Have you ever looked for a high-end dupe of a drugstore product? What product? Were you able to dupe it?
I can’t think of anything off-hand! 🙁
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I actually have done exactly that. I bought Loreal Infallible Eyeshadow in bronzed taupe and just loved everything about it but I could do with a little more complexity in my color. So I’ve been looking for something with the same consistency and color but with more variety in the pot, like if they made those Armani ETK in that exact same bronzy taupe color it would be so perfect.
YES!!! I want to find CG Tapestry Taupe, with more complexity. Haven’t found it yet. I also want more complexity with my color. It is my HG eyeshadow. Like a ‘your lipcolor but better’, its my ‘your eyelid shadow, but removes unsightly shadows and better’!
Have you ever swatched MAC’s Satin Taupe or Le Metier de Beaute’s Corinthian?
I haven’t tried MAC’s satin taupe, but I do have Le Metier de Beaute’s Corinthian. Corinthian is beautiful and complex but just so much coolor toned, and the powder formula of Corinthian doesn’t have as good payoff as the infallible shadow. Don’t get me wrong I love Corinthian, but it’s not a twin so much as a cousin to bronzed taupe. Thanks for the tip about Satin Taupe though.
I know exactly what you mean. Some eyeshadow colors just have this magical quality and look 10 times better on you than any other color.
I’ve picked up drugstore products which looked kinda cool, then thought “Nope, don’t buy it, go find something better quality!”
I’ve been slowly “upgrading” my stash, so several DS products have been replaced with HE items, starting with shades I use most often. I sometimes purchase less expensive items in shades I want to try, but don’t want to make as big a financial commitment if they don’t work.
My current HG blush is L’Oreal Mauvelous, but I intend to replace it with NARS Sin in the near future. It’s not so much that I like Sin more, but for storage purposes, it’ll fit better with the face products I use regularly.
Umm… I use Boots No 7 Illuminating Lotion from Target, I think $12.99. Instead of Benefit’s High Beam. Or is it suppose to be the other way around? But I love that highlighter. If I have a bad and sleepless night and look like h3LL in the morning, I mix a drop with my liquid foundation. I don’t look half dead. Awesome product.
I have wondered if there’s a high-end version of the L’Oreal Caresse lipsticks, because I really like the formula but think it could stand a bit of improvement. But I haven’t found one that I know of.
Yes! I am currently searching for a high end dupe of Revlon’s Peach Parfait lip butter WITHOUT THE GRITTY TEXTURE. I mean, I’d take a drugstore dupe too… I just want the color without all that glitter.
AGREED!
I got Tarte gel liner after reading somewhere that it’s just like Physicians Formula’s but better (being that it’s costs about 3-4 times more…) sadly, I was disappointed because it was nothing alike and I still like PF better.
I hadn’t used gel liner in quite some time, pulled out some of my PF gel liner and…fell in love with it again. Great stuff, less than high-end.
Only if the drugstore product is being discontinued… otherwise it seems a bit backassward.
With the exception of some discontinued Avon lipsticks I bought around ten years ago, I can’t think of any.
I have a lipstick which I love the colour of but the formulation is pretty rubbish, so I keep meaning to take it into Mac with me next time I go and try and find a dupe in there!
I’ve done it a few times. Most recently, I brought a Nyx blush to the department store and Sephora trying to find the same colour but in better quality. I settled on a Laura Mercier dupe.
Most memorably, I had a Cover Girl eye shadow quad that I loved the lightest shade in. I used it up, couldn’t dupe it, bought the whole quad again, used up the shade again, still couldn’t find anything like it in any price range. Of course the quad was discontinued by the time I used up 2 pans. It’s an elusive colour the exact undertone of my skin but a shade lighter and with a slight sheen. The basic shades like that are the hardest to find!
Yes, an old discontinued Max Factor eye-shadow. tried to ages to find a Mac equivalent and finally found a reasonable dupe in Chanel Fauve
I’m still on the lookout for a dupe of my favorite Max Factor product (a creamy pure white stick concealer). I’ve tried many but most are not white enough or they are not creamy enough. And the silly thing is that I knew Max Factor was being discontinued in the US and I didn’t stock up on their products.
I checked quickly to see if it was available in the UK but I can’t see it on the website. Have a quick look and let me know if they are still making it. We can see if we can get it over to you.
🙂
Thanks, I will check it out. I’m also probably going to try MAC’s white foundation since the PRO products are going to be sold in all their North American stores now.
