Here we are in 2026 and every day the world seems to be changing at warp speed. The world of beauty is no exception.
Back in the day….way back, getting makeup tips was pretty much whatever you could get from magazines. And getting products was whatever you saw on the shelves at various stores.
Usually you had 2 options, drugstore, or high-end department store.
Now the world is your shopping cart and comparing items has never been easier. Enter into our beauty vocabulary the word “dupe.”
Influencers on the internet have been doing a wonderful job of comparing high-end products to drugstore products to tell you what you can duplicate for the same basic look or use.
For example La Mer face cream has often been considered one of the best and also very expensive. However, many beauty “experts” (I’m not even sure how that title is given anymore) claim that Nivea cream is a good “dupe” or La Mer cream at a fraction of the cost.
Here is another: Charlotte Tilbury lip liner in Pillow Talk is $24 and available at Sephora. NYX Cosmetics lip liner in PeekaBoo Neutral is $4 and available at Ulta – a nice saving.
Recently I saw other lip liners compared to each other. I quickly recognized the packaging as coming from a company that uses it for private labeling. Many smaller companies sell but do not manufacture their own products.
In buying products, it is important to remember that companies can purchase and put their own label on them, and price it at whatever they choose. The same product may be sold by another company at half the price, thus a dupe may actually be the same product.
This is not to be confused with counterfeits, private labeling is very much legal.
So, if you like one of your products but don’t like the price, try searching for a dupe, you might get the same or equal product and save some money.
