Botanics Organic Toning Spritz — not a vegan brand

The Best Vegan Toners At Walgreens

  1. Pipette Mineral Sunscreen Broad Spectrum SPF 50 — 100% vegan brand
  2. Sun Bum Original SPF 30 Lotion — not a vegan brand
  3. Sun Bum Mineral Tinted Sunscreen Face Lotion SPF 30 — not a vegan brand

FAQ About Vegan Skincare Brands In Walgreens

Is Walgreens vegan?

No. Walgreens is not vegan. But the drugstore carries some vegan products.

What vegan brands are at Walgreens?

Walgreens offers vegan skincare products from several dedicated vegan brands. Among them, for example, are Derma-E, e.l.f, Alchimie Forever, and Hempz.

Summary

Walgreens is an American drugstore that offers products from medicine to skincare and other beauty products. However, it is rather difficult to find vegan skincare products at Walgreens. Still, Walgreens carries some vegan brands and vegan-friendly skincare products.

Although it is possible to use vegan and cruelty-free filters when searching on the website, they are not reliable. Nevertheless, Walgreens offers vegan skincare products from several dedicated vegan brands. Among them, for example, are Derma-E, e.l.f, Alchimie Forever, and Hempz.

So, in order to find vegan skincare products on Walgreens’ website, you need to be familiar with all the 100% vegan skincare brands and animal-derived ingredients beforehand. Or do research on the product to be sure of its status. When shopping in-store, you can also look for certified vegan labels.

To learn everything you need to know about the world of vegan skincare, see our complete guide to vegan skincare.

See also: Where To Buy Vegan Skincare

Anett is a passionate journalist, writer, and magazine editor with almost 7 years of experience. Through engaging articles, she brings kinder and more environmentally-friendly choices closer to everybody.