What has been your best dupe of a high end brand product? Was it worth it? Share!
L’Oreal True Teal is very similar to some of my favorite teal eyeliners, and it’s a fantastic formula to boot.
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Milani’s Color Statement lipstick line is right up there to MAC to me.
Completely agree! Some shades wear even better on me since they’re a bit creamier and don’t emphasize any dry spots or settle into lip lines. My MAC lipsticks got a much deserved break last year when I started collecting Milani lipsticks lol
which shades please? 🙂
Nyx Root Beer eyeshadow for MAC Moth Brown. Had read about it, found an Amuse store in Tempe AZ that had a super extensive range of Nyx cosmetics, so I went there and found THAT little gem! And it really is a dead-on dupe of swatches I had seen online of Moth Brown! Have found quite a few great dupes in thatt brand, as well as in Wet n Wild and Maybelline. Oh, and Nyx Matte Lipstick in Audrey had the MAC SA wondering why I wanted to buy Pink Noveau because she believed that I already owned it and had it on when I came into the store!!! LOL
Where in Tempe? I’m in Maricopa!
Arizona Mills Mall near the food court and Charlotte Russe! I haven’t been there in around 6 months, but they still had a decent amount of the original Nyx eyeshadows back then. Both the original flat squares and the later quilted top squares. The makeup is way to the right side when you walk in.
No time to dupe.
same here.
I suck at finding dupes. I tend to just buy whatever works (bc my sensitive flakey combo oily skin is super picky). Below, I’ve listed several drugstore products that outdid many higher-end counterparts for me.
Undereye Concealer: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind Eraser Dark Circles Treatment
Lip Pencil: Revlon Colorstay, Rimmel Exaggerate Automatic Lip Liner, Ulta Automatic Lip liner
Mascara: L’Oreal Butterfly Waterproof
Foundation: Revlon Whipped Creme Foundation
Brow Pencil: NYX Autobrow Pencil in Charcoal
Not sure if it is an exact dupe, but my Neutrogena Eye Makeup Remover outperforms all of the high end makeup removers that I’ve tried!
i agree 100%. as good as the lancome that always makes the “best” lists.
I need to try those Loreal eyeliners!
Cool question! I discovered a dupe for MAC Vanilla pigment recently: Pure Luxe Cosmetics eyeshadow in Copper Aura! They are really, really really close. And a lot cheaper too!
Hurray- Pure Luxe is GREAT!
Inexpensive, high-quality, huuuge range of colors, AND (unlike MAC these days, ahem) cruelty-free.
The Catrice Prime & Fine translucent powder could easily replace the MAC Pro Set Powder. Unfortunately it got discontinued a while ago 🙁
Maybe it’s not really a dupe but L’Oréal Voluminous Carbon Black mascara is as good as anything I’ve tried for twice the price, or even more! I don’t bother trying new mascaras anymore because in all my years of trying them out nothing for me, regardless of price, had worked any better on my lashes.
Saying that, I was given Lancôme’s Grandiôse mascara as a gift and it’s a much wetter formula but it gives an absolutely amazing false lash effect. I’ve yet to do a side-by-side comparison though. I’m not keen on wet formulas so it takes a bit of work to get the look I’m after but when it’s on it’s gorgeous. For me the Voluminous is much easier to use so I still think it gets my vote!
2nd the L’O Voluminous Carbon Black.
I love that mascara!!
The Nyx – Circe lipstick is a total dupe for the MAC Viva Glam Gaga II, i <3 Makeup eye primer is a Dupe for the the Urban Decay Primer Potion, and my personal favourite is the Boujois Healthy Balance powder which is a total Dupe for the Chanel Poudre Pressed Powder! (even made in the same factory)
In love with these Dupes 😀
Sephora eyeliners, whose pigmentation leaves most brands in the dust, and L’Oreal Infallible eye shadows.
There have been a lot. The WnW original Colour Icon 6-pan palettes in Lust and Vanity are amazing dupes for a lot of MAC shadows and the Comfort Zone 8-pan dupes a lot of MAC, UD and Dior shadows. But I think my most used would be the Essence mattifying pressed powder which is a great dupe for MAC Matte (though I do find the Essence one prone to shattering, which has never happened with MAC).
