Illuminating Duplicates

...By Price Difference

I feel like Illuminators or highlighters are something that can just be really fun, so I decided to do pricing on them before I went forward with Foundation. Just to add a little color and shine into our day. We're still talking about price but I think this is a little more exciting. I love highlighters and Illuminators. Can you believe I didn't even know what they really were up until 6 months ago. Wow!

 The examples of duplicates and price differences will shock you! Most of them whether high priced of low priced are very comparable. So I decided to go through and filter out highlighters in ascending price order. Just to give you a little look into highlights from the lowest to the highest prices. I have quite a few highlighters myself. So many of them come in liquid form that you can get a nice size sample of any high-end brand at Nordstroms and I’ve bought a few highlighting bricks and singles. So I have an idea of what really compares. For example, NYX’s liquid highlighter in Born to Glow compares almost exactly to NARS’ Copacabana. I own both. It’s almost impossible to tell which is which if squirted side by side on your hand. Once you apply them NARS’ truly disappears and just catches the light where NYX’s is a tiny bit less invisible but catches the light in the same way. MAC’s Bronze liquid Illuminator is a true match to NYX Bronze Glow, have them both, and I can’t tell the difference, at all. They both give me a sun-kissed dewy glow.

Let’s hop into it by playing the match game (highs and low listed below). The highest priced highlighter on the Sephora list matches the Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder (#9, Ulta- High), a $28.00 difference. Beads of shimmer in several similar color combinations. Physicians Formula Nude Wear Nude Glow Powder/Blush $12.99-$14.99, are not listed, but make a good duplicate for Diorskin Nude Shimmer (#4, Sephora- High), a $40.00 difference, but you’ll probably need both the Bronzer/Blush to truly match it so it’s more like a $25.00 difference. That’s still pretty good; 2 for much less than the price of 1! The Maybelline Master Hi-lite (#6, Ulta- Low) has the exact colors in the Givenchy compact, a $37.00 difference, or the Sephora Microsmooth Trio (#7, Sephora- Low), a $11 difference. The Sephora Microsmooth in Light Beam (#2, Sephora- Low) is an exact dupe to Intimate Spotlight (#5, Ulta- Low), a $4.00 difference. Not much but something when you’re on a budget or you just happen to have an Ulta closer to you than you do a Sephora. Laura Mercier’s Secret Brightener is a good match to YSL’s pen (#9, Sephora- High), a $15.00 difference. That just names a few higher priced highlighters and illuminators that have a very close duplicate. Highlighters and Illuminators serve such a specific light/sheer purpose that it is hard to make them extremely variant from one another. You’ll always be able to find something at a lower price range than one you’ve been wanting to buy, but can’t afford or don’t want to waste that kind of money on. As long as you are OK with slight differences in some; the biggest being price. You can always just use a shimmery blush, bronzer, or shimmery eye shadow that you like too. All you need is a little shimmer and maybe a fan brush to make application precise. You can get a fan brush from E.L.F for $1.00 or a larger nicer one by EcoTools for $7, either way they have them in all ranges that work perfectly for what you'll be using them for.  

Diorskin Nude Shimmer Instant Illuminating Powder- $56.00

Physicians Formula Nude Glow Bronzer/Blush, my Diorskin Nude Shimmer dupe. Btw $25-$40 difference.

Ulta's 10 Lowest Priced Illuminators/Highlighters;

1.       Essence Cosmetics Sun Club All-In-One Bronzing Highlighter- $4.49
2.       Lorac Mini Tantalizer Baked Bronzer- $7.00
3.       NYX Born To Glow Liquid Illuminator- $7.49
4.       NYX Cosmetics Illuminator- $8.99
5.       Kardashian Beauty Intimate Spotlight- $9.99
6.       Maybelline Master Hi-Light Powdered Bronzer- $9.99
7.       Kardashian Beauty Light Stroke Double Sided Luminizer- $9.99
8.       Revlon Highlighting Palette- $10.99
9.       Benefit Cosmetics Boi-ing Eyebright Compact- $12.00
10.   Revlon PhotoReady Skinlights Face Illuminator- $12.99

Sephora Collection Microsmooth Baked, $14.00.

Kardashian Collection dupe for Microsmooth, $4 difference.

Ulta's 10 Highest Priced Highlighters/Illuminators;

1.       Napoleon Perdis Blush Patrol- $50.00
2.       Too Faced Bonjour Soleil Summer Bronzing Wardrobe- $44.00
3.       Laura Geller Beauty Baked Split Highlighter Duo with Brush- $42.50
4.       It Cosmetics Vitality Face Disc- $38.00
5.       Laura Geller Beauty Bronze N Brighten- $33.00
6.       Lorac TANtalizer Highlighter & Matte Bronzer Duo- $32.00
7.       Smashbox Halo Highlighting Wand- $32.00
8.       Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Illuminating Moisturizer- $32.00
9.       Too Faced Sweetheart Beads Radiant Glow Face Powder- $32.00
10.   Benefit Cosmetics Watts Up- $30.00

Guerlain Meteorites Perles, $70, or Powder, $60.

