Drugstore Dupes for High End Products (PART 2)

Continue to maximise your dollar while looking pretty at the same time!

After sharing several dupes for base makeup products in PART 1 of the series, let's move on to some point makeup products.

There are so many more amazing products out there, I'm trying to consolidate more of those and they'll probably appear in later entries!

The YSL Touche Eclate highlighting pen is THE highlighting pen, but you can get the similar luminous light reflecting effect with the Maybelline Dream Lumi touch highlighting concealer for a fraction of the price. Sure, the packaging isn't as luxurious, but hey, it's not like you're using the highlighting pen in front of an audience anyway. Who cares about the packaging? (OK I admit I secretly do care about the packaging, but it doesn't justify the price.)

The product is lightweight, yet offers enough pigment to conceal dark circles by adding light to that area of your skin. Crease-less (after setting with powder) and brightened under eye area? SIGN ME UP! (As reviewed by Paula's Choice)

To achieve that subtle glow, the Hourglass Ambient lighting powder does exactly that, albeit at a high price. You can get away with a similar effect with the Makeup Revolution Radiance palette. For the price of $15, its performance is worth every penny.

The Chanel Joues Contraste powder blush is a classic, if you can't bear to fork out $45 for that, you can opt for Chanel's "sister brand" Bourjois (Bourjois used to be owned by Chanel, but not anymore though!). Both the blush are similar in terms of colour payoff and finish. Bourjois' little round pot blush has a huge colour selection, and the finish is BEAUTIFUL. And it doesn't break your bank! 

Just.. Ditch that scratchy brush that comes with the blush.

The mother of all gel eyeliner! Bobbi Brown's Long Wear gel eyeliner is probably the product that introduced me to the brand. It's creamy, smooth, and long lasting. You can achieve the same effect with the L'Oreal Infallible gel laquer liner, which is said to be the most reliable drugstore gel eyeliner!

Yeap, it's more reliable than Maybelline's Lasting Drama gel eyeliner (based on reviews). For best effect, set it with an eyeshadow powder to prevent smudges.

Matte lip products have been all the craze for several seasons now. The Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro lip stain is luxurious and beautiful, but that price tag though! You can get 4 Bourjois Rouge Edition Velvet liptick for the price of one Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro! Both product have a similar finish - a wet and hydrated look that slowly dries down to a smooth matte finish.

Read More

Drugstore Dupes for High End Products (PART 1)

Let's begin from base 1! Oh, I mean base makeup.

Ever heard of writer's block? I was kinda having that lately.
I thought I ran out of things to blog about, but just as fate would have it, I stumbled across resources that inspired this entry.
It's a little short, but I intend to keep adding to it in future posts when I come across more dupes across the internet!

Long story short, these are products that have been found (by the internet community) to perform rather similarly, BUT at a fraction of the cost of their high end counterparts.

Do take note that I have not personally tried most of these products, instead I'm merely consolidating the general consensus on the efficacy of said products.



Both are able to reduce the appearance of pores. There is one other difference besides the prices though, and that is the colour of the product: Benefit's porefessional primer is skin toned while Maybelline's baby skin is colourless. Their smooth texture fills up pores and absorbs excess sebum, making it suitable for people with oily skin concerns.



Both foundations are suited for oily skin as they are super long wearing, but Estee Lauder's double wear foundation cost you more than three times the price of the Revlon colorstay foundation! No wonder the latter earned such a huge following for its amazing price and performance!


I've seen people rave about the Maybelline fit me concealer because it is hydrating, yet it doesn't settle in or emphasize any fine lines under the eyes. No creasing? Sign me up please! If you don't feel like whipping out 30 bucks when 7 bucks can do you the same job, you know what product to get now ;)


I feel like the Sonia Kashuk chic luminosity glow powder is a misunderstood product. People mistaken it to be a highlighter and were disappointed at how little sheen it has. It's meant to be a setting powder with a subtle glow, an option if you do not want a flat and matte face after using normal setting powder. You can achieve the same effects as the Nars light reflecting pressed setting powder, minus the hefty price tag and the sticky goopy rubber insert on the parameter of the product.


Formulation wise, they are almost identical - silica powder. Why the price difference though? I'm wondering too! For the same amount of money you spend on the Makeup Forever HD microfinish powder, you can get an equivalent of 5 e.l.f.'s high definition powder. I know you probably only need 1 of the 5 powders at any given time, so save yourself 29 bucks and splurge it on other items instead!

Ending thoughts
Personally I'm most interested in the Maybelline fit me concealer, and the Sonia Kashuk chic luminosity glow powder because god forbid me wanting to get a natural and radiant finish instead of a matte finish. A matte face just looks weird to me (without contouring).

Read More

HIGH END MAKEUP DUPES WITH MAKEUP REVOLUTION PART 2

More dupes that won't break your bank!

After introducing the Urban Decay Naked dupes in the previous entry, which I suppose is probably the most useful dupe ever because who doesn't like the Naked series? That is, if you don't already own a tonne of neutral eye shadows.

I've done my little research and put together another list of dupes. If you're not a fan of Urban Decay, Makeup Revolution does dupes for other popular palettes too! Just a little bummer if you live in the States: some of these products are not available on their US web store! I say it's a little bummer because I live in a place where Makeup Revolution isn't even available here. :P So yea, count yourself lucky!

