The dupe posts are my favorite ones so far. Not the easiest ones to build, as I rely mostly on online information to find an alternative to products I already have and love. And either the formula changed, thus the final product looks different, either who wrote about the dupes didn’t really compare the items side by side. This time I really have dupes that I have been looking for a while, the duped products being some of my top favorites.
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You will not believe these next finds. We are talking Armani Luminous Silk foundation, Givenchy Prisme Libre Pink powder in the old version and even Mac Costa Riche liner. On some of the next products not only did I find a dupe for the product performance, texture, but also the exact shade. There is one tough that I can’t say it’s 100% identical, but you will not find closer than this as I have been researching for the the last year for an alternative.
If you want to check my previous posts with proven identical dupes that I’ve personally tested, I leave you here down all the links. You will find iconic products like Nars Laguna bronzer, Bobbi Brown face base, Urban Decay Primer Potion and more.
Armani Luminous Silk Foundation-OG vs. L'Oreal True match Nude Hyaluronic Tinted Serum
My all time favorite foundation. You can read the in-depth review I did on it, with swatches and all insights here, in this blog post. The brand already announced the formula would change, in order to comply with changes in the health guideline requirements. That can mean that the product will perform better or worse than before, as I already experienced some product formula changes from other brands in the past, and the product felt different. I really hope it will not be the case. This foundation is a go-to for many makeup artists, it’s perfect for most skin types with the right skin-prep. It photographs gorgeously and it doesn’t oxidize throughout the day, which is essential for long wear. It is a bridal/event foundation, oil-free with buildable coverage, from light to high, improves skin texture and blurs easily imperfections. I simply love it. Comes the catch. Good luck finding your shade. You need to try in the store or have samples sent from the Armani Beauty boutique(the staff is most of the time helpful) as the description of the shade doesn’t match the undertone in many cases. I just found out that most people with olive undertone recommend shades 6-light-medium or 7.8 medium.Â
I wasn’t even looking for a dupe for my ride-or-die Luminous Silk foundation from Armani. I needed an everyday light, serum-like drugstore price-wise foundation and I ordered the 2-3 Light shade online after reading a lot of positive reviews. How much I love the reviews on the carrier pages, as they are the most truthful, people giving feedback after purchasing products with their own money. Not only did I receive the same effect, which was luminous, radiant, medium-natural coverage, long-stay with powder plus the right skin prep for my skin type (which is combination), but I got an identical match with the 5.75 Armani shade which is light-medium golden, warm undertone. I didn’t have any hope to find a neutral in the drugstore foundation world, but for summer, I can make it work. It is marketed as a tinted serum, but many of the retailers added the “foundation” word description to the product and I believe it’s correct. It does have a buildable coverage, although so fluid. Contains 1% hyaluronic acid, so it’s hydrating, brightens and evens out the skin. You must shake well the bottle before use.
YSL Lash Clash Extreme Volume Mascara in 2 Uninhibited Brown vs. Maybelline Lash Sensational Sky High Washable Mascara in True Brown
There was a huge trend with the brown mascara. But not all brown mascaras are created equal:) Most of them don’t show up like brown on the lashes, or the formula is so difficult to create, that it lacks quality. Although my hair and eyebrows are dark gray, I prefer a brown mascara to emphasize the green color of my eyes or for a more natural everyday look. To have my lashes curled, volumized, but the pigment not to be so harsh. The YSL Lash Clash Extreme Volume mascara was sold out for so long in the brown shade and at first I thought it’s only because it’s trendy and there were not that many brown mascaras at that time. But time passed and the reviews were positive and it sold out a few more times and I finally got to try it and I am not mad I’ve spent that much on a mascara, even if it’s high end. And you know you’re supposed to throw your mascara after 3 months of use, right? I know that I had to try it and the hype was real. Intense volume with a vegan formula, intense pigment, no fallout, no panda eyes after hours of wear. It comes also now in a waterproof formula. The wand is a tricky one. It is massive, never saw a wand this size and for someone with small eyes/small lashes it can be challenging, but the good part is that the bristles manage to catch each hair and coat it from the first layer. The oversized wand has an hourglass like design, wider at the base and tip and more tapered in the middle, and the bristles are traditional fiber ones with different lengths. I rarely apply 2 coats of mascara in general, as I don’t want to put air in the tube that dries after the mascara and I also don’t like clumpy lashes, which happens usually when you put a wet product on previous coat. This mascara is not for a no-makeup makeup, even the brown one, as the lashes look very volumized.