I have a couple of the Milani blushes that wen I saw them as dupes for some HE blushes but saw that they scored just as well or better. I have Delizio Pink and Luminosso. I love them! Also the Sephora brand and Loreal eye liners are pretty good at under $10 each.
I don’t have dupes, I normally don’t like dupes, I want the real thing.
It can be that I have a dupe of some lipsticks that I don’t even know, but now that I wanted to buy a dupe for some product.
Wet n’ Wild’s Sugar Plum Fairy as a dupe for MAC’s Rebel!
I’ve tried a bazillion eye shadow primers, mostly as samples that came as gift-with-purchase, and none of the high-end expensive ones work any better than the $1 primer from e.l.f., and most are much worse. Admittedly, it’s almost the only product from e.l.f. that I do like!
Sephora Cougar for MAC Kelly Yum-Yum: An exact dupe and I got several on clearance for $7 each.
e.l.f. Studio HD Powder for MUFE HD Powder: It’s just as good, and not fragranced like the MUFE.
Sleek Blush in Rose Gold for NARS Orgasm: It’s almost identical; Rose Gold is a hair darker, I think.
I don’t often do dupes – if there’s a high-end product that is really great, I typically go for the “real thing,” and budget accordingly.
However, I must say that I’ve found NYX lip pencils to be every bit as good as MAC’s.
Oh, I agree completely about the Nyx lip pencils! Not only do they dupe actual MAC shades, but they literally stay put ALL day too. I almost never need to touch them upeven after 5,6,7 hours or more.
* up even. My bad.
Larenim “Spellbound” is, in my opinion, BETTER than MAC’s popular LE “Sweet Sienna.”
“Spellbound” is smooth, richly pigmented, and is a true taupe – at least on NW15 me, “Sweet Sienna” was obnoxiously green.
After I got “Spellbound,” I gave my “Sweet Sienna” away!
Maybelline makes a clear lip liner that I will always buy instead of UDs
I have a revlon mechanical one
I looooooove L’Oreal True Teal!
Also I’ve found ColourPop and NYX have dupes for a lot of more expensive products. Like NYX Wicked lippies for the OCC Unknown Pleasures collection. OCC lip tars just don’t stay on my lips for some reason, they look awful after 2 hours.
I don’t set out looking for dupes, but since I’m typically attracted to certain types of shades/products, I inevitably have several. That said, I can’t think of any off-hand that are necessarily “better”, as I have only a few brands I pull from, and I’m happy with all of them…
Maybelline dream lumi for YSL Touche Éclat or Givenchy Mister Light. Dream Lumi is, in my opinion, the best drugstore product there is.
Not sure if it’s available in the States but Makeup Revolution’s Iconic 3 palette – practically identical to Naked 3 but less than a quarter the price. Ok the shadows don’t last quite as long but they survive a day in the office and that suits me just fine!
They ship to the US, but as far as I know aren’t sold here. (Someone please correct me if I’m wrong.) In the past I have ordered several of their palettes and some of their lipsticks. Good stuff! They have tons of dupes on their website, actually. I just shipping wasn’t so much.
The LA Girl Proconceal HD is every inch as good as the Mac Pro long wear concealer. I feel they are durable.
The Sephora colored eyeliner pencils for the UD 24/7 pencils. That’s about it, aside from looking at some of the really high end nail polish and thinking I can probably duplicate it from my collection if I dig deep enough.
I really like Milani’s Luminoso blush! It is easily a dupe for NARS Orgasm and has incredible staying powder. I also think it glides on much easier than the NARS. I found it accidentally when we were out of town and I realized I’d left my make-up bag at home. I went to Walgreens to pick up the bare basics and found the Milani brand. I also picked up one of their lipsticks and a lip gloss and still use them quite often… pretty colors.
I LOVE luminoso! So much so, I have a couple spares just in case 😉
I don’t really seek out dupes; I either like a product or I don’t, regardless of brand or price point. That said, I do have some that are dupes of more expensive products. I think the two best ones are the Max Factor Creme Puff blushes, which are marbled with highlighting powder and give an effect similar to the Hourglass Ambient blushes, and the Boots No. 7 chubby highlighter stick, which is virtually indistinguishable from the Clinique one at less than half the price. Boots No. 7 also has the BB Lips tinted balm, which is similar to the Clarins Instant Light Lip Perfector. I actually like the BB Lips better; there are more colours, and they aren’t all pastel-y or nude shades. There’s a nice berry one.
