My friends are always thrilled when they get to come over and shop at “Sephora”—aka what they call my tiny, product-stuffed apartment. Given the nature of my job, I’m always in excess, and therefore happy to spread the joy by letting my beauty-loving friends have their way with my retailer-esque living quarters. Whether they’re looking for the perfect red lipstick, the best liquid liner, or a luxurious face oil, I always have them covered.
What they’re not thrilled about, however, are the sky-high price points of the majority of the product sitting atop my vanity. (These are the products I hold most sacred and will let friends try but not take—selfish, I know.) Of course, the sticker shock doesn’t stop my friends from falling in love with said items, so they’re always asking what products will give them similar results without burning a scorching hot hole in their bank accounts.
Even though I have champagne taste when it comes to a lot of my staple formulas, there are plenty of affordable options I still love and vouch for. Below, I’m sharing 10 spendy products my friends and I both love, plus their less spendy dupes. Keep scrolling!
My fabulous mom (who’s in her 70s but doesn’t look it) may not be a beauty editor, but somehow, some way, she is even more picky about products than I am. (The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, eh?) SO, when she switched from her beloved SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic to this less expensive formula from Timeless and reported zero decline or negative changes in her skin, my interest was incredibly piqued. SkinCeuticals Silymarin CF is my vitamin C poison of choice, and while it’s incredibly unique and very worth the investment if you have the means, this $14 option from Timeless won’t let you down.
Even though I’m naturally blessed with long, dark lashes, they’ve definitely become sparser, weaker, and more prone to fallout as I’ve gotten older. I’m fanatical about my lashes and basically want the look of falsies or extension (without actually bothering) so in addition to lash serum, and a fantastic mascara, I absolutely swear by applying a lash primer before bed as part of my nightly routine. Dior is my ride-or-die (your lashes will look so thick, long, and juicy if you’re consistent), but I’ve also been loving Honest Beauty’s formula as a cheaper alternative that also honest to god works.
There are only a few hair oils I’ll allow my platinum blonde hair contact with (so many golden or amber-toned ones will stain super-light strands!), and you’re looking at two of maybe the three? Of course, with the Augustinus Bader pick, you’re getting the brand’s very-famous TFC8 technology, but in terms of end results, I don’t notice a huge difference between the two—both deliver very glossy, healthy hair vibes. You can’t go wrong!
I’m pretty sure I apologize whenever I recommend anything from 111Skin—especially these bio cellulose face masks because they are so good I could scream but also so expensive I could scream. While on a trip, I recently revisited Sephora Collection’s beloved sheet masks and thought to myself ‘wow, okay, how did I forget how completely great these are?!’ Just like the 111Skin collection, there are different masks for different skin goals and concerns, but they come in at a fraction, and I mean fraction, of the price. Go get ’em!
While very nice and luxe, you should see the outright pained expressions on my friends’ faces when I tell them my my fave Sisley-Paris face mist (enriched with orange blossom, rose, cornflower and witch hazel floral waters) will set them back a cool $100. So, before they disown me for good, I push another French favorite (this time from Avène) into their hands. It uses the brand’s signature thermal spring water and feels just as dreamy and soothing as the Sisley Paris option, even if it does lack some key floral notes.
I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell you this, but Tanologist and Tan-Luxe (two of my all-time favorite brands for a faux glow) are owned by the same parent company. So, not surprisingly, I’ve had trouble noticing much difference between these two formulas. Both are made with clean, nontoxic ingredients, and both are hyper-easy to customize and use. Just mix a drop (or three) into your normal face moisturizer and you’ll look naturally sun-kissed all year round. Also, I’m the most breakout-prone person I know, and neither of these send my complexion into pimple purgatory. (Not the case for the majority of facial self-tanners I’ve tried.)
I recently chatted all things beauty with Alex Cooper (yes, the Alex Cooper from Call Her Daddy—interview coming soon!) and she reminded me how clutch this particular flavor/shade of the ever-iconic Burt’s Bees chapstick it is. My love for Tata Harper’s raspberry, I-just-sucked-a-cherry-popsicle lip tint runs so deep I would probably take a bullet for it it at this point, but this alternative from Burt’s Bees is Alex- and Erin-approved and just as, or at least *almost* as good.
Catch me any night of the week, and 70% of the time I’ll be bundled into a blanketed cocoon on my couch, watching Netflix and proudly slathered in ZitSticka’s Pore Vac Clearing Clay Mask. It contains a really epic mix of AHAs and BHAs, niacinamide, jojoba, plus kaolin clay, bentonite clay, and apple cider vinegar. (Truly, it will perform an exorcism on anything you’re not loving texture-wise on your face.) It might not be as fancy with just one star, singular ingredient (bentonite clay) but Aztec Secret’s Indian Healing Clay—an Amazon all-star—also really gets the job done when you want a quick-fix. Plus, the brand actually recommends that you use apple cider vinegar instead of plain water as your mixing agent, so you’re getting yet another identical ingredient to Zitsticka’s formula in that regard.
I use my Joanna Czech massage tool every single day for multiple reasons. A) it feels like a kneading, deep tissue facial massage and helps decrease the tightness and tension I hold in my face—my jaw especially. And B) it really helps sculpt and lift, practically carving out my MIA cheekbones just in time for makeup or a morning Zoom call. It’s one of my favorite beauty tools, and while I couldn’t find any information as to what Skin Gym’s less-expensive version is made out of (Czech’s is aluminum alloy and the handle is zinc alloy), I don’t see how it could wield that different of results.
Don’t get it twisted—I live and die by my Renée Rouleau products. (I also adore her as a person and as one of the best celebrity facialists I’ve ever worked with.) She recently launched a scrub version of her cult-loved Triple Berry Smoothing Peel and while it is absolutely fantastic (and yes, incredibly smoothing) it will cost you a pretty penny. The only other physical face exfoliator I’ve ever loved is this one from Versed. It’s more affordable, has some similar ingredients as Triple Berry—i.e. antioxidant-rich berry extracts and jojoba—and still gives you that addictive, soft-as-a-baby’s-bum skin finish.
