We all know that makeup can be expensive, and as a professional Makeup Artist, you may need to buy products more often (foundation, powder, mascara) while others less often (eye shadows/palettes, lipsticks, brow products); however we also know that either way, as a professional who is running their own business, it is always a positive benefit to save money whenever and wherever you can!

How to save money?

1) You can keep in close contact for sales from time to time when you can get high end makeup products at 30-50% off or even more (Sephora has an amazing sale section, especially after the holidays!).

2) Utilize those PRO cards! Remember, you will always receive up to 40% off brand name makeup products from our partners, once you have completed our Online Makeup Academy course(s).

3) Recently (and this may be the most interesting to follow), you can locate that “coveted new makeup product” (the style that was just released and is hot and on trend!) through a drugstore makeup ‘dupe'. Makeup aficionados have recently honed in on the fact that multiple drugstore brands will produce “makeup dupes (duplicates)”- that’s how they started to call it- of the high-end products, which do the same job, or sometimes can be even better than some expensive products.

Today, we have a lot of inexpensive brands that produce amazing quality products at great prices. Think it over, can you justify paying much more for a product if there is one that is available that is similar and is the same color, texture and looks and feels the same way? Depending on your need, budget, and reason for purchase – it may make the most sense to go for the comparable product that is less expensive.

The concept of makeup dupes have recently become so popular that you will see a lot of makeup artists (or aspiring artists!) and beauty influencers making it their goal to find duplicate substitutes of a current hot product. There are even newly created groups on social media discussing makeup products, drugstore brands, and their hits or misses. As well as asking for reviews to see if a specific more expensive product is actually worth the money, or if there is in fact a dupe instead for the high-end product. Especially once a new product is released, you will almost instantly find information pertaining to what dupe can be used instead of this new release. This makes it great for the average makeup lover, but pretty tough for high end brands to compete with, right? Let's use this to our advantage!

As a benefit to our Online Makeup Academy followers and students, we have decided to embrace this trend and provide a makeup dupe list of our Professional Makeup Kit that we offer as an added bonus for our students. This way – if you have received our kit, and you are looking for an alternative replacement, you will be able to replenish without worrying about the cost (we provide you with the brand name products, but we realize that not everyone can afford this or would like to replace the same product within their kit!). You may even want to substitute and/or create a brand new kit with the comparable versions (the “dupes”) of the products that we include in our exclusive brand name professional makeup kit, which will save you money in the long run.

This list will also help our students who choose to sign up for the course without the option of our Professional Makeup Kit (maybe we are unable to ship to your location, or you have other reasons for opting out of our brand name kit). With this comprehensive list, you will know exactly what product you can substitute with to create the foundation of the professional makeup kit that is right for you.

First and foremost, our course provides knowledge and education, the specific tools (makeup products) can be different depending on your needs (we provide the makeup kit selected from our instructors as an added bonus!) You can achieve the same great look by using these suggested drugstore products. It’s all about your education, practice and technique. Our goal is to deliver top notch industry education, value, and tools (including cosmetics), but which brand of cosmetics you select, are not crucial – it will be dependent upon what works best for you and your clients. Your skills, practice, and dedication to your client satisfaction are what will always matter the most. This is what we hope our students will take away, and the backbone of what our online course provides you with. 

Here are the list of ‘Drugstore Dupe’ Makeup Kit products which you can substitute with our brand name exclusive Online Makeup Academy Professional Makeup Kit:

1. First of all, you have to have a variety of foundations in your kit. Or at least you can have lighter and darker shades and then mix them together to create a custom color for your client (this is what we provide directly in our kit with the Make Up For Ever HD Foundations + MUFE 11 Foundation Palette).
Here, as a drugstore duplicate, we recommend getting MAYBELLINE Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation $8 each:

Truffle 362

Classic Tan 335

Classic Ivory 120

Natural Beige 220

You can purchase the Maybelline Fit Me Matte + Poreless Foundation here:

http://www.ulta.com/fit-me-matte-poreless-foundation?productId=xlsImpprod11861007

This foundation will substitute our Make Up For Ever Ultra HD Foundation and will be a great alternative option.