So jealous about that. Hope they do it in the UK too.
Not really but maybe I should for some products ? I often go high end except for nail polishes ( I have budget ones and high end ones but I never look for high end dupes in fact )
I have tried this and been successful, just can’t think of any examples in particular. I use to purchase a lot of high-end lipsticks, but Rimmel has so many wonderful shades and great prices, that’s all I have been purchasing lately.
Yes! I’ve been on the lookout for a HE dupe of Revlon’s blush in Blushed – I absolutely love that shade for a neutral cheek/contour, but it doesn’t last as long as I’d like. It’s a very light, sheer nude shade, but doesn’t have any plummy or pinky tones, unlike for example Tarte Exposed or NARS Douceur. I’m wondering if the aforementioned Burberry Earthy might be close.
Have you looked at NARS Zen?
No, it seems to have slipped my mind, but it might be exactly what I’m looking for (I just looked it up online and the swatches look promising)! Thanks for your suggestion, Xamyx! 🙂
I have never done it–yet. One of my favorite eyeshadows of all time is the warm brown in Wet N Wild’s Vanity palette. Since they no longer make that palette, I’m afraid I’ll be going high-end to replace it. From all of my research, I think MAC Soba should be a good dupe.
Thank goodness I bought two when I saw them at the supermarket. That is my favorite palette of all time! All matte, all great! You’re right about the color, I originally bought the palette because that color looked like the oat color in Bobbie Brown’s warm palette from last year. They never made it a regular color, and all her light browns are very cool. The third darkest color is Clinique’s Teddy Bear quad is close, but Clinique’s eyeshadows tend to go on so lightly, even on very fair skin. I’ll be looking at the MAC counter with you!
My favourite lipsticks when I was in my 20’s were inevitably Revlon. Cherries in the Snow and Fire and Ice are two I immediately recollect. As I got older with more disposable income it occurred to me it would be nice to find dupes in higher end formulas.
Cherries in the snow is my ALL time favorite lipstick! Like you said I could probably find a high end dupe of it, but for some reason having the Revlon tube with cherries in the snow on it has been super important to me. My great grandmother,my grandmother, my mother,and I have all worn it!
They brought all those colors back- and I agree about the cases Granny and Nana had for those lipsticks! I can remember when Revlon was still in department stores, it contended with Lauder and Arden as THE brand. I use Color Stay Foundation because it’s the right color, but I need to mix it with pricey Luminizer to thin it down. But they still make some great makeup, just not so much eye shadow.
Nope. I’m not such a makeup snob that if I find a drugstore product that works well (skin care or body care), I feel the need to spend more for the same sort of performance just to have the Chanel interlocking “C’s” or the MAC label on it. If it was a product that was discontinued, sure I’d look for it in higher end lines, but otherwise, I’m just happy to be saving the dosh.
I know the reader who asked the question was referring to a drugstore product that you liked but didn’t love – maybe a great color but a really bad flavor 🙂 It wasn’t “OMG, this is a great product, but I want it to be high-end.”
Okay, that didn’t really come across in the wording of the question. Absolutely, if I found something I liked but I had a bad reaction to it or couldn’t abide the smell, etc., I’d look for a dupe but high end is no guarantee of a great smelling or scent free product – look at lippies by Guerlain and Clarins – very scented so for anyone with scent sensitivities, even those higher end products would be duds.
Hi, this isn’t what I meant, but was the same response that I got on a make up forum. I don’t look for the high end dupes (or mid range dupes like MAC) because I am a Make up snob, I do it because some drug store products have issues with them, like scent or flavor. I have a hard time wearing lip products that have a strong scent scent, especially if the scent lasts for a long time. I also have a sensitivity to foundation that has a medicine smell (like the ones for acne prone skin). Often products with strong scents cause me to break out in a rash or hives. And of course any HG product from the drugstore is promptly discontinued a short time after I discover it!
I have for the longest time! I have been looking for a high end dupe of Wet N Wild’s bare it all (902c). So if anyone knows of anything close let me know. This has been my favorite lipstick for so long and it is sometimes hard to find.
hmmm I think Mac’s Viva Glam Gaga 2 looks pretty similar, that and the Nyx lip cream in London. Those are the only two I can think off. Good luck!
I used to use Revlon’s Colorstay in clear as a base for all of my lipsticks – they wouldn’t budge when I used that, and at the time it was $8. Then they discontinued it, so I’m stuck buying Paula Dorf’s perfect Illusion for $22 when it does the EXACT. SAME. THING. I won’t wear lipstick without it though.
