I’ve Found Dupes For These Cult Beauty Products… And They’re All Under $20

The cost of living has been biting me in the ass. Rent is up, restaurants feel like somewhere you can only visit on payday and don’t even talk to me about going on holiday because it’s all just so expensive I can’t even fathom how long it would take to save.

Another beloved category that’s swiftly fallen from ‘everyday essential’ to ‘absolute luxury’ is beauty. Suddenly I’m scouring the supermarket shelves for the shampoo that’s been double-discounted and potentially has a broken lid so I can get another 50c off it. 

But there are a few beauty prods that I know a bunch of us can’t live without. They are the cult formulations that simply must be in our routines or we crumble – metaphorically and literally when it comes to some moisturisers.So to help us survive these purse-pinching times, I’ve found a cheaper doppelganger for every single one of our fave cult beauty products. And because I’m such an overachiever, I also made sure every dupe was under $20. You’re welcome.

Cult Beauty Dupes For Under $20. 

The Cult Beauty Product: L’Occitane Almond Shower Oil, $42 at Adore Beauty.

The Dupe: Thanks To Nature Nourish Sweet Almond Shower Oil, $20 at Woolworths.

If you’ve taken a single sniff of the L’Occitane Almond Shower Oil, you’ll understand why this is such a loved product. It smells like you’re rubbing Christmas cookies all over your body and it somehow leaves you smooth, silky and oh-so soft. 

The only downside of this gorgeous shower oil is that it’s nearly $40 for a relatively small bottle – which is why the Thanks To Nature dupe coming in at half the price is looking mighty fine.

The Cult Beauty Product: Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Anti-Pollution Sunshine Drops, $60 at Mecca.

The Dupe: Flower Beauty Heat Wave Bronzing Essence, $9.69 at Chemist Warehouse.

Drunk Elephant is a cult brand in of itself, making me fall hard for their tiny bottles adorned with flashes of neon and words that make no sense to me. What is a D-Bronzi? Who knows? Who cares? Not me. I just want to ooze it onto my face. 

But that teeny tiny bottle is a whopping $60 which is frankly too much for anything that size. Luckily Drew Barrymore came to our rescue with her drug store brand, Flower Beauty. She’s released a bronzing essence that has the exact same pigment as Drunk Elephant. Love love love. 

The Cult Beauty Product: NARS Blush in Orgasm, $51 at Mecca.

The Dupe: Flower Beauty Pots Powder Blush in Warm Hibiscus, $9.69 at Chemist Warehouse.

When NARS plopped the ‘orgasm’ blush into the beauty scene, things changed. It was a cult shade that somehow looked incredible on so many people – giving that “I just had an orgasm” shade of pink across your cheeks. I’m not sure if it started off at this price, but it’s now $53 for a compact of NARS ‘orgasm’ blush – and that is not going to fly during this cossie livs crisis. 

Thankfully Drew Barrymore is here for our cheeks once again, bringing out her Flower Beauty Pots Powder Blush in Hibiscus which is an exact shade match for ‘orgasm’. And it’s only $14 from Chemist Warehouse!

The Cult Beauty Product: Clinique Almost Lipstick in Black Honey, $46 at Myer.

The Dupe: Revlon Super Lustrous Glass Shine Lipstick in Rum Raisin, $15.95 at Chemist Warehouse.

Black Honey is a nifty little lipstick that looks black in the tube but sits on the lips in a rich browny-red and because of its balm-like texture it’s a really easy add to any makeup look. But it’s a $42 lip balm – and a skinny one at that!

If you love the Clinique Black Honey, you should seek out the Revlon Super Lustrous Glass Shine Lipstick (specifically in the shade Rum Raisin if you want the Black Honey look), because it feels exactly the same on your lips. Plus it’s almost always on sale at Chemist Warehouse – when it’s not sold out – so you can get it for around $15.

The Cult Beauty Product: Glossier Cloud Paint, $30 at Glossier.

The Dupe: MCoBeauty Cheek and Lip Tint, $6.99 at Chemist Warehouse.

It pains me almost every single day that you can’t get Glossier in Australia, but I’m starting to see it as a blessing as everything there is so expensive. But if I could splurge on any product it would be the Glossier Cloud Paint as it’s a super lightweight but uber-pigmented tint that you can smudge over your lips or cheeks. 

Luckily for Aussies trapped out of Glossier’s circle (and on a budget), the MCoBeauty Cheek and Lip Tint is nearly identical in formulation – and it’s only $14 from Woolies. 

