8 drugstore dupes for cult-classic makeup products

Setting powder is a makeup category that unfortunately has a limited list of acceptable entries. Perhaps that’s why Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder has retained cult-favourite status for years. It also explains why it’s so difficult to find a comparable product in Australia at a more affordable price point. That is until innisfree landed down under. The K-beauty brand prides itself on supplying customers with high quality skin care and makeup products at a fraction of the price of competitors. innisfree’s matte mineral powder in particular boasts a formula enriched with Jeju minerals and mint, plus it’s compact enough to slip neatly into even the smallest of handbags for on the go touch-ups. 

Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder ($60 at MECCA) / innisfree Matte Mineral Setting Powder ($13 at Adore Beauty)

Let’s be real, the entire Pillow Talk range has reached icon status as far as makeup goes. And the Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand delivers the same pinky-nude hue we love in a creamy, liquid highlighter-blush format. Lily James AND Blake Lively wore the stuff on the Met Gala 2022 red carpet and subsequently looked like glowy, glass-skinned goddesses. As for her cheaper counterpart? The MCo Beauty Highlight & Glow Beauty Wand leads the pack. Each shade in the budget-friendly buy emulates Charlotte Tilbury’s exxy formula perfectly, but ‘Peach Glow’ really hits the nail on the head when it comes to copying that Pillow Talk colour palette we’ve all come to know and love. 

Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand in ‘Pillow Talk’ ($60 at Charlotte Tilbury) / MCo Beauty Highlight & Glow Beauty Wand in ‘Peach Glow’ ($28 at MCo Beauty)

There are certain products that broke and remade the mould in terms of makeup. The soft glam eyeshadow palette is one of them. It’s only natural that others would try to emulate the magic created by Anastasia Beverly Hills. Enter: REVOLUTION Reloaded Palette Velvet Rose, which features a shockingly similar array of warm neutral eyeshadows in matte finishes, as well as a healthy dose of metallic shimmer shades in rose gold, bronze and plum. 

ANASTASIA BEVERLY HILLS Soft Glam Eye Shadow Palette ($80 at Adore Beauty) / REVOLUTION Reloaded Palette Velvet Rose ($10 at Priceline)

If you shed literal tears over Becca Cosmetics closing, then we got you sis. The Wet N Wild MegaGlo Highlighting Powder in Precious Petals perfectly matches the skin-illuminating, reflective pearly sheen of the glorious BECCA Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter in the shade ‘Opal’. Praise be. The budget-friendly option is just as creamy and blendable as the Becca formula you know and love, with the added bonus of being readily available at your local Priceline so you don’t have to scour the Internet for the last remaining vestiges of Becca Cosmetics. Phew, because we had honestly already started Googling…

BECCA Cosmetics Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed Highlighter in ‘Opal’ (was $57.50 now $52.50 at Kogan) / Wet N Wild MegaGlo Highlighting Powder in Precious Petals ($9.13 at iHerb)

If you’re not even a little bit sick of the ‘better than sex’ puns that have flooded the beauty community ever since this cult mascara formula launched, then you’re lying. It’s okay to be annoyed, but we suggest channeling your rage into worthier pursuits such as bargain hunting. Might we interest you in the L’Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara? At a mere fraction of the price of the cult option, this just as impressive lash voluminiser delivers similar results. Think: fluffy volume, length and definition in just a few artfully applied strokes of your mascara wand. 

Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara ($42 at MECCA) / L’Oreal Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara ($21.99 at Chemist Warehouse)

Everyone and their mother loves the radiant creamy concealer formula from NARS. And for good reason too. The shade range is *chefs kiss*. The finish is hydrating and long-lasting, while providing medium coverage that blends like a dream too. The NYX HD Photogenic Concealer may not offer as many dark shade options as we’d like, but it also boasts a trio of colour correcting shades that can be used on a variety of skin tones to alleviate everything from redness to dark circles.

NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer ($46 at MECCA) / NYX HD Photogenic Concealer ($9.95 at Amazon Australia)

When everyone went ga-ga for Tatcha’s silk primer, we were somewhat bemused. Mostly because of the price point. We don’t know about you but forking over $78 dollar doos for a primer seems outrageous. While we’re not besmirching the pore-filling, skin-smoothing benefits of the silk-infused offering, we do think there has to be a line drawn somewhere, which is why we like the cheaper choice that the e.l.f. Poreless Putty Primer provides. Same idea, same finish, but just at a fraction of the retail price. You can’t get anymore dupe-ier than that. 

Tatcha The Silk Canvas Protective Primer ($81 at MECCA) / e.l.f. Poreless Putty Primer ($14.91 at iHerb)

We’ve had to siphon our stores of Brow Wiz due to overuse. We don’t know why, but we always manage to use a whole pencil in no time at all. And while we love the long-lasting brow colour and micro-pencil for carefully articulating our arches, we’d love a budget-friendly option to grab when our bank balance is looking less than cheery. The NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP Micro Brow is spookily similar in terms of finish thanks to the micro-fine mechanical pencil, and the built-in spoolie makes blending a breeze. The only difference? The NYX pick is less creamy than the ABH offering, meaning you’ll probably have your work cut out for you trying to get through as much product in the same time it takes to work through a new Brow Wiz pencil. Silver linings amiright? 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Wiz  ($40 at Sephora) / NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP Micro Brow Pencil ($17.99 at Priceline)