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.
What makeup is a good gift for someone who loves luxury makeup?
Makeup Revolution Skin Silk Serum Foundation, about $10.50 ($13.50 / fl oz), against the $69 Giorgio Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation, 80% less. Same serum-fluid texture and the same satin, skin-like finish that Luminous Silk is bought for, in a comparable medium coverage. Less shade depth at the extremes of the range and a shorter wear time on oily skin, around eight hours before it needs powder. About a sixth of the price.
1. Makeup Revolution Skin Silk Serum Foundation
for Giorgio Armani Beauty Luminous Silk Foundation
$10.50 $15vs $69−80% per oz
Same serum-fluid texture and the same satin, skin-like finish that Luminous Silk is bought for, in a comparable medium coverage.
What it does worse: Less shade depth at the extremes of the range and a shorter wear time on oily skin, around eight hours before it needs powder.
2. e.l.f. Cosmetics Primer-Infused Bronzer
for Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Matte Bronzer
$7vs $59−81% per oz
#8 in Face Bronzers on Amazon
Same kind of powder: talc with dimethicone, nylon-12 and silica, pressed to a soft, shimmer-free matte that blends without patches.
What it does worse: Charlotte Tilbury adds mica and methyl methacrylate crosspolymer for a more blurred finish, while e.l.f. adds boron nitride, jojoba oil and shea butter, the primer in its name.
3. e.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow Soft Focus Setting Powder
for Hourglass Ambient Lighting Finishing Powder
$8vs $58−80% per oz
#5 in Face Powder on Amazon
Both are finishing powders meant to soften texture while leaving the skin lit rather than matte.
What it does worse: e.l.f.'s is loose and lightly luminous, so it blurs less firmly than a pressed powder and travels worse in a bag.
4. Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser Primer
for Smashbox Photo Finish Smooth & Blur Primer
$7.38vs $55−66% per oz
#29 in Foundation Primers on Amazon
Same silicone recipe: dimethicone and dimethicone crosspolymer with silica, which fill pores and fine lines and leave a velvety base for foundation.
What it does worse: Smashbox adds vitamins A and E with grape seed and kola nut extracts in a more fluid texture, while Maybelline is a thicker, pinkish balm with bitter cherry extract.
5. Touch in Sol No Poreblem Primer
for Smashbox Photo Finish Smooth & Blur Primer
$14.99vs $55−55% per oz
#11 in Foundation Primers on Amazon
The same silicone backbone: cyclopentasiloxane, dimethicone, dimethicone crosspolymer and dimethicone/vinyl dimethicone crosspolymer, with silica, so it smooths and mattifies the same way.
What it does worse: Touch in Sol is a water-in-silicone emulsion with a faint tint and fragrance, while Smashbox is water-free and adds vitamins A and E.
6. Maybelline Dream Radiant Liquid Medium Coverage Hydrating Makeup
for Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Medium Coverage Hydrating Foundation
$9.93vs $52−81% per oz
The same brief and the same build: a medium-coverage hydrating foundation made as a water-in-silicone emulsion, with glycerin, cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone, polyglyceryl-4 isostearate, disteardimonium hectorite and sodium chloride on both labels.
What it does worse: Charlotte Tilbury adds apple fruit water and mica for its glow, while Maybelline uses volatile silicones that set faster and adds shea butter, collagen and hyaluronic acid; match the shade on each brand's own chart, since the ranges differ.
7. L'Oréal Paris Infallible Up to 32H Fresh Wear Foundation
for Estée Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place Foundation
$14.97 $18.99vs $52−71% per oz
#24 in Foundation Makeup on Amazon
Same job: medium-to-full buildable coverage that resists sweat, water and transfer for a full day and then some.
What it does worse: The finish is natural rather than Double Wear's matte, the range stops at 40 shades against 57, and it adds SPF 25.
8. e.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow Powder Filter
for Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Setting Powder
$14vs $50−77% per oz
#31 in Face Powder on Amazon
Same job and a similar build: a pressed, blurring finishing powder of silica, dimethicone and spherical polymer beads, sold with a puff to press it in.
What it does worse: Charlotte Tilbury is talc and mica, while e.l.f. is talc-free, built on synthetic mica and boron nitride with a little squalane and hyaluronic acid.
9. L'Oréal Paris True Match Radiant Serum Concealer
for Yves Saint Laurent Touche Éclat Radiant Touch
$13.97 $16.99vs $45−92% per oz
#37 in Concealers & Neutralizing Makeup on Amazon
Both brighten the under-eye with light-reflecting pigment rather than heavy coverage, and both come out of L'Oréal, which owns YSL Beauté.
What it does worse: This one is also a real concealer (1.5% hyaluronic acid, caffeine and enough pigment to cover), which is why it can crease on dry skin where the sheerer pen does not.
10. e.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow Highlight Beauty Wand
for Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand
$10vs $44−73% per oz
Same cushion-tip wand and a similar pearly finish.
What it does worse: Shades run a little warmer.
11. e.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow Contour Beauty Wand
for Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Contour Wand
$10vs $44−73% per oz
Same cushion-tip wand and the same kind of formula: water with isododecane and the same cetyl PEG/PPG-10/1 dimethicone emulsifier, so it dots on and blends out the same way.
What it does worse: Charlotte Tilbury's base is cyclopentasiloxane, which sets faster and flatter, while e.l.f. adds squalane and hydrogenated didecene, so it stays movable longer and looks a touch dewier.
12. Coty Airspun Loose Face Powder – Translucent Extra Coverage
for Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder
$8.59 $9.99vs $43−83% per oz
#80 in Face Powder on Amazon
A drugstore classic that makeup artists use for baking.
What it does worse: Slightly more coverage and a heavier feel.
13. Maybelline Fit Me Loose Setting Powder
for Laura Mercier Translucent Loose Setting Powder
$9vs $43−70% per oz
Loose, finely milled powder doing the same job: hold foundation down and keep shine off the T-zone without a gray cast on camera.
What it does worse: It is tinted rather than translucent, so the shade has to be matched, and the sifter is coarser than Laura Mercier's.
14. e.l.f. Cosmetics Glow Reviver Lip Oil – Pink Quartz
for Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil
$9vs $42−83% per oz
#2 in Lip Gloss on Amazon
Same sheer, high-shine tinted oil worn alone or over lipstick, on a base of apricot, avocado, jojoba and pomegranate oils.
What it does worse: It has a minty scent and cooling tingle Dior's cherry-oil formula does not, and the color stays as it goes on rather than shifting with lip chemistry.
15. NYX Professional Makeup Fat Oil Lip Drip
for Dior Addict Lip Glow Oil
$10vs $42−70% per oz
Same high-shine, non-sticky oil finish with a big applicator.
What it does worse: Tints are sheerer and don't shift color on the lips.
How this list was made
Give the original where Amazon.com or the brand sells it, or the dupe to stretch a budget or fill a stocking; each comparison says what the difference is, from the shade to the size of the tube.
