Makeup
This hub covers eye, face, lip and nail makeup. Most pages are built from maker pages and ingredient lists, and the word hypoallergenic has no legal definition for cosmetics, so each entry shows whether the maker uses it.
The overview is the makeup roundup, which found nine of eleven verified products using the word, all from Almay. Eye products are split out: mascara, eyeliner, eyeshadow and eyelash glue. Face and lip pages include foundation, concealer, lipstick and nail polish, where we found no maker using the word.
Three brand pages check the claim line by line: Almay, Clinique, which never uses the word on the nine products we read, and Physicians Formula. Several of these rest on browser-captured maker pages. The lists differ between products, so read the one for the item you want.
Three picks to start with
Best hypoallergenic concealer
Three concealers are on this page. The Almay Skin Perfecting Comfort Concealer says "hypoallergenic" on its maker page; that is the maker's claim. The two Clinique concealers do not use the word (they say "Allergy tested Fragrance free") and meet our published criteria on their maker lists. "Hypoallergenic" has no Federal definition for cosmetics.
Best hypoallergenic eyelash glue
Neither of the two eyelash glues we could verify uses the word "hypoallergenic" on the maker page. Ardell DUO Nourish Brush-On Lash Glue, Clear and KISS Lash Couture Latex-Free Super Strong Strip Eyelash Glue both have ingredient lists that meet our published criteria. Both rest on browser-captured maker pages.
Best hypoallergenic eyeliner
Of the three eyeliners we could verify, only Almay Hypoallergenic Liquid Eyeliner uses the word "hypoallergenic" on the maker page, and the maker says this. Clinique and Physicians Formula do not use the word, but their maker-page lists meet our published criteria. All three rest on browser-captured maker pages.
How we check products in this category
'Hypoallergenic' has no legal definition for cosmetics, so a maker's word is a claim. Products are judged on the maker's ingredient list: no fragrance or fragrance allergens, and no MI/MCI or formaldehyde releasers. Those that meet this without the word are labelled that way. Drug-labelled products are excluded. We have not tested products ourselves. The full rules are in the review criteria.
Product guides
- Best hypoallergenic concealer
Three concealers are on this page. The Almay Skin Perfecting Comfort Concealer says "hypoallergenic" on its maker page; that is the maker's claim. The two Clinique concealers do not use the word (they say "Allergy tested Fragrance free") and meet our published criteria on their maker lists. "Hypoallergenic" has no Federal definition for cosmetics. - Best hypoallergenic eyelash glue
Neither of the two eyelash glues we could verify uses the word "hypoallergenic" on the maker page. Ardell DUO Nourish Brush-On Lash Glue, Clear and KISS Lash Couture Latex-Free Super Strong Strip Eyelash Glue both have ingredient lists that meet our published criteria. Both rest on browser-captured maker pages. - Best hypoallergenic eyeliner
Of the three eyeliners we could verify, only Almay Hypoallergenic Liquid Eyeliner uses the word "hypoallergenic" on the maker page, and the maker says this. Clinique and Physicians Formula do not use the word, but their maker-page lists meet our published criteria. All three rest on browser-captured maker pages. - Best hypoallergenic eyeshadow
Of the four eyeshadows we could verify, only the Almay Intense i-color palette uses the word "hypoallergenic" on the maker page, and the maker says this. The two Clinique shadows and the Physicians Formula shadow do not use the word, but their maker-page lists meet our published criteria. All four rest on browser-captured maker pages. - Best hypoallergenic foundation
Two of the four products we could verify, Almay Ageless Smart Shade Foundation and Almay Pressed Powder, use the word "hypoallergenic" on the maker page. Clinique's powder foundation and Neutrogena's serum foundation do not, but their ingredient lists meet our published criteria. "Hypoallergenic" has no legal definition for cosmetics, so each is a maker statement paired with the list we read. - Best hypoallergenic lipstick
Two of the five lip products we could verify, both from Almay, use the word "hypoallergenic" on the maker page, and one of those is a lip oil in stick form rather than a lipstick. The other three (two Clinique, one ILIA) do not use the word; they meet our published criteria on the ingredient list. Each is a maker claim paired with a list we read, not a promise about any person. - Best hypoallergenic makeup
Nine of the eleven products we could verify use the word "hypoallergenic" on the maker page, and all nine are Almay. Clinique's concealer ("Allergy tested") and Neutrogena's foundation (fragrance-free) do not, but their lists meet our published criteria. "Hypoallergenic" has no legal definition for cosmetics, so each is a maker statement paired with the ingredient list we read. - Best hypoallergenic mascara
The three mascaras we could verify are all Almay, and on each one the maker page uses the word "hypoallergenic". That is the maker's claim, not a standard, and all three were browser-captured rather than fetched. The ingredient lists differ in ways you can compare below. - Best hypoallergenic nail polish
We found no nail polish whose maker page uses the word "hypoallergenic". Two KBShimmer polishes, Core Values and Fig-Get About It, meet our published criteria on the maker's ingredient list, which was captured in a browser. That is a statement about a list, not a promise about anyone's skin.
Brand checks
- Is Almay hypoallergenic?
Almay itself says so: on all ten products we read, the maker page uses the word "hypoallergenic". That is a maker claim; the FDA says the term has no Federal definition for cosmetics. What differs is the ingredient lists, so check the line you want. - Is clinique hypoallergenic?
On the nine Clinique products we could read, the maker page never uses the word "hypoallergenic"; it uses allergy-testing wording and "fragrance free" instead. All nine lists show no fragrance entry and meet our criteria, but the lists differ a lot by product line, so the answer depends on what else you avoid. - Is Physicians Formula hypoallergenic?
Physicians Formula does not use the word "hypoallergenic" on either maker page we captured. The Ultra-Fine Liquid Eyeliner and the Mineral Wear Diamond Melt-allic Eyeshadow both meet our criteria on their maker-page lists, but that is two products, so the evidence is thin and says nothing about the rest of the range.