After watching a few reels about the Hourglass Phantom Volumizing Glossy Balm, I desperately wanted to get my hands on it. As Hourglass isn’t available in India, I did the next best thing and began looking for a dupe of the product. To my surprise, I found multiple. However, the thing with cult-favourite products is that either they are expensive or are sold out due to high demand. Funnily enough, famous dupes of that product also tend to be snatched away within minutes but they don’t dig holes in the pocket, at least.
So, here’s a list of not one, but three dupes of each of these cult-favourite products for beauty aficionados in constant pursuit of alternatives.
M.A.C Strobe Cream – Pinklite
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DUPES
M.A.C Strobe Cream is an iconic skin prep product used by professionals and beauty enthusiasts to achieve an even glow all over the face, or just on the high points of the cheeks. Although it is available in a Gold and Peach variant too, my favourite is Pinklite. At a whopping 3,600 bucks, it’s an investment, to say the least.
The Ilana Golden Hour Shimmering Makeup Primer + Strobe Cream in the shade Rose is a little more intense in colour but has the same subtle shimmer particles. Similarly, the PAC Strobing Cream in Peach and the Lakmé Lumi Cream work as the perfect affordable alternatives.
Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter
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DUPES
We all know the hype around Charlotte Tilbury’s Hollywood Flawless Filter for it offers glow as well as coverage. Moreover, it comes in various shades from fair to deep. A very famous dupe of this cult-favourite product is the e.l.f. Cosmetics Halo Glow Liquid Filter. Luckily, it launched in India right in time–but sold out just as quickly.
So, another alternative to this is the Huda Beauty Glowish Multidew Skin Tint. Available in 13 shades, it contains light-reflective pearl pigments that instantly brighten the complexion and give a dewy finish. My nifty hack to achieve a similar look as that of the Hollywood Flawless filter is to mix an illuminator or a strobe cream with a foundation and apply it all over the face in thin layers.
Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation
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DUPES
The Estee Lauder Double Wear foundation is a cult favourite for all the right reasons. For starters, it has more than 20 shades available in India to suit every skin tone. It has a lightweight formula with medium to full coverage. Moreover, it is waterproof with an SPF of 10–making it a great everyday foundation.
However, I am aware that some people like to reserve their expensive foundations for special occasions. So, some other foundations with a similar natural matter finish are the NYX Professional Makeup Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Full Coverage Foundation, the Maybelline New York Super Stay Full Coverage Foundation and the L’Oreal Paris Infallible 32H Fresh Wear Foundation.
The only downside to these dupes is that they only have about 10 shades available to choose from.
Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blush
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DUPES
The pretty bottle, rich colours and intense pigmentation have us going gaga over the Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blushes. But when the brand wasn’t available in India, we wanted it to launch here and when it did, we were stunned at the price point.
So, to give you a similar look to that of the viral Rare Beauty Soft Pinch Liquid Blushes, here are three dupes.
Makeup Revolution Superdewy Liquid Blush in You Had Me In First Blush is a very close dupe of the shade Lucky. Similarly, the Flower Beauty Blush Bomb Color Drops in the shade Cinnamon Crush and the Kay Beauty Creme Blush in the shade Sweetheart Pink are close dupes of the shade Joy and Encourage respectively.
Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara
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DUPES
The one thing going for the Too Faced Better Than Sex Mascara is its unique wand shape. Its hourglass allows for even distribution of the mascara and ensures that maximum volume is achieved at the two ends of the lash band. This wand is perfect for those with sparse eyelashes looking for both, length and volume.
Some mascaras with a similar wand are the L’Oreal Paris Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara, the Maybelline New York Falsies Lash Lift Mascaraand the e.l.f. Cosmetics Big Mood Mascara. All have an intense black colour to the mascara and will help in achieving that ‘better than sex’ look!
Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Matte Bronzer
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DUPES
The Benefit Cosmetics Hoola Matte Bronzer was the first bronzer I ever bought and I hoarded it for way past its expiry. No, I don’t recommend this. But when a makeup product works as well as this one, one is forced to love it to bits. The bronzer not only warmed up my face but also blended seamlessly–giving it a sun-kissed look.
Other bronzers that offer a similar tone and ease of blending to that of the Hoola Bronzer are the Rimmel London Natural Bronzer, the Wet n Wild Color Icon Bronzer and the L.A. Girl Matte Bronzer. Although you’ll be missing the handy brush that comes along with the famous bronzer, these dupes are definitely worth a shot.
Smashbox X Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector
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DUPES
Becca’s Champagne Pop Highlighter had such a hold on makeup enthusiasts that when Becca announced it was going to shut down, Smashbox rescued the iconic highlighter to continue its legacy–making it the Smashbox X Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in CPOP.
This tone of golden champagne can also be found in the Maybelline Master Chrome Metallic Highlighter in Molten Gold, which in itself is a cult-favourite product. The Wet n Wild MegaGlo Highlighting Powder in Precious Petal and Kay Beauty Illuminating Highlighter in Sunlit Gold also have a very similar pearl finish. So, get popping!