The Cult Beauty Product: Fenty Beauty Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer, $36 at Sephora.

The Dupe: Maybelline Lifter Hydrating Lip Gloss, $10.69 at Chemist Warehouse.

I’m convinced Rihanna slips some secret magical ingredients into her Fenty Beauty line. They just seem to sparkle more, gloss better and last on even the sweatiest of days. One of the more popular products from Rihanna’s beauty brand is the Gloss Bomb Universal Lip Luminizer – likely because the gloss has an almost 3D-ifying effect, giving a mirror-like reflection on your lips.

While this one isn’t the exact same as its cult doppelganger, I reckon the very affordable Maybelline Lifter Hydrating Lip Gloss comes really close to the same effect. 

The Cult Beauty Product: Chanel Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick, $71 at Chanel.

The Dupe: MCoBeauty Highlight & Glow Stick in Champagne, $7.99 at Chemist Warehouse.

Yes, I am attempting to take on Chanel. Coco, please don’t haunt me. But I’m so convinced that the Chanel Baume Essentiel Multi-Use Glow Stick uses the exact same ingredients as the MCoBeauty Highlight & Glow Stick in Champagne.

They are absolutely identical, despite being a mahoosive $56 apart in price.

The Cult Beauty Product: Kérastase Elixir Ultimate Original Hair Oil, $72 at Kérastase.

The Dupe: L’Oréal Elvive Extraordinary Oils, $15.39 at Chemist Warehouse.

Time for some focus on the tresses! Despite being a bonafide Greasy Girl™️, I really got into hair oil during COVID lockdowns. Partly because they make your hair shiny in a nice way but mainly because they make your hair smell so, so good. 

But now I feel like an idiot because I was blowing my bucks on the Kérastase Elixir when I could have used it’s literal twin sister, the L’Oréal Elvive Extraordinary Oil, and saved myself $60 a pop. Damnit. 

The Cult Beauty Product: Laura Mercier Translucent Powder, $66.84 at Laura Mercier.

The Dupe: E.L.F. HD Powder, $14 at Adore Beauty.

Despite ‘translucent’ powder sounding invisible, the shade of invisibleness is very important – and it’s a formula that lovely Laura Mercier has absolutely nailed. She was the only one on the market for a long time until E.L.F. cracked the code too. And the sneaky guys there managed to make it near-identical for only $16. 

The Cult Beauty Product: Hourglass Vanish Airbrush Concealer, $58 at Mecca.

The Dupe: NYX Professional Makeup Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Concealer, $16.95 at Oz Hair & Beauty.

I don’t know about you, but my concealer is the hardest-working tube in my makeup bag. It’s covered up a multitude of sins and it’s the first thing I whip out when I’m getting ready. I’ve been recommended the Hourglass concealer approximately a bazillion times, so I know it’s good, but I’ve dodged that price tag in favour of its cheaper cousin, the NYX Can’t Stop Won’t Stop Concealer.

The Cult Beauty Product: Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze, $40 at Sephora.

The Dupe: W7 Browcicles Brow Wax, $4.99 at Chemist Warehouse.

The thing you need to know about brow products that don’t have any colour tint is that they are essentially a splodge of wax – something that is incredibly cheap to make. So please don’t spend your precious dollars on Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze when you can chuck a literal fiver at a near-identical product from W7. Your bank account can thank me later.

The Cult Beauty Product: IT Cosmetics CC Cream, $73 at Sephora.

The Dupe: OXX Cosmetics Skin Tint, $9 at Kmart.

Who would have thought that the dupe for a $71 cult CC Cream would be living at Kmart?! Not me, that’s for sure. The OXX team have made the exact same cream and just popped it in a slightly less chic tube for $9 – perhaps proving my theory that most of the price of the product is the packaging, not the actual makeup.

The Cult Beauty Product: Dior Lip Glow Oil, $62 at Sephora.

The Dupe: Australis Lip Glaze, $16.99 at Priceline.

Lip oils weren’t even a thing a few years ago, and now they’re bloody everywhere. Thank god, because they feel so good on your lips and feel like they’re making them cute while nourishing the heck out of them. 

The OG lip oil is, of course, the Dior Lip Glow Oil which is a truly gorgeous product but it’s also $62 for something you’re highly likely to toss into your handbag and inevitably lose. So, a cheaper and equally delicious alternative is the Australis Lip Glaze which you can scoop up from Priceline for $16.

Image credit: L’Occitane, Woolworths, Glossier, Chemist Warehouse, Sephora, Mecca, Oz Hair & Beauty + Punkee