We all want to have a beautiful makeup bag filled with the most high-end products out there, but, as cash-strapped college students, we don’t always have that luxury.
Fortunately for us, there are products available in your local drugstore that are super similar to high-end versions. These products are called duplicates, or “dupes” for short. There are quite a few of makeup dupes out there, but I’ve chosen three makeup dupes that really stand out right now. Read on to check them out:
1. Lancôme Liquid Artliner Eyeliner Pen vs. L’Oreal Lineur Intense
My favorite makeup line has always been Lancôme. However, it is on the pricey side, so, as nice as it would be, I can’t always buy everything I want from the line.
I recently came across this L’Oreal eyeliner while walking through the drugstore, and thought to myself: “hey, this packaging looks almost identical to my Lancôme one!” So, I picked it up and tried it out, and guess what? It’s better. That’s right, better!
The formulas are basically the same, but the brush/applicator on the L’Oreal version is superior. The brush is stiffer than the Lancôme version, so the liner can be applied much more easily and precisely.
Don’t even waste your money on the Lancôme. In my opinion, the L’Oreal version is the true high-end product.
2. Georgio Armani Maestro vs. L’Oreal Magic Nude Liquid Powder
$64 at Nordstrom | $12.99 at Amazon
Let me start by saying that this Armani foundation is $64 (which is crazy expensive for me!), so it’s not something I’d be comfortable buying again at all. However, the foundation itself is lovely: it applies very well and I really like the finish. All in all, it’s a typical high-end foundation.
Recently, I found out that L’Oreal owns Georgio Armani Beauty and both of these foundations were released around the same time. So, I thought to myself: “hmm, two new foundations in the same month? Dupes!”
I tried out the Magic Nude Liquid Powder and it’s fantastic. It has the exact same formulation as the Maestro, but for a fraction of the price. On the downside, though, it does come in fewer shades.
If your shade is in the range of this L’Oreal foundation, buy it and don’t even give Maestro a second thought!
3. Benefit They’re Real! Mascara vs. Maybelline The Falsies Mascara
Both mascaras claim to give you the appearance of having false lashes applied. However, there’s a $15 price difference between the two.
I was a They’re Real! addict for a long time, and still use it as my main mascara, but I decided to try The Falsies when some of my friends told me how great it was. The formula is very similar, but I found that Benefit is so much smoother and not as clumpy. Maybelline’s version can get dry and “chunky” a bit faster, which will form more clumps.
But honestly, they’re very similar. In my opinion, They’re Real! wins just by a bit, but The Falsies is good budget-friendly dupe if you don’t want to shell out $23 for mascara.
What do you think?
Do you have a drugstore product that you love? Or a high-end that you think is way overpriced? Leave a comment and let us know!
Just saw this article and you obviously didn’t do your research! L’Oreal owns Lancome! I used to work for Lancome and they share all of their technology with each other. Their product is exactly the same… You’re paying more with Lancome for the customer service, the packaging, prestige, etc. Maybe you felt like the eyeliner was better bc you “felt better” about the price?
she mentions that she likes the brush better on the l’oreal. it is conceivable that the brush on the less expensive product would be of a different quality. more expensive brushes are generally softer. so, in this case she is saying that the stiff brush is better. at any rate, being snippy to someone who is trying to do something nice is kind of bitchy.
Aww, I knew I shouldn’t have bought that Armani foundation. I like it very much, but I’d be a lot happier if I’d known about the L’Oreal dupe. I’ve tried both the ArtLiner and the Lineur Intense, but I still prefer the ArtLiner. 🙂
L’Oreal owns both Lancôme and Armani, so the first two are not surprising! I love both Artliners and Lineur Intense, but the Artliners are only really worth it if you want a unique color.