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Bargain Buying, Makeup, Product Comparison

Mac Teddy Eye Kohl Dupe?

I do not use the word dupe lightly, in fact I rarely use it! ‘Tis a big statement. And I’m still dubious in my use of it here, but sure didn’t I have to get you to click, and I promise this Mac Teddy Eye Kohl ‘dupe’ is bloody good 🙂

I actually own the alternative much longer than I own Mac Teddy Eye Kohl. But I know how much it is beloved in the makeup world.

It’s a medium, warm bronzed brown eye kohl with flecks of shimmer going through it.

You can really build up the colour across the lash line, or it is really nice smudged out on the lid for a more bronzed effect. It’s available from all Mac Cosmetics retailers and from the Brown Thomas website here. It will set you back €18.00.

So onto my alternative! You’ve actually probably heard me talk about this before. I actually used it in my Urban Decay Heat video here.

It’s the H&M Colour Essence Eye Pencil in Raw Umber.

I got this after I saw Anna from The Anna Edit chatting about it. Like Teddy it’s a medium brown kohl with flecks of gold shimmer running through it. You can buy it in store or on the H&M website here. It’s actually on sale at the moment for £1.99. They’re usually €4.99 in store I believe.

I was just playing with my makeup randomly. Yes, I do this, no it’s not weird. It’s a past time and I enjoy it 🙂 I happened to swatch all the pencils I had in my reach for a closer look, still not weird! Mac Teddy Eye Kohl and H&M Raw Umber happened to end up side by side on my hand and I noticed that that they are super similar.

Now, the reason I don’t use the word dupe willy nilly is because it’s rare that products are exactly the same and that’s what I feel that word is reserved for. Teddy is drier in formula and has less sparkle to it. As a result it is more precise. Raw Umber is much creamier in texture and has more sparkle running through it. It also sets better and on me lasts longer on the skin. They’re both really similar in tone though and give a very similar look applied on the eyes.

You can see here the two swatches side by side after I let them set and then swiped across them with my finger. Teddy definitely did the worst out of the two.

For me I prefer a softer texture when it comes to eye kohls as I don’t like to tug on the skin. So if I had to choose between them, I think Raw Umber would be for me. Complete personal preference though, they are both lovely.

Have you tried either of them?

xxx

August 23, 2017/1 Comment/by Gem

Bargain Buying, Makeup, Product Comparison

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette V Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette

Makeup Revolution is pretty new to Irish shores. We could buy it online but never in store. Now we have a couple of stands, just in the Superdrug’s we have here in Dublin. So still not the easiest to get if you don’t live in the county 🙁

I picked up a few bits which I documented here in a blogpost a while ago.

One of them was their Radiance Palette.

This is a trio of their highlighters. If you are a makeup fiend you may be thinking these look familiar? Well you would be right there.

This palette has a remarkable resemblance to the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette which I also have in my possession.

These are being compared alot online. The Makeup Revolution Palette is being deemed a dupe for the Hourglass. They look really similar in the pan but of course the Makeup Revolution one is a hell of alot cheaper than the Hourglass palette. So do they compare?

Close up shots of both palettes

Here is the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette swatched on my arm from left to right.

Then, here is the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette swatched in the same way. Radiance Light first, Incandescent Light in the middle and then Dim Light.

I think the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette fares ok. The palette itself is grand. It had a good sized mirror within a plastic casing and the powders are housed pretty firmly inside. The product is a little powdery and takes alot of building up in my humble opinion. It disappears as you blend it into the skin, but you can eventually get there and build up a glow with them. They have quite a sparkly finish.

As I reiterate in most of my posts I have oily skin, and I find the Radiance Palette doesn’t last very long on me. After a couple of hours of applying any of them, I can’t really see the product anymore, it’s like it just sinks in, not great 🙁 It may work better on drier skin? I don’t know.

So what about the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette?

I have this palette a long time now and really love it. I love the sleek packaging (even though it’s plastic) and then the powders inside are just so soft and buttery to the touch. They blend into the skin without much effort at all. They glide onto the skin much easier and they last much longer on me personally then the Makeup Revolution ones. They look more soft focus than the Radiance Palette, which I prefer too.

There is a pretty substantial price difference between these two. The Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette will set you back €10.35 and the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is a whopping €68!

On comparing the palettes, it really comes down to brass tax, you get what you pay for. There is often amazing similar products (I find the word ‘dupe’ hard so I’ll go with similar ha) to be found in the ‘drugstore’, of course, and I love to hunt them out and shout them from the rooftop, but I personally don’t think I have found one this time. They definitely look similar, but they do not perform the same at all.

In conclusion, I think the Makeup Revolution Radiance Palette is OK as a shimmery highlighter palette, I don’t think I would repurchase it, whereas I think the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette is a gorgeous face powder/ soft focus highlighting palette and I would splurge on it all over again. That is my over analytic summation anyways 🙂

Do you have either? Or both? Let me know what you think.

xxx

July 6, 2015/by Gem

Archives, Bargain Buying, Makeup

Essence Make Me Brow Eyebrow Gel

Ok, I’ll hold my hands up I’ve never actually used the Benefit Gimme Brow so I can’t really compare. But seeing it in action online and on other people I reckon the Essence Make Me Brow Eyebrow Gel is a really good…alternative to it 🙂 And the best part is, it will only set you back 3 quid!!

I picked mine up in Penneys/Primark but I am sure you can get this in any place that stocks Essence. I got the darker shade but there is a light one, which I might get aswell, to have, just in case 🙂

The packaging itself is tiny and so is the brush which is awesome because you can really use it to catch onto every eyebrow hair. The gel itself is coloured and has tiny fibres on it to help bulk up the brows you already have. So you can use it on it’s own for a naturally enhanced look. Great for days when you just don’t feel like doing much but you want to look somewhat put together.

It doesn’t go hard or flakey which is a really important element. That is one of my pet peeves with brow gel. Your caterpillars still feel soft and…hair like when the gel has dried.

I personally have a hate relationship with my damn brows so I would usually use the Make Me Brow over powder or pencil or even both depending on my brow mood. But I have used it below on a clean brow to show you the subtle but definite difference it gives.

Before Make Me Brow Application

After Make Me Brow Application

Can you see it? Don’t judge my brow it’s the best one I have 🙂

Honestly, I cannot say anything bad about the Essence Make Me Brow. Its such a great little product with a great little price to boot. If you’ve been toying with getting the Benefit Gimme Brow, give the Make Me Brow a go first, you’ve nothing to loose sure 🙂

xxx

June 25, 2015/2 Comments/by Gem

Posts

I do not use the word dupe lightly, in fact I rarely use it! ‘Tis a big statement. And I’m still dubious in my use of it here, but sure didn’t I have to get you to click, and I promise this Mac Teddy Eye Kohl ‘dupe’ is bloody good 🙂

So onto my alternative! You’ve actually probably heard me talk about this before. I actually used it in my Urban Decay Heat video here.

Have you tried either of them?

Makeup Revolution is pretty new to Irish shores. We could buy it online but never in store. Now we have a couple of stands, just in the Superdrug’s we have here in Dublin. So still not the easiest to get if you don’t live in the county 🙁

I picked up a few bits which I documented here in a blogpost a while ago.