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Cosmopolitan

This viral brand creates dupes of your faves, from Charlotte Tilbury to rhode, here's what to buy to save £££

Famously, I hate dupes. Now, don't get me wrong, I love it when an affordable brand brings out an incredible product, and we can go, 'Hey! This is just as good as this really, really expensive product that we are obsessed with.' To me, that's a real dupe. But when a brand sticks a subpar product in packaging that looks exactly like bestselling brands to trick buyers, I am not into it. It's why I've had a one-sided beef with MCo Beauty for a while. The Australian brand is a viral hit on the likes of TikTok and use packaging and product names that are really, really similar (like, painfully so) to bestselling products that we know and love; from the rhode Lip Peptide Treatments to Milk Makeup Hydro Grip, Dior Blush and the Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter – in fact they have a lot of Tilbury 'dupes'. Up until now, I've just watched on from afar as the brand wasn't available in the UK, but from today (21st of July) , the range is dropping in Superdrug. So, before you flock to buy the products (which are all under £15), I put some of the 'dupes' to the test. The brand says: 'The MCoBeauty FLAWLESS GLOW LUMINOUS SKIN FILTER is a 4-in-1, multi-tasking, skin booster designed to give your skin the ultimate glowing filter-like finish! This versatile formula is designed to be worn alone for a lightweight subtle glow, under makeup as a luminous primer, mixed with foundation to add a light-reflecting glow, or on top of makeup as highlighter.' A 'dupe' of: Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter Is it a dupe? Yes Our review: Looking past how shamelessly the packaging dupes our queen Char Tilbs, I cannot deny how good this skin filter is. It gives the same luminous glow and blurring effect that we know and love from the original, at a snip of the price. It's also really comparable to e.l.f.'s Halo Glow. The brand says: 'MCoBeauty PEPTIDE LIP TREATMENT combines conditioning and colour in a lip-glazing cream-oil formula. It has a non-sticky but sumptuous texture, providing your pout with the perfect amount of cushioning and plumpness with a glossy wash of colour.' A 'dupe' of: rhode Peptide Tint Is it a dupe? Yes Our review: Considering that rhode has had a little bit of online backlash on the graininess of some of their famous lip peptide treatment colours (which they have since addressed and reformulated), I'd say this balm/gloss hybrid is a great alternative. It's almost a gel-like feel as it glides onto the lips and doesn't have any stickiness or gloopiness, and the pigment is impressive and lasts (event through a recent dental treatment) I've been reaching for this over my other balms recently. The brand says: 'A 2-in-1 foundation and skincare powerhouse, the MCoBeauty MIRACLE FLAWLESS SKIN FOUNDATION has a creamy formula that evens skin's texture with buildable, medium coverage. The skin-nourishing ingredients help give boost moisture retention while smoothing and comforting skin. A fusion of Hyaluronic Acid and Coconut Water is blended with Rose Flower Water to work over time to revitalise skin's texture.' A 'dupe' of: Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation Is it a dupe? Yes (but with a caveat) Our review: God's honest truth? I'm not a fan of the Charlotte Tilbury Beautiful Skin Foundation. As an oily/combo girl, it's too dewy for me, and this foundation is exactly the same. The skin-nourishing nature of this trumps the foundation ability in my opinion, so within a few hours, I was shinier than a lighthouse at night. Oily gals, this is a miss, but drier skin types might like it. The brand says: 'MCoBeauty GRIP ILLUMINATING PRIMER is a gel formula that helps you prepare your skin for makeup application and adds a natural-looking, soft-focus glow.' A 'dupe' of: Milk Hydrogrip Primer Is it a dupe? No Our review: The texture of this is really similar to Milk Makeup's hero product and layers well under makeup, but honestly, this didn't work for me to help my makeup last longer, and I looked shiny by lunchtime. The brand says: 'MCoBeauty's XTENDLASH TUBING MASCARA is our best-selling, award-winning innovative tubing mascara maximising length, curl and volume without flaking or smudging. The formula creates water-resistant 'tubes' around each and every lash for maximum length, definition and hold.' A 'dupe' of: Glossier Lash Slick Is it a dupe? Yes Our review: I really like this tubing mascara. The brush is different to the Glossier mascara (which is plastic) but grabs every lash and lengthens without clumping. It melts off easily while cleansing. Some reviews say that it stings, and I haven't found that at all. The brand says: 'The MCoBeauty HIGHLIGHT & GLOW BEAUTY WAND is the perfect illuminating liquid highlighter wand to achieve gorgeously glowing skin in a flash!' A 'dupe' of: Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand Is it a dupe? No Our review: I like this product, but I found it's not as creamy as the CT Beauty Light Wands. It feels a bit stiffer to blend in, however the lasting power is pretty good. In this case, the quality aligns with the lower price point. The brand says: 'The secret to achieving flawless makeup looks! MCoBeauty MIRACLE FLAWLESS SETTING SPRAY is a multi-purpose setting spray that perfects your makeup while moisturising your skin.' A 'dupe' of: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Filter Setting Spray Is it a dupe? No Our review: Sadly, while it had a nice misting action, this did not set one iota of my makeup. To me, it could literally have been water in a misting bottle as I looked shiny within an hour of doing my makeup. Super disappointing. The brand says: 'The MCoBeauty XTENDBROWS SHAPE & SCULPT PENCIL is a long-wearing and pigmented formula that fills in sparse brows with natural hair-like strokes. The nourishing formula is infused with Castor Oil and B5 to help condition and support the growth of brow hairs, while the precise triangle tip is perfect for creating natural hairlike strokes.' A 'dupe' of: Kosas Brow Pop Pencil Is it a dupe? No Our review: I'm a big fan of the Kosas brow pencil, and the defining (ahem) feature that sets it apart from other brands is the super thin pencil nib – this formula doesn't have this. The pencil is creamy and applies smoothly to the skin with no pulling, but it doesn't grip onto the skin and wears away easily, so it's not one to wear to the gym. The brand says: 'MCoBeauty MIRACLE FLAWLESS PRESSED POWDER LIGHT a makeup finishing powder to perfect your makeup looks. It leaves your skin feeling smooth and velvety with a soft appearance.' A 'dupe' of: Charlotte Tilbury Airbrush Flawless Finish Powder Is it a dupe? No Our review: This is a really lovely, finely-milled pressed powder, but doesn't have the je ne sais quoi of the beloved Tilbs powder. It works well for emergency touch-ups but as a setting powder, I found that the shine peeked through within a few hours. The brand says: 'MCoBeauty BROW LAMINATE SCULPT & SET is the ultimate fusion of gel and wax that helps to style your brows' A 'dupe' of: REFY Brow Sculpt Is it a dupe? Yes Our review: Take away the pink colour of the packaging and you have the spitting image of Brow Sculpt. I do really like the formula of this one too, it set my brows all day and didn't leave them flaky or crispy. Keeks Reid is the Beauty Director at Cosmopolitan UK. While she loves all things beauty, Keeks is a hair fanatic through and through. She started her career in beauty journalism in 2013 as editorial assistant at Blackhair and Hair magazines working her way to Acting Editor of Blackhair magazine at 23 years old. She spent much of her career working in trade hairdressing media at Hairdressers Journal, Salon International and the British Hairdressing Awards. Which is why she is a regular contributor to Cosmo's Curl Up franchise. Now, alongside her Cosmo work, she presents, creates content on social media and works with a range of beauty companies; from magazines and websites to beauty brands and salons.