Yes if they discontinue a product I really love, or if I love a color but hate the crappy formula.
lol no, because i can’t even afford high end makeup.
Yes! Cover girl lipsticks smell god awful to me, I found a fantastic pink, with a coupon it was damn near free, I will be searching for a dupe. I wish that you could remove fragrance : ). I love nyx matte lipsticks, but do they have to have such childish packaging? Quality and good design are important to me. I avoid most low end brands because of poor fragrance.
Fragrance is often a deal breaker for me too. I don’t understand how the high end brands can come up with nice fragrances while low end brands seem to find the most offensive scent for their products. It especially hard to understand since many low end brands are owned by the same parent company as higher end brands.
It’s so we’ll go buy the pricier stuff! Seriously. Packaging and promo is the most expensive part of make up; L’Oreals DS version (Infallibles) of their Armani eye shadows proves that the differences can be negligable. The Armani saleslady here wears the Infallible! She’s a deep brown skin and the colors are better on her.
But it goes DS, to MAc, and UD pallettes, UD primer potion, to… Nars? We climb a ladder to Dior/ Guerlain. lol ;-D Smells better, prettier cases, better wear. DS make up could be like that but the psychology is snob appeal. I read the market research in university. Make up is a ginormous cash cow!
I’m trying to find a dupe of the matte peach color in the Wet and Wild Greed palette and the I Heart Mattes palette. Naturally, the color matched my skin and brightened it perfectly and naturally, it just had to be discontinued/limited edition. I’m checking out MAC and Inglot dupes but I don’t think I’ll have any luck!
The I Heart Mattes palette was just re-released under another name as part of the holiday collection. You might want to try looking for it again!
I’m in the same boat, but I’m trying to find a dupe of an Ulta brand e/s that I got free. I love the color but the e/s it self is flaking off and a lot is getting wasted. I’m going to check at a Mac store this week for a dupe.
Yes! eyeshadow from Sleek’s Au Natural palette called NUBUCK.
I still can’t find such satin dove grey eyeshadow 🙁
Anyone?!
Yay, my question!
Seriously, I feel weird that I do this, but sometimes I find a great low end product but there is something I find wrong with it. For example, I love the color and texture of Maybelline Baby Lips in Peach Kiss but the scent and flavor is a deal breaker. While I will settle for Peach Kiss since it is so inexpensive, I would much rather have something I enjoy more, even at a higher cost.
-Sarah
Have you tried Fresh Sugar lip balms? I (personally) find the feel/texture to be quite similar. Fresh balms have the *slightest* minty scent, but it goes away after a minute or two.
No, I haven’t tried them yet but you are the second person to recommend them so I will be checking them out soon. Thanks!
Fresh sugar balms smell like lemon sugar cookie to me, I don’t get mint at all. They are awesome!
I don’t get mint either, just sugar 🙂 But they’re amazing. I have them all and I love them, I won’t use any other kind of lip balm now.
Only if a drugstore product I love was discontinued. I’m not a huge fan of high-end cosmetics because I’ve always managed to find a drugstore dupe that I love!
I do if I’m looking through my stash! LOL. Eg – Maybelline’s Olive Martini quad. If I checked through my items, I have dupes in my higher end products.
Can’t say that I’ve ever actually sought out a high end product to purchase for a drugstore dupe.
Can you please tell me the dupes for olive martini? I was looking for that quad with no luck! 🙁 thanks 😀
Well I won’t lie Ana, the silver colour I was satisfied with a silver from the Revlon quad in Siren (the greys/silvers). The first colour is fairly light and I found a great similar looking one in my Lorac box office case from a few holidays ago. I’d be happy with Naked Lunch too. MAC Club is the 3rd colour and the fourth is a mahogany brown with red sparkles so again my Lorac case has a similar brown.
They maybe aren’t exact but close enough for me! I’ve linked to the best swatches from Amarixe
http://www.amarixe.com/2012/09/new-maybelline-olive-martini-eyeshadow.html
I forgot to mention too, I have the NARS duo in Egea which is similar to the 2nd shade too.
UD Aquarius is kind of close to the second shade–except less grey/silver and has more dimension. The third shade can be duped by Too Faced Label Whore and Wet n Wild Comfort Zone Palette. The fourth shade is a red-brown, and LORAC tends to have reddish brown shadows in their line-up of palettes.
ive been looking for the maybelline fall edition products but where i live.. theres like no sign of it.. not at Ulta..Rite aid..walgreens, or CVS….