As a brand, Boots No. 7 actually does a good job of providing decent quality drugstore dupes in general – I’d consider that one of their strengths in their cosmetics line.
I have a few good dupes:
L’Oreal Infallible Eyeshadow in Emerald Gold – a dupe for many high end greens
Milani lipstick in Bronze Metal
elf makes an undereye primer ($3) that is a pretty decent dupe for Smashbox undereye primer ($26). I didn’t really think an undereye primer would make much difference, but it keeps concealer in place, helps defy creasing all day and makes even concealers that I wasn’t happy with perform much better. And $3 is way better than $26 any day!
Avon everlasting eye shadow pencils are a great dupe for Laura Mercier caviar sticks. They even have some similar colors. They’re awesome-and affordable!
I don’t actually look for dupes but i have a few ones i like…
The elf bronzer-blush duo in st. lucia… the bronzer it’s similar to nars laguna imo (where i live we doesn’t have a nars counter :[ … i know, i know)
covergirl spellbound (325) is a great dupe for MAC girl about town
wet n wild lipstick in (970) Purty Persimmon is a close dupe for MAC so Chaud.
(maybe you’ve heard of this in the internet but oh well)
I don’t think I really look for dupes. Just buy what I like. I do try different skin care but don’t go over the top. Have sensitive skin so use samples as much as possible and purchase what seems to help.
wet and wild sugarplum fairy lipstick in place of Mac rebel. It’s so pretty! And spa on Duke! And only $1.99
– Some of ColourPop’s Lippie Stix (definitely not all the same quality, but a handful that I have are similar quality to MAC lipsticks)
– Nyx micro brow pencil has been exactly as good as Anastasia Brow Wiz with a similar amount of product for half the price. In love!
I love this question!!! Milan luminoso, sleek rose gold are all great dupes as well as nyx micro brow, the best brow pencil, equal or better than Anastasia’s. I also found a deep, deep red polish, almost black beautiful by Sinful color nail polish called Rich in Heart that is an exact dupe for a nail color you commented about 6 mos ago. I can’t remember the name of the color, or brand, but the dupes you had didn’t come close to how this one performed. It cost about 35.00 or up, but this is a perfect match. Maybe you can help me Christine . I also top it off with Rock top coat thaRevlon illumt makes the Sinful colors last 10-14 days without chipping. Sinful Color has dupes for the most popular polishes and cost less than 2.00.
Sorry, my computer jumped around and joined sentences. Don’t know what happened, but I apologize.
Circa eyeshadow stick is a super close dupe for misty rock Byterry
the Circa one is in the shade rose quartz
bourjois blushes are as good as chanel’s baked blushes.
I’d have to say Nars Creamy Concealer and Maybelline Fit Me concealer. Nearly identical, except for the cost! But I still like the Nars better…..
A great dupe for Mac Stone lip pencil is Biolife Extreme lip pencil Beige #421 (for 3 euros). With this lip pencil and a sheer cool toned aubergine lipstick, I create Tom Ford Stavros lipstick. Korres Volcanic Minerals Twist Eyeshadows dupes for Laura Mercier Caviar Sticks.
I like you think the L’Oreal liners are just as good as other great high-end brands like UD. They don’t have the selection of colors or finishes like UD but they are great.
I love dupes! I’ve bought:
Sonia Kashuk’s LE matte red for MAC’s Russian Red, Rimmel Nude Delight for MAC’s Shy Girl, Wet n Wild Bare it All for Kinda Sexy (I actually prefer the Wet n Wild formula, it’s not as drying!), I also bought a dupe for Angel (I think it was a maybelline lippie?) instead of Angel because I didn’t want to spend the $ on Angel if it didn’t look good on me (and it didn’t!). Mary Kay sunny citrus for Morange, MK shy girl blush for NARS orgasm, NYX soft matte lip creams and Sephora cream lipstains for Anastasia BH liquid lipsticks… I’ve done a lot of dupe hunting, heh.