Best Beauty Stores
OUR PICK · 6 tested
Sephora
Shoppers who want Sephora-exclusive brands like Glossier under one roof and spend enough annually to unlock Rouge-tier perks at $1,000+/year.
ALSO WORTH IT
Target Beauty
Shoppers who want to grab drugstore staples and a few prestige picks in the same errand. Especially those already shopping at Target weekly who want to add Ulta Beauty brands to their cart without a separate trip.
Ulta Beauty
Shoppers who want to buy a $10 NYX eyeliner and a $60 Urban Decay palette in the same trip, or who want to combine beauty shopping with a haircut at the in-store salon.
Sephora's 'Clean at Sephora' program uses a published list of excluded ingredients (like sulfates SLES/SLS, parabens, phthalates and formaldehyde) and puts a distinct seal on qualifying product pages and shelf talkers, making it easy to filter by that standard both online and in-store.
How many brands are carried, whether they include exclusives unavailable elsewhere, and whether they cover both mass and prestige price points.
What the rewards program pays back in real dollars, whether there are tiers or perks for repeat shoppers, and how prices compare across the market.
How easy it is to return something that didn't work. Time limits, whether you need a receipt, and whether used products are accepted.
Whether trained staff or estheticians can help you figure out what you need, and whether that service costs extra.
Free shipping thresholds, delivery speed, physical store count, and whether flexible pickup or same-day options are available.
Whether the retailer runs an active clean/curated-ingredient program, its policy on pulling recalled or reformulated products, and how transparently ingredient information is presented in-store and online.
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