Too Faced Sweetheart Beads, $30, my closest match to Guerlain. Btw $30-$40 different.

Sephora's 10 Lowest Priced Highlighters;

1.       Smashbox Travel-size Photo Finish Luminizing Foundation Primer- $8.00
2.       Obsessive Compulsive Cosmetics Cosmetic Glitters- $14.00
3.       SEPHORA COLLECTION MicroSmooth Baked Luminizer- $14.00
4.       Tarte Maracuja Blush & Glow- $16.00 on sale from $32.00
5.       Stila All Over Shimmer Liquid Luminizer- $20.00
6.       Illamasqua Illuminator- $20.00
7.       SEPHORA COLLECTION MicroSmooth Baked Sculpting Contour Trio- $21.00
8.       Stila All Over Shimmer Duo- $22.00
9.       bareMinerals bareMinerals READY® Luminizer Duo- $24.00
10.   Illamasqua Gleam Cream- $26.00

Guerlain Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator, $51.

 

YSL TOUCHE ÉCLAT – Rain Strass Edition, $45.00.

Laura Mercier Secret Brightener, $30. A $15-$20 difference & still higher-end.

Sephora's 10 Highest Priced Illuminators;
1.       Guerlain Météorites Perles du Paradise- $70.00

2.        Guerlain Météorites Powder For The Face- $60.00

3.       Hourglass Ambient Lighting Palette- $58.00

4.       Dior Diorskin Nude Shimmer Instant Illuminating Powder- $56.00

5.       Guerlain Precious Light Rejuvenating Illuminator- $51.00

6.       Dolce & Gabbana The Illuminator Glow Illuminating Powder- $51.00

7.       Givenchy Le Prisme Visage Mat Soft Compact Face Powder- $47.00

8.       Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder- $45.00

9.       Yves Saint Laurent TOUCHE ÉCLAT – Rain Strass Edition- $45.00

10.   Guerlain Terracotta Blush Sun Shimmer Highlighter- $43.00

SEPHORA COLLECTION MicroSmooth Baked Sculpting Contour Trio- $21.00

Maybelline Master Hi-Lite, $9.99. Good sub. for Givenchy & Sephora C. Trio at $37 & $11 difference.

Bestselling: Foundation & Prices

Ok- so I realized in my post on BB Creams it was more about the top rated and bestsellers than it was about price. I am giving the price and a little look-see into what really is worth the BANG your buck deserves but I feel like I've only done that in a read-between-the-lines sort of way. So we're going to really look a pricing today on the bestsellers list. Side by side Bestsellers vs. Top Rated. Just because something sells doesn't mean it is the best. So we need to look at which products make BOTH lists. Which one is popular but also rated on its quality. We're going to do that with Sephora's lists of bestsellers and top rated Foundation, today. This feels like the product that women spend the most money on, or this range; BB, Tinted, Medium, and Full Coverage. It's what starts our flawless look... its the base to the face.

Bestselling                                                                    Top Rated
1. bareMinerals Original- $27.00                        1. Ko Gen Do Triple Lightning- $20.00
2. Make Up For Ever HD Invisible Cover- $42.00  2. Shiseido UV Protective Liquid- $36.00
3. bareMinerals BareSKIN- $29.00                       3. Guerlain Terracotta Joli Teint- $53.00
4. Kat Von D Lock-it Tattoo- $34.00                    4. Givenchy Teint Couture Fluid- $49.00
5. Clinque Even Better Makeup- $27.00              5. Estee Lauder Double Wear Light- $37
6. bareMinerals Matte Foundation- $27.00          6. bareMinerals Original- $27.00
7. Diorskin Airflash Spray- $62.00                       7. Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place- $37.00
8. bareMinerals Try. Believe. Love. Kit- $20.00    8. Guerlain Lingerie de Peau Invisible- $61.00
9. Make Up For Ever Mat Velvet + Mattifying- $36.00          9. Givenchy Teint Couture Long-wearing compact- $55.00
10. Hourglass Immaculate Liquid Powder- $55   10. Diorskin Nude Compact- $50.00

 

Made both bestseller and top rated list, runs in the $20 area.

Company made both lists but not same product. Runs in the $50 area.

As you can see the prices on the Bestselling list range from $20.00 to $62.00. The prices on the Top Rated list range from $20.00 to $61.00. The only company that makes the cut, both lists, is bareMinerals in bareMinerals Original Broad Spectrum Foundation. Telltale, if you ask me. You could spend $62.00 on the Diorskin Airflash Spray but it isn't top rated, so is it really worth it? I feel like Top Rated speaks to quality, number of shades, and ease of application, not popularity but you do trust popularity when everyone is buying something it has to mean something so I think combining the two and picking items that make both lists is the way to get the best of the best for a price. Usually there are a few more options. More companies that make both lists, in this case, bareMinerals would be the only choice. Not much of a choice. So let's look at a few other things. Although the same product does not make both list Dior, the company, makes both lists. Well that seems to be it. So you're most informed guess on the best foundation to buy would be 1) Pick one of the two (Dior/Bareminerals) that has a shade that makes it look like you put on babyskin, 2) One of the companies that made both lists in different products for 2 different sites like Tarte. My guess is they would have something qualifying. 3) Pick one on either list depending on your values and what you want to spend, is bestselling or top rating more important to you? Each of the two companies gives you options; one runs in the twenties and one in the 40's and 50's. Something for everyone's wallet.