If you need to change the mascara every 3 months, why not buy only drugstore, at a fraction of the price? Because not always you can find the same quality as a high-end one. They say that the thing that makes or brakes it is the wand and I beg to differ. I am convinced that there are many types of mascara wands that are good, weather if it’s rubber/plastic/fiber, comb/classic shape and what is more important is the formula, if it manages to keep the lashed curled, coated in pigment and not to melt down throughout the day. I have wrote before about the viral Sky High mascara from Maybelline as one of my favorites and I found that the brown shade, the “True brown” one gives my lashes that same brown intense pigment with volume, curl, and longevity just as the YSL one. At the moment, the Maybelline mascara comes in 8 shades !!!, you will find your favorite for sure. Blue, brown and even plum and green. The formula gives instant volume that holds the lash curl and it doesn’t have a fallout. The mascara wand is made from soft, molded plastic-elastomer, designed to flex under pressure, thin and long, and tapered slightly toward the tip. Because it’s so thin, you can reach the inner, smaller lashes which it’s much harder to do with the YSL one. But in the end, the lashes have the same effect with the same quality.Â
Givenchy Prisme Libre Illuminating& Color Correcting Loose Powder in 03 Voile Rose(old version) vs. Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder in Pink
I will call this product discontinued, as although we were offered an “improved” formula of it, the powder doesn’t perform the same as the old version. Once the old formula was changed, I have been searching for the same effect the Givenchy Prisme Libre gave, to be specific, the no. 3 Voile Rose shade, the PINK ONE. The fact that the internet went crazy about this corrective powder in the pink shade specifically made the product impossible to find, although so expensive at that time. Now everyone is searching for a replacement, as it doesn’t exist anymore. The powder mattified, blurred, and illuminated the complexion while setting the makeup for the day. It was very fine which made it very good at not adding an extra visible layer of makeup. And it really kept my undereye looking fresh as it was correcting the blue of my undereye circles. I am not mad now, as you will see I have found a few options for replacing it, some more affordable, and some not. The problem with the old version of the product was having talc in the composition. Givenchy choose to be correct and change the formula and take this ingredient out, giving up to an iconic item in their collection, while other brands continue to use in setting powders, and not to mention that most eyeshadows from most of the brands have talc included in the ingredients. So, the law is for everyone? If talc, coming from the bad origins, asbestos contaminated, is harmful, all brands should take it out from their production lines.Â
The translucent powder from Laura Mercier is by itself an iconic product, one of the best face powders. It improves the wear of the makeup, reduces and controls shine(to a certain level, for very oily people like me, it keeps things matte for a few hours and then I still need to retouch), and most important it doesn’t look cakey if you don’t overdo it, of course. On top of that goodness, the loose powder comes in different shades also and one of them is the peachy-pink one that is meant to brighten and enliven the complexion. The pink one gives the same effect as the Givenchy one, and it even has still talc as an ingredient, which Voile Rose had.
Lancome makes good lip products and when it comes to lip oils, which EVERY BRAND carries nowadays, I prefer this one from all the high-end category. Lip oil are a “newer” concept in the makeup world, they are hybrid products, a mix between a lip gloss and a lip balm, giving nourishment and looking like a lip gloss, keeping the lips smooth, soft, and protected from dryness. I love them especially during the winter or dry days as I don’t need to use that much of a lip balm. The Lancome lip oil feels very hydrating on the lip, not slippery and greasy like an oil, and that is because of the squalane ingredient that was added to the formula. It’s not sticky at all and gives a hint of color. Scent wise, it has a nice sweet-minty smell, that fades after a while, so it’s not bothering at all. The shade that my sister got for me is the 60 Million-Dollar Berry one and it’s a plum berry one. Having it on the lips made me instantly realize that I already own an identical dupe, at a drugstore price point.
Launched in 2023, the elf lip oil was an instant hit. The lip oils were at their pick of virality and we were given the affordable product with all the great qualities, like elf manages all the time. I knew there is no point on going for the lighter shades, as we know the color doesn’t show up much and I went straight for the darkest shade at that time, the most loved shade online, that was the Jam Session, a black cherry shade. The lip oil is hydrating and giving high-gloss finish at the same time, it is also minty scented (just like the Lancome one). Besides Squalane- just like the Lancome one, the elf lip oils has also Apricot Oil, Avocado Oil, Jojoba Oil, and Pomegranate Oil. I specifically love the applicator on this one, an XXL plush cushion one, which allows me to pack enough product for applying on the lips on one time and not keep adding product, like it happens to most lip oils. Clean, vegan, and cruelty-free, this is an exact dupe for the high-end one from Lancome,