2. As for concealers a great option will be MAYBELLINE Fit Me Concealer, $7 each:

Fair

Light

Café

You can purchase the Maybelline Fit Me Concealer here:

 http://www.ulta.com/fit-me-concealer?productId=xlsImpprod2980149&_requestid=1914429

This concealer will substitute our Make Up For Ever 11 Foundation Palette.

3. Eyeshadow - there are a lot of great quality but inexpensive eyeshadows available on the market, but we would love to recommend BH COSMETICS Neutral Eyes 28 Color Eyeshadow Palette, $14.

You can purchase BH Cosmetics Neutral Eyes 28 Color Eyeshadow Palette here:

http://www.ulta.com/neutral-eyes-28-color-eyeshadow-palette?productId=xlsImpprod15711097

4. For color corrector, we recommend BH COSMETICS brand 6 Pc Color Concealer & Corrector Palette, $7.

You can purchase here:

http://www.ulta.com/6-pc-color-concealer-corrector-palette?productId=xlsImpprod15711121

5. Drugstore mascaras sometimes are even better than high-end ones. We highly recommend L’Oreal® Paris Voluminous Original Mascara, $8.

You can purchase here:

http://www.ulta.com/voluminous-carbon-black-volume-building-mascara?productId=xlsImpprod560090

This concealer will substitute our Make Up For Ever Excessive Lash Arresting Volume Mascara.

6. Best drugstore eye liner to substitute Inglot gel liner will be RIMMEL LONDON ScandalEyes Gel Eyeliner, $6.

You can purchase here:

 http://www.ulta.com/scandaleyes-gel-eyeliner?productId=xlsImpprod6380073

This eyeliner will substitute our Inglot AMC Eyeliner Gel #77.

7. To set your makeup we recommend using NYX Professional Makeup Studio Finishing Powder, $10.

You can purchase here:

http://www.ulta.com/studio-finishing-powder-translucent-finish?productId=xlsImpprod5050061

This powder will substitute the Inglot setting Powder found within our kit.

8. For lips, we recommend the BH Nude Lips - 28 Color Lipstick Palette, $13.

You can purchase here:

 http://www.bhcosmetics.com/lips/nude-lips-28-color-lipstick-palette

9. Blush and Contour we recommend using ULTA Complete Face 3-in-1 Palette, $14.

You can purchase here:

http://www.ulta.com/complete-face-3-in-1-palette?productId=xlsImpprod6500600

10. For excellent quality yet affordable brushes, we recommend the SHANY Ombre Pro 10 Piece Essential Brush Set with Travel Pouch, $15.

You can purchase here:

https://www.amazon.com/SHANY-Ombre-Piece-Essential-Travel/dp/B00JGN1K0G/

11. Last, but not least, the Mixing Plate with Spatula, $7.

You can purchase here:

https://www.amazon.com/Mixing-Plate-Spatula-Pree-Cosmetics/dp/B00AAIFT0I

So your TOTAL for the whole kit is $147, not bad, right?! The money saved can apply to continued education, new products to increase your kit's benefits, or more color options to offer to a wide variety of clients.

With your clients, the best thing that we recommend is to use a mix of brands in your kit. All brands do different things well, they all have hits and misses. You must choose products that work best for you and the type of client you are working with. It will take time for you to familiarize yourself with what works best for you and for each individual job. Some clients may think that the more expensive product the more benefits it will bring them and it will look better. Of course, using luxurious brands can make a client feel pampered (so maybe splurge on one or two products eventually to have in your kit, if you’d like!), but as we would like to continuously emphasize; the products are not what makes the difference but your skills do! Any client will recognize this once you have made them feel their best through your talent and artistry!