🙁
Not really. I’ve done the opposite though. That said, based on others’ comments if I liked the color but found the formula/flavor/scent to be craptastic but knew a higher-end/pricier brand that I like makes something similar, I’d definitely be game to try it.
Absolutely. I feel an abnormal amount of anxiety around purchasing drugstore brands. I’ve gotten better in the past year, purchasing Maybeline Color Tattoo eye shadows and NYX grinding blushes (though some people might nay say on those since they are around $16).
I remember there was a pink drugstore lipstick that had the tiniest bit of a frost finish that I loved the look of but it was so drying. I remember wanting to find a better quality version of that color. Can’t remember for the life of me the brand name of it now, though this was in the past year.
I have been searching for a dupe of Revlon lip gloss in Sunbaked! It was LE and I bought two but it is my FAVORITE gloss ever! I have been hoping that Christine would review it and list some High End dupes for it.
Yeeeesss !! I love the color of Maybelline bouncy blush in Candy Coral but the application is difficult due to the poor color payoff. If anyone knows a dupe no matter if its powder or cream, please let me know !
I’m currently looking for Revlon Colorburst lipgloss in Rosegold dupe now 🙂 (They DC-ed it). Anyone know of a dupe? Either high end or drugstore is fine.
Oh my goodness. ME TOO! It’s what I’m browsing for…
yes! For lots of discontinued drugstore products (maybeline moiture lipsticks and others)
Yes. I love Cover Gir’s Cheekers Natual Rose Blush. I don’t like the formuala though. I tried to find a high end dupe with no luck.
Yes! I’m very scent-sensitive about lipstick.
I’ve done this with eyeshadows and lipsticks. I don’t see a problem with using a drugstore product if it works for you, but since I have lips that want to naturally peel (such a bummer!) I’d rather splurge a bit on hydrating, well-formulated lip products. Apart from Maybelline’s Color Tattoos and L’Oreal’s Infallible eyeshadows, I’ve just never found a drugstore eyeshadow I really like.
absolutely. I do it all the time. It’s just a preference for me- and where I am in my make-up journey lol. I really don’t buy drug store (with the exception of brushes and mascara) because I like the experience of the department store/boutique shopping. I buy make up because it’s FUN, a creative outlet and I enjoy it. I went through a phase where i had to find the best DS dupe especially when I was discovering what I liked, what worked for me, etc-and I succeeded. so now i want to find the best HE products:) It must be good quality though. I am not sacrificing quality….And will pay for pretty packaging as a bonus 🙂
forgot to post my dupe….L’oreal Fairest nude lipstick -love this color. found MAC’s Blankety as a dupe for it. I am still looking for a HE dupe for it ..dior, chanel, Laura Mercier, Bobbi Brown…but i havne’t found anything yet
Thank you! I like Fairest Nude, but I can’t stand the smell! I was reading comments looking for this dupe exactly. 🙂
Not really, but I have a tiny BonBons drugstore polish that I’ve had for years because I’m dying to find a dupe, either high-end or drugstore!. It’s a light orange-peach with a green duochrome. The closest I’ve found is China Glaze’s Chiaroscuro, but that is definitely a pink and not orange base.
I really like the golden peach eyeshadow from E.L.F duo eyeshadow collection in Dusk. The color looks dull as hell when swatched, but it’s so smooth and pigmented that the color itself naturally melts into my complexion and instantly brightens my whole face and adds depth to my eyes in one sweep. I’m not looking for a dupe to replace it, but since I loved the shade so much that I wanted to secure back-ups and tried bunch of higher end brands’ similar shades, including MAC Melon pigment, NARS kuala lumpur, TheBalm Hot Mama, etc. with no luck…
Yes! Neutrogenia used to make a product called one coat lipstick. The color was “natural”, and it was a dupe of a no name beauty supply store lipstick named “Nordic”! The color is a warm, peachy brown, and I will buy it in any line, high or low end if I can find it. I never found a dupe for the Neutrogenia one, the closest I’ve found recently is Bobbie Brown’s squeeze tube blush/lipstick from her Desert Twilight line in “Honeyed Tea”, but that is limited edition too, and I can’t find any stores that have them left! So the answer is yes, for the right color I would absolutely go from low end to high, I don’t think there really is a difference, especially if they are fragrance free! Its just easier to find products in department stores because there are testers! If there are any redheads or blondes out there who also look good in this type of color, let me know what your favorites are, please…
I just LOVE the taupe color in Wet n Wild’s “Dancing in the Clouds” palette, but have no idea about any dupes. I just don’t want to buy the entire palette again for this one color, although maybe I would as it is pretty affordable….
