Guides
28 questions, answered with the pairs on this site and the numbers behind them. Each list says how it was ranked, so you can disagree with the order.
How a dupe gets on this siteDupe vs fake: what each word meansShade matcher
−89%on the top pick
Lip oil, gloss and plumper dupes
Luxury lip oils and glosses are mostly polybutene, esters and a little plant oil, which is why the drugstore versions land so close: Charlotte Tilbury's Collagen Lip Bath and Maybelline's Lifter Gloss share five base ingredients.
−72%on the top pick
Sunscreen dupes with the same UV filters
A sunscreen dupe has to match on the filters before anything else: zinc oxide against zinc oxide, avobenzone and homosalate against the same pair.
−94%on the top pick
Body care dupes: the creams, oils and washes
Body products are bought by the tub, so the per-ounce gap is where the money is.
−96%on the top pick
Shampoo, conditioner and styling dupes
Salon shampoos, conditioners and styling sprays use the same families of cleansers, conditioning agents and propellants as drugstore ones, and several pairs here share their first ingredients almost in order.
−99%on the top pick
The best beauty dupes under $20
Every pair here has a dupe that costs less than $20 and replaces a product costing at least twice that.
−95%on the top pick
Skincare dupes that share the same active
A skincare dupe is only worth buying when the ingredient doing the work is the same one.
−93%on the top pick
Drugstore dupes for high-end makeup that match the finish
Shade matching is the easy half.
−98%on the top pick
Best perfume dupes for women: the A–Z list on Amazon
Designer perfumes, each matched to a clone on its notes and on Fragrantica's "reminds me of" votes, and sold by Amazon.com or the clone's own brand, then every other clone we know of, A to Z.
−94%on the top pick
Arabic perfume dupes list: 19 Middle Eastern houses
19 Gulf clone houses, each perfume matched to the designer one Fragrantica's readers say it smells like.
−93%on Twist
Perfume dupe brands compared: 26 clone houses
26 houses that make perfume dupes, from Dossier to Lattafa and Armaf, side by side on how Fragrantica rates the perfumes on their lists, how many of those its readers tie to a designer original, and who sells them on Amazon US.
−84%on the top pick
Do perfume dupes last? Clones vs originals on Fragrantica
Each clone set against its original on what Fragrantica's readers vote about both: how long it lasts on the skin, and how they rate it.
−98%on the top pick
Dupes that hand you a bigger bottle as well as a lower price
In these pairs the cheaper product is also the larger one, so the saving per ounce runs ahead of the saving on the sticker.
−99%on CeraVe
Luxury beauty Amazon doesn't stock, and the dupes it does
La Mer, Chanel, Kilian, KAYALI, SkinCeuticals and MAC, plus Benefit's POREfessional and YSL's Touche Éclat, reach Amazon US through third-party sellers, with no steady listing sold by Amazon or the brand: no brand guarantee, no batch code you can check, and for skincare no way to know how the stock was stored.
−92%on the top pick
Best drugstore foundation and concealer dupes
Base is where the money goes and where the gap closes fastest: Maybelline Instant Age Rewind does what the $32 NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer does in the same 6ml for about a sixth of the price, and Coty Airspun holds 65g, more than twice Laura Mercier's 29g, for about a fifth of its $43.
−80%on the top pick
Best drugstore mascara dupes for Lancôme and Too Faced
L'Oréal owns Lancôme, and the labels show it: Lash Idôle and Voluminous Panorama open with the same fifteen ingredients in the same order, Monsieur Big and Lash Paradise with the same fourteen.
−90%on the top pick
Blush, bronzer and contour dupes
Cheek products are matched on finish first: matte against matte, a sheer flush against a sheer flush.
−88%on the top pick
Best drugstore primer and setting spray dupes
A blurring primer is silicone: dimethicone and its crosspolymers fill pores and silica takes off the shine, and The POREfessional, Photo Finish and their drugstore stand-ins all list them.
−96%on La Roche-Posay
Best drugstore moisturizer dupes: La Mer, Tatcha and more
A moisturizer is mostly its base, and the base is where these pairs meet: mineral oil, petrolatum and glycerin under both Crème de la Mer and Nivea Creme, water, dimethicone and glycerin under both Tatcha's Water Cream and Hydro Boost, ceramide NP in both Ceramidin and CeraVe.
−96%on the top pick
Best drugstore hair oil dupes for Olaplex and Kérastase
Most salon hair oils are silicone serums: a carrier that evaporates and leaves dimethicone or dimethiconol on the hair for shine and frizz control, with a little plant oil.
−83%on the top pick
Best drugstore dry shampoo dupes: Living Proof, Drybar
An aerosol dry shampoo is a propellant, alcohol and a starch that soaks up oil at the roots, at salon prices and drugstore prices alike.
−93%on the top pick
Korean dupes for high-end skincare, makeup and hair
Korean brands reach the same actives by the same routes as the luxury houses they are compared with: MISSHA's essence is built on the yeast ferment filtrate SK-II's rests on, MANYO's night serum and Lancôme's Génifique both put bifida ferment lysate near the top of the label, and TONYMOLY's rice enzyme powder cleans with the two surfactants Dermalogica's Daily Microfoliant uses.
−95%on OGX
Hair dupes: the Dyson alternatives and bond repair for a fifth
Two kinds of pair, and they behave differently.
−94%on the top pick
Beauty gifts under $25 that stand in for luxury ones
Each gift here costs under $25 on Amazon and does the job of a luxury product people ask for by name: Kayali Vanilla 28, Glossier You, Sol de Janeiro's Bum Bum Cream, Dior's Lip Glow Oil, the L'Occitane hand cream.
−81%on the top pick
Beauty stocking stuffers under $10 that stand in for luxury ones
Each of these costs under $10 on Amazon and does the job of a luxury product with a name people ask for: bronzer, primer, body oil, lip oil, mascara, brow gel, sponge, blush, setting spray, body cream, lip balm, and brow pomade.
−80%on the top pick
Gifts for makeup lovers: luxury icons and under-$15 dupes
The luxury makeup that gets asked for by name, each next to a version under $15 that does the same job.
−66%on the top pick
Sephora gifts for teens, and the dupes that cost a fraction
Sephora is teens' favorite place to shop for beauty in Piper Sandler's fall 2025 survey, and among teens from higher-income homes Sol de Janeiro is the second fragrance brand, after Bath & Body Works.
−87%on The Ordinary
Gifts for skincare lovers: luxury names and dupes under $25
The luxury creams, serums and masks people ask for by name, each next to a version under $25 that shares what does the work.
−66%on Cake Beauty
Luxury beauty gifts under $50, each with a cheaper dupe
Luxury beauty that costs $50 or less on Amazon and that Amazon.com or the brand itself sells, so the box arrives from the brand's own stock, not a reseller's.
Luxury against luxury
Two originals side by side: the difference, the price per ounce, who sells each on Amazon, and a dupe for both.
- OLAPLEX No.3 vs K18 Leave-In Hair Mask
- EltaMD UV Clear vs Supergoop! Unseen Sunscreen
- La Mer Crème de la Mer vs Augustinus Bader Rich Cream
- Tatcha Dewy Skin Cream vs Tatcha The Water Cream
- Dyson Airwrap vs Dyson Airstrait
- Kérastase Elixir Ultime vs OLAPLEX No.7 Bonding Oil
- Tarte Shape Tape vs NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer
- Drunk Elephant C-Firma vs SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic
- Urban Decay All Nighter vs Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Setting Spray
- Estée Lauder Double Wear vs Armani Luminous Silk