Top Rated: BB Creams & Prices

We took a look at the Bestsellers lists from Ulta and Sephora yesterday. We're going to do the same today but we're looking at the Top Rated lists on Foundation or coverage. Ulta includes tinted moisturizer under one heading, Foundation, and Sephora does not. To compensate I was going to take the top 6-7 of each of Sephora's lists but I decided it may be more comprehensive if we separate them ourselves. So I'll take the top 10 foundations, tinted moisturizers, and BB/CC creams from each, for example, if the first tinted moisturizer is number 6 on Ulta's list we'll skip it in Foundation and put it in the #1 spot for Ulta under that heading. That will help us to see what price ranges we're really looking at in different categories of coverage, rather than lumping them all together. It will also make it easier for those of you who only need BB cream or always use foundation (no matter the season) to go to that entry rather then having to scrape around through a mush-mosh of them all.

We'll start with what I consider to be the sheerest coverage, BB Cream (or CC depending on the company. We won't be including those CC creams that are specific to the eyes). I listed them below and highlighted a couple odd balls, Tarte's BB/CC creams. Although, Tarte names includes the word primer in 2 of the 3 listed both can be used on their own as BB Creams. They are not primers in the traditional sense. Tarte has the most BB/CC creams listed in the top 10, Top Rated for this type of coverage. If your having doubts and want to spend the money, go with Tarte. I'd go with #5 its a tinted moisturizing BB Cream because form and it falls in @ #6 on the Bestselling list. It may cost a couple more bucks than the others but it isn't as ambiguous a product. Three cosmetic companies made it on to both Bestselling and Top Rated BB/CC Creams lists; IT Cosmetics, Tarte, and Stila and technically Smashbox.They had an eye-only CC pen in the top 10 Top Rated list. If your looking for something that is Top Rated and Bestselling go with one of the products listed below by any of the given companies I listed above.

Ulta Top 10 BB Creams: price range $14.99 - $48.00

1. Kinerase BB Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 15 UVA/UVB Sunscreen- $48.00
2. Karora CC Cream- $35.00
3. IT Cosmetics Your Skin But Better CC Cream with SPF 50+- $38.00
4. Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer- $36.00
5. Tarte BB Tinted Treatment 12hr Primer- $35.00
6. Peter Thomas Roth BB Blur BS SPF30- $48.00
7. Olay CC Cream Total Effects Daily Moisturizer- $21.99 (currently on sale for ~$18)
8. Tarte Colored Clay CC Primer- $34.00  
9. Lumene Anti-age Time Correcting CC Cream- $14.99
10. Stila 10-in-1 Stay All Day Bronzing BB Cream- $38.00

#3 Top Rated and #1 Bestselling BB/CC Cream @ Ulta.

#8 Top Rated and Bestselling BB/CC Cream @ Ulta.

Moving on to Sephora's Top 10, Top Rated, BB/CC Creams. Their prices vary at a much higher range, but they don't sell any lower priced products and they sell more highly priced brands than Ulta does, so they are bound to have a little higher price range in this category. As you can see 2 of the 3 Tarte products are listed. The BB Tinted Treatment by Tarte made it on to the bestsellers list, as well. The other companies products, listed below, that made it on to the bestsellers list were Dr. Jart+, Dior, and AmorePacific. Tarte wins by a landslide! It made every list from both sites, is sold at a mid-level price range, and well received. I've always been a big fan of the Tarte products, their packaging calls me. I don't own anything but their blush, but after doing this research I'll be buying their BB Cream, for sure.

Sephora's Top 10 BB & CC Creams: price range $35.00 - $60.00
1. Cover FX BB Gel Mattifying Anti-blemish Treatment- $45.00
2. Estee Lauder Daywear BB Anti-oxidant Beauty Benefit Creme- $39.00
3. Dior Diorskin Nude BB Creme- $44.00
4. Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB Cream- $52.00
5.  Tarte Amazonian Clay BB Tinted Moisturizer- $36.00
6. AmorePacific Color Control Cushion- $60.00
7.  Tarte BB Tinted Treatment 12hr Primer- $35.00 (travel size $10, 3 shades)
8. Dr. Jart+ CC Essence Balm- $42.00
9. Dr. Jart+ Premium Beauty Balm SPF45- $39.00
10. Philosophy Hope in a Jar A to Z Perfecting BB Cream- $38.00

#9 Top Rated and #2 Bestselling @ Sephora.

#7 Top Rated and #4 Bestselling @ Sephora.

 Tinted Moisturizer and Foundation will be the next two upcoming entries, one later today and one tomorrow.