Yes. Milani Flare eyeshadow (didn’t find a dupe, MAC coppering is too red), Milani Silver Bullet (dupe Urban Decay Strip), Milani Illusion (no dupe, MAC gleam too glittery/gold, naked lunch not pigmented enough, the golden brown color in the Wet n Wild night elf palette (never found something quite right, MAC patina is close).
Yessss- I have lots of the old eyeshadows Milani used to put out in all of these gorgeous, PIGMENTED colors and I kept on the lookout for dupes of some of my favourites when they were first d/c-ed.. I remember buying Electric Eel to dupe a shadow, and Stars N’ Rockets to dupe another (although it isn’t a match…).
NYX cosmetics. For obvious reasons where it is made, I wont buy NYX. But I would like to try the cream pencils like Milk and other colors. And the grinding blush. Some of the compacts are packaged nicely. I wish some high end companies would copy “milk”.
I have looked for a high end dupe of a drugstore product. Mac YungRapunzel and Revlon VA VA Violet. Funny thing though… Revlon felt better on my lips- creamier- interesting indeed.
The wet n wild shadows are perfect dupes for MAC eyeshadows 🙂
I look for dupes all the time 🙂
I am about to start that hunt! lol, Maybelline came out with a fantastic under eye brightener. Apparently the majority of DS shoppers didn’t get the brightener memo because it’s gone. The same stuff may be renamed but the bottle has an unhygenic looking fuzzy top, icky, so I’ll be looking for a dupe.
Never dreamed I’d be doing this.
they don’t sell revlon matte strawberry suede anymore in the US so i’ve been looking for a dupe since i’m running out 🙁 i love it so much.
Have you tried ebay, or Amazon? Or, you can google “buy” then the name of the product, and a site may come up that still has the product. Alot of times, companies buy up alot of DC’d product from a brands warehouse, and they sell them at about the same as the MSRP (sometimes even lower).
Yes – I used to have a soft pink Revlon lipgloss I was absolutely in love with but that was part of a limited edition release. When I discovered MAC, I looked for a possible dupe and chose Lovechild, but it is more mauve than the Revlon one, so I’m still looking for a dupe. I actually still keep the empty Revlon tube :)!
I also used to have a Physician’s Formula peachy pink blush that I loved so much, I wore it everyday. The brand is not sold in Mexico, so I’ve looked for a dupe, but it´s been an unsuccessful search so far. I know “peachy pink” sounds pretty common, so probably I’m not describing the color well :)…..the shade was really something special, very settled with just the right amount of brightness. Oh, I miss that blush!
I’ve never found a dupe for an old L’Oreal shadow called Goldeneye. It was a great dirty cool-toned pyrite type gold. Everything that looks close ends up going bronze/taupe or bronze/orange. It made my eyes look crazy green.
Am looking now for HE dupes that have more lasting power or just doesn’t have a flavor to it.
-Maybelline Red Revival Lipstick
-L’oreal Super Blendable Blush in Subtle Sable
Yes – for Revlon Colour Stay Foundation with Softflex in Oil/combination. It was an amazing product that really left my face matte but it clogged up my pores horribly. I had little bumps all over the edge of my face that eventually went away after I stopped using it. Still seeking but I’m not horribly too put out by it as I am a fickle make up lover and always seeking a newer better product, haha.
Hmm never done this before because a) I don’t have that many makeup, I only buy what I really want and b) I tend to avoid drugstore face products as they break me out and the colour selections are really limited.
I’d love a dupe for the milani eyeliners (they’re sooo pigmented!), revlon gel eyeliner and the revlon 3D volume mascara (love it except that it smudges!)
im still looking for a dupe of this annabelle rose-something colour.. i wore it to prom and thru university.. cant find a dupe of it in a high end brand which sucks because im sure it would be great..
I’ve been trying to find a better quality dupe of the browbone shade in the Wet ‘n Wild trio Silent Treatment. I use it on my eyelids, and it has a beautiful, subtle, brightening effect. Unfortunately, the payoff of that shade isn’t too good, unlike the other two shadows in the trio. The taupe shade is magnificent, and such excellent quality that it rivals ANY HE shadow. It truly is my HG “natural” every day palette, though the packaging leaves a lot to be desired.