photo credit: Bayan Al-sadhan via photopin cc
UPDATE: I have a more recent 25 Dupes for High-End Products post for 2017 if you are looking for even more great dupes :) Check it out here.
Makeup
The first dupes on the list is for an amazing mascara I've recently started using. I immediately fell in love with Too Faced's Better Than Sex Mascara, and quickly began my hunt for a lower-priced mascara with the same effect. I found two mascaras with similar brushes and formulas that I think are pretty good dupes for 'Better Than Sex'. They are the e.l.f. Mineral Volumizing Mascara and the Rimmel Scandaleyes Retro Glam Mascara.
The Maybelline Color Tattoos are pigmented, smooth and long-lasting, and have some great colors to choose from. The shade 'Barely Branded' from the Color Tattoo "Metals" collection is very similar to the shade 'Bare Study' from the MAC Pro Longwear Paint Pot collection. While I find the MAC paint pots slightly more smooth and creamy, once the products are on the lid the lasting power and pigmentation are practically identical.
The YSL Touche Eclat Radiant Touch highlighting pen is a huge cult-favorite in the beauty industry. It is well-pigmented and provides a nice highlight to brighten the under-eye area. There are several dupes out there for this highlighting concealer, and my personal favorite is the Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch. It has much better coverage than the other dupes I've tried, the shades are great, and I find that my dark circles practically disappear.
The Diorskin Ultra Shimmering Allover Face Powder in Amber Diamond was a limited edition product that now sells for anywhere between $150 to $300! It was a highlighting powder with a slightly bronze sheen, and the multi-dimensional effect is truly beautiful. The Physicians Fomula Shimmer Strips in Riviera Strip has a similar color, and when all the shades are blended together you'll have a beautiful bronze glow.
Dior 'Diorskin' Ultra Shimmering Allover Face Powder (in Amber Diamond) price unavailable (limited edition product)
One of Stila's most popular products are the lip glazes, and for good reason! They are shiny, pigmented, smell great and are available in a huge selection of shades. Another similar product worth a try is the e.l.f. Hypershine gloss, which has a conditioning, long lasting formula and goes on just as smooth as the lip glazes.
Stila Lip Glaze $22.00
e.l.f. Hypershine Gloss $1.00
The MAC lip pencil in Spice has been speculated as Kylie Jenner's lip liner of choice for her now-infamous mauve lip color. There are many mauve lip liners out there, but one of the closest that I have found the the exact beigy-mauve tone as Spice is the NYX slim lip pencil in coffee.
The Makeup Forever Full Cover Extreme Camouflage Cream and the Kat Von D Lock-It Tattoo conealer are are two of the most high coverage, heavy duty concealers on the market. They are also water and transfer-resistant and are very good for covering blemishes, dark circles, skin discoloration and tattoos. The Hard Candy Glamoflauge concealer has the same thick, highly pigmented properties and is readily available at WalMart!
One of the most well-known e.l.f. dupes is their studio blush and bronzing powder, which is a dupe for the NARS Blush/Bronzer duo. Both products come in several shades, but the most popular of the NARS variety is the Orgasm/Laguna duo, for which you can dupe with St. Lucia from e.l.f..
Another NARS dupe! The NARS Highlighting Blush in albatross is an extremely pigmented highlighter that is used by many makeup artists (and has even received praise from celebrities including Kim Kardashian). It's a difficult product to dupe because of the unique shade, but one product I have found with similar pigmentation and color is an eyeshadow from essence cosmetics. In case you haven't tried any of essence's products, by the way, you're missing out! They have very highly-pigmented blushes, shadows and concealers and some great mascaras, too. Their metal glam shadow in n'ice frosting can be used as a highlighting product to provide a similar effect to NARS albatross.
The Stila Stay-All-Day waterproof liquid liner is a very popular liquid eyeliner pen because of it's easy-glide, long-lasting, smudge-free formula. One of the best liner pens from the drugstore is the L'Oreal Infallible eyeliner, which happens to be a great dupe for the Stila favorite. The L'Oreal liner pen now comes in a Super Slim version to allow for even more precision.
I have many friends who refuse to use anything but the MAC Cosmetics fluidline gel eyeliner. They love it for it's easy of use and silky, soft finish, but in my opinion I think you can find great gel eyeliners at the drugstore from brands like e.l.f., Maybelline and Sonia Kashuk. The Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama gel eyeliner is one the most popular gel liners at the drugstore, and is a great dupe for MAC fluidline.
MAC Cosmetics Fluidline $16.00
The Tarte lights, camera lashes inner rim brightener is a newer product on the market, created for the purpose of brightening the eye area. It is designed to be used on the inner rim, in place of white eyeliner (a widely used trick for looking more awake) which can look harsh and unnatural against many skin tones. Rimmel's Scandaleyes kohl kajal in nude glides on easily and the pigmentation is great.
The Makeup Forever HD Microfinish powder is a translucent finishing powder that can be used over makeup or alone. It is very popular for it's ability to keep makeup in place and control shine without looking "powdery". It's high price tag is a turn off to many, and while the e.l.f. high definition powder is more expensive than their other studio line products, it's nearly-identical to to Makeup Forever's award-winning formula and still provides significant savings.
