Some HIP Duo swatches and dupes

Finally something new and interesting to post, and time to do it!!!! Weeee! I just want to say thank you to the people who continue to read this and give me support to move forward. Its really really nice to know that some people actually find my pics and info to be valuable!

Moving on to the good stuff...I guess I just had a hankering for a cheap haul so I picked up some of the new HIP Duos at Walgreens for BOGOF. I got Gunmetal, Guilded and Sculpted as well as Saucy from the regular collection. Total of $15 and change. I had purchased some HIP Duos in the past and thought that the quality was great but that I had MAC dupes of them all so I always just used the MAC and put the L'Oreal aside.

Clockwise from top left: Saucy, Gilded, Gunmetal, Sculpted *note, I have not done EOTD's with these so my below reviews are based on swatching only, however I feel I can make a good judgement on wearablity after swatching.



Accidently switched the order on these L-R: Gilded, Saucy, Scultped, Gunmetal


Here I decided to swatch the HIP duos against what I thought were dupes. From left MAC Beauty Marked, the dark shade from Scultped, Fyrinnae Still Breathing, MAC Apricot Pink Pigment, light shade from Sculpted.

Honestly, I think that the dark HIP duo shade is better than Beauty Marked! It was more smooth and the pinkish red shimmer showed up more (couldnt get a good shot of it). Still Breathing has a much blacker base and has redder rather than pink shimmer. Apricot Pink wasnt as close as I thought once I swatched it, its much lighter.



Here are my dupes for the Guilded Duo...dark shade from Guilded, Archetype Ornaments of Gold (there also may be a Fyrinnae dupe, but I didnt have time to look), light shade from Guilded, UD Deluxe in Honey. Honey is way more yellow and less bronze than Guilded. The Archetype dupe is waaaay more sparkly than the HIP.



Here are the duos I had from the past not pictured above...Showy and Roaring. L-R: MAC Parrot, Teal shade from Showy, Blue shade from Roaring, MAC Deep Truth. Basically, if you never got your hands on Parrot, Showy is perfect. I do however like the Blue from Roaring almost better than Deep Truth. Its much deeper and brighter but has less sheen. I've heard its also very similar to UD Deluxe in Adore. I didnt swatch the matte shades in those duos because I honestly dont love the colors.



Here are my overall thoughts: L'Oreal really has some great MAC dupes here. The frostier/shimmery shades are very smooth and pigmented. The matte shades are just ok IMO. But, if you are on a budget and dont already own a ton of MAC, these are really a great choice!