LORAC PRO PALETTE VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION ICONIC PRO 1 (12USD)

LORAC PRO PALETTE 2 VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION ICONIC PRO 2 (12USD)

TOO FACED CHOCOLATE BAR VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION I ♡ MAKEUP I HEART CHOCOLATE

TOO FACED SEMI-SWEET CHOCOLATE BAR VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION I ♡ MAKEUP I HEART CHOCOLATE SALTED CARAMEL

TOO FACED SWEET HEARTS BLUSH (CANDY GLOW) VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION I ♡ MAKEUP BLUSHING HEARTS (CANDY QUEEN OF HEARTS)

Makeup Revolution has a wide variety of products (that aren't dupes) worth checking out. They straight out take inspiration (or should I say, copy!?) from other brands and make them in even more shades than the original brand. You can call them sly, but they are clearly targeting a different market segment from the high end brands and bringing good products to people who aren't willing to fork out that much money.

Economics at its best!

Read More

TOO FACED Sweet Peach Eye Shadow Dupes?

Sweet peachy goodness, and everyone else seem to agree with me on that!

Too Faced recently launched a limited edition eye shadow palette. Usually they just slip past my radar, but this is peach themed and for some strange reason, I'm into peachy shades lately. Well, it probably isn't a strange coincidence, because I no longer under estimate the influence advertisement and marketing can have on me.

I also read that it sold out within 5 minutes? Or was that just an exaggeration? Whatever the case, IT'S SOLD OUT. If you planned on getting your hands on them, don't be heart broken yet! I happened to come across several other palettes that are also peach themed, so MAYBE they could soothe that little heart ache of yours?

TOO FACED SWEET PEACH EYE SHADOW COLLECTION | USD49

MAKEUP REVOLUTION ULTRA 32 EYESHADOW PALETTE FLAWLESS 2 | USD 15

MAKEUP REVOLUTION I ♡ MAKEUP I HEART CHOCOLATE VICE | 7.99 POUNDS

ETUDE HOUSE PLAY COLOUR EYES JUICE BAR | USD26.4
musingsofamuse swatched these on her blog!

while these dupes aren't exactly the same, but they do have some shades that are similar to the Too Faced palette. I would warn against the Etude House palette though, it probably won't be as buttery smooth or pigmented (especially the matte shades) as Too Faced's.

On a side note, how do you like the new style of graphics in this entry? I don't mean to toot my own horn, but I'm very happy with my creation! I love how pleasing it looks :) And I hope you like it as much as I do!

Read More

HIGH END MAKEUP DUPES WITH MAKEUP REVOLUTION PART 1

You don't always need to sacrifice money for quality.

Makeup Revolution was introduced to me by a dear friend of mine a while ago. She's all about how awesome their eyeshadow palettes are (she owns probably 8 or 9, if I remember correctly). When I finally got a chance to try them out when I was back in Hong Kong last November, I snapped up a palette for myself even though I don't need anymore eyeshadow.

I just couldn't resist it - the quality at that price point is just too good to ignore! Not buying it would result in more regret than if I were to buy it. So after rationalizing my purchase, I paid for the ICONIC 3 palette, which is a dupe for the Urban Decay Naked3 palette.

In fact, the entire Redemption Iconic series is a dupe for the Naked series! I've put them together for better comparison, prices included! You're welcome!

URBAN DECAY NAKED VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION REDEMPTION ICONIC 1

URBAN DECAY NAKED2 VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION REDEMPTION ICONIC 2

URBAN DECAY NAKED3 VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION REDEMPTION ICONIC 3

URBAN DECAY NAKED SMOKY VS MAKEUP REVOLUTION ICONIC SMOKEY (12USD)
Note: This palette is not available on the US site, so I've referenced the price in British Pounds. But I just found out it's available on ulta!!! So I've linked it there ;)

Will they offer the exact experience as the higher end counterpart? I can't guarantee that, and I don't think so in my honest opinion. 

I've only tried the Naked testers in the Sephora stores, and may I say their formula is a lot more buttery, and gets picked up by my finger a lot easier. My Makeup Revolution palette works fine for most of the shades, expect for a few that might harden over time and requires some effort to pick up a decent amount of pigments.

But if you were to standardize their quality to their price, I dare say they are on par with each other. Probably, the Makeup Revolution Palette might even come in on top! 

Bottom line: if you're a makeup junkie who is into experimenting with many colours, then the wallet friend dupes are a good bargain for you. C'mon, you can get 7.7 Makeup Revolution palettes for the price of 1 Urban Decay palette.

Read More

MAC Mehr dupe

Nedavno sam vam pisala o MAC Mehr ružu (post ovdje) i feedback je bio fantastičan. Nakon tog posta stiglo je dosta upita imam li možda neki dupe za Mehr koji je pristupačniji.

I imam! :) Iznenadila sam se baš kada sam ga našla jer mi je sada jasno zašto sam odmah kada sam uživo vidjela ruž koji je dupe za njega brzo kupila.

Genijalna nijansa za sve one koji vole te tamnije nude nijanse no preferiraju na sebi pink podton.

Radi se o Aura Guess Who ružu koji je također mat finiša.

Što se tiče nijanse ovo je poprilično dobar dupe, na fotki swatcheva na ruci jednostavno ne bi mogla reći koji je koji.

Na usnama su u pitanju minimalne razlike koje mnogi ne bi ni primjetili. Sama tekstura ruža je malo drugačija, rekla bih da je Guess Who kremastiji pri nanošenju od Mehra no obje nijanse su jednako mat i čak je Guess Who dugotrajniji na mojim usnama nego Mehr.

Na ovoj fotki na jednoj polovici usana imam Mehr a na drugoj Guess Who, vama ću prepustiti pogađanje koja strana je koji ruž i u komentarima reći jeste li pogodili. :)

Read More