Another great product for setting your makeup is a finishing spray. MAC's Prep+Prime Fix+ is one of the most popular finishing sprays on the market, but many people have found ways to avoid the over-priced formula with DIY verisons. If DIY-ing isn't something you're interested in, though, checkout the e.l.f. studio makeup mist & set, which contains good-for-your-skin ingredients such as aloe, cucumber and vitamins A, C, and E.
To find some of the dupes listed above and many, many more, checkout e.l.f. cosmetics! They sell tons of great, very inexpensive products that I LOVE and that work just as well as high-end and designer cosmetics.
Skincare
Philosophy's 'Purity" facial cleanser is an extremely popular face wash, as people love that they can use one product to clear their skin of makeup, dirt, oil, and grease simultaneously. It's creamy formula emulsifies the skin and leaves your skin balanced and clean and it's also great for sensitive skin. The Neutrogena one-step gentle cleanser is pretty much the same idea, as you can clear out all the grime on your faec in one simple step.
La Mer's Creme De La Mer is notoriously expensive. Like, extremely expensive. Try $249.00 for a mere 2 ounces. Crazy, right? I was skeptical when someone suggested Nivea's 'Creme" body cream as a dupe to Creme de La Mer, but the ingredient list has some strong similarities. Look into it if you've been wanting to dry Creme de La Mer or if you've already fell in love with the product, because if you like it the savings would be truly phenomenal.
La Mer Creme De La Mer $249.00
Nivea Creme $7.49
Garnier's Clean+ Nourishing Cleansing Oil was introduct to the market fairly recently, and was actually the first cleansing oil available at the drugstore! I've tried it and it's honestly amazing for the price, and would dupe many of the cleansing oils available at high-end specialty stores. One specific oil I've tried in the past is the Josie Maran Argan Cleansing Oil and I like Garnier's just as much, if not more.
GlamGlow's famous Hollywood mud mask is a naturally-formulated mask that exfoliates skin, tightens pores and draws out impurities, leaving your skin glowing and radiant. Another great mask to try if you're on a budget is the Boots Botanic's ionic clay mask with willowbark, which is great for clearing the skin and leaving is soft and smooth. These masks are great for an at home spa day or a weekly facial treatment for acne-prone or clogged-up skin.
I used Clinique's take the day off cleansing milk throughout high school, and I loved it's ability to emulsify the skin and lift out all the impurities while leaving my skin moisturized and clean. There are two cleansing milks in the drugstore that I'm aware of, one from Yes to Cucumbers and one from Avalon Organics. I love the Avalon Organics cleansing milk because of the addition of Vitamin C, lemon bioflavanoids and white tea, which they claim will help fight stress and help with anti-aging.
Hempz' original herbal body moisturizer hydrates and nourishes the skin with a natural formula, and is a product that many people have used for years continuously. Suave is a brand that actually advertises many of it's products as dupes for popular high-end ones, and their skin therapy body lotion with aloe is a good dupe for the Hempz original formula.
Hair Products
The Bumble and Bumble surf spray is great for creating beachy texture, but you can find many alternative formulas that create the same affect, either from the drugstore or from your own kitchen with DIY salt sprays. For a drugstore alternative, try the Not Your Mother's beach babe texturizing spray. Just spray it in your hair and start scrunching or twirling your hair and you'll get a texturized, beachy style in no time.
Bumble and Bumble Surf Spray $26.00
Deep repair masks are very popular on the market, as the overwhelming majority of women suffer from dry, damaged hair. The Macadamia natural oil deep repair masque is especially popular, and the results are great along with the light, fresh smell. Organix hydrating macadamia oil mask has a similar smell and formula, and both will leave your hair especially soft and moisturized.
The Matrix sleek shampoo has a great fizz-fighting formula, but it's pretty expensive for a shampoo. Shampoo isn't generally something you need to spend a lot of money on because the majority of them do the same thing. So if you're hooked on a particular high-end shampoo, it's definitely possible to find something that will do the same thing for a lot less. For the Matrix sleek shampoo particularly, Suave's sleek shampoo actually says right there on the bottle that the two are comparable.
Suave Sleek Shampoo $2.88
Over the past few years, I've transitioned from using leave-in conditioners in my hair to using oils. I like that my hair absorbs them faster and I feel that my hair looks healthier than before. The oil treatment from Morocconoil is one of the most popular hair oils on the market, but I've found that most hair oils have the same overall result for me. The Organix renewing moroccon argan oil is a great dupe for the Morocconoil treatment, though, because they have a similar ingredient list.
Morocconoil Treatment $43.00
The last dupe on my list is for another great hair mask. Fekkai's shea butter mask is very thick and really penetrates thick, course hair, but the triple nutrition 3-minute treatment from Garnier works just the same! It contains several deeply moisturizing ingredients to saturate every strand.
If you've found any beauty dupes that aren't on the list, leave them in the comments! Or if you have a favorite high-end product that you'd like me to dupe, let me know and I'll do my best to find one for you!
Also, be sure to check out some of the other posts from my "Budget Beauty" series:
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