The Best e.l.f. Dupes for High-End Makeup

The closest e.l.f. dupe for a high-end product is Halo Glow Liquid Filter for Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter: two liquid glow products whose ingredient lists open with the same two ingredients, at about a quarter of the price. The Halo Glow Highlight Beauty Wand is nearly as close a match for Charlotte Tilbury’s Beauty Light Wand. For Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer, the dupe is e.l.f. Power Grip Primer, a sticky gel built on the same idea. And for Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze, it’s e.l.f. Brow Lift, a clear wax with nearly the same short label. A dupe gets you the product type, the finish and the main ingredients. It doesn’t get you the exact formula, the full shade range or the packaging.

The eight at a glance

Prices are approximate, and they change often.

1. Charlotte Tilbury Flawless Filter dupe: e.l.f. Halo Glow Liquid Filter

Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter is a liquid complexion product with a glowy finish, sold in 12 shades. Its label opens with water and hydrogenated didecene, then mica and glycerin, with squalane close behind.

e.l.f. Halo Glow Liquid Filter opens with the same two ingredients, and squalane and glycerin sit in its top five. e.l.f. describes it as a liquid glow booster with a soft-focus finish and lists four ways to wear it: alone, under or over makeup, mixed into foundation, or as a highlighter. It comes in 15 shades. Charlotte Tilbury adds a porcelain flower extract; e.l.f. adds two forms of hyaluronic acid. It’s the same dupe our Flawless Filter review lands on. Shade numbers don’t carry over between the two brands, so choose by the description, not the digit.

2. Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand dupe: e.l.f. Halo Glow Highlight Beauty Wand

The Charlotte Tilbury Beauty Light Wand is a liquid highlighter wand with a cushion applicator. Charlotte Tilbury calls the finish high gloss and soft-focus.

The e.l.f. Halo Glow Highlight Beauty Wand copies the format down to the cushion tip, and the labels are near neighbors. Water, hydrogenated didecene and isododecane are the first three ingredients on both, with glycerin and mica close behind. e.l.f. says its formula has 2% squalane, which isn’t on Charlotte Tilbury’s list. The tube is a little smaller, 10 ml to 12, and it still works out to under a third of the price per ounce. e.l.f. makes six shades, and none is sold as a match for a Charlotte Tilbury shade, so expect a similar glow in a neighboring tone. Our cream highlighter guide covers placement.

3. Anastasia Brow Freeze dupe: e.l.f. Brow Lift

Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Freeze is a clear brow styling wax. Anastasia Beverly Hills sells it on extreme hold and a feathered brow, and the ingredient list is ten items long: water, ceteareth-30, sorbitol, propanediol and glycerin come first.

e.l.f. Brow Lift is shorter still, at seven ingredients. Ceteareth-30 leads, then water and glycerin, then aloe. So the two share their lead ingredients. e.l.f. also calls its formula extreme hold, and describes the finish as glossy. You get a touch more, 8.8 grams to 8, at under a third of the price. If you want a flat, matte brow, the gloss is the thing to weigh.

4. Milk Hydro Grip setting spray dupe: e.l.f. Power Grip Dewy Setting Spray

Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Set + Refresh Spray is the mist that goes with the primer. Milk Makeup says it’s alcohol-free and sets makeup for up to 12 hours with a glowy finish. The label has hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a long run of plant extracts.

e.l.f. Power Grip Dewy Setting Spray shares a surprising amount of that run: neem, holy basil, turmeric, eggplant, ivy gourd, a red seaweed and moringa oil are on both labels, along with PVP, a film former. e.l.f. says its spray is a two-phase formula with 5% aloe, hyaluronic acid and squalane, and that it’s fragrance-free. There’s no denatured alcohol on its list either. What’s missing is the niacinamide. Both are dewy sprays, so neither is the obvious choice for oily skin. See setting spray versus setting powder.

5. Milk Hydro Grip Primer dupe: e.l.f. Power Grip Primer

Milk Makeup Hydro Grip Primer is a gel primer made to grip makeup. Milk Makeup says it holds for up to 12 hours, and the formula includes hyaluronic acid and niacinamide.

e.l.f. Power Grip Primer is a sticky gel too, and e.l.f. says the tackiness is intentional. Both labels list glycerin, PEG-150 distearate (a thickener), niacinamide and sodium hyaluronate. They start differently: Milk’s with aloe leaf water, e.l.f.’s with plain water. Milk’s also has denatured alcohol, fifth on the list, and e.l.f.’s has none. The e.l.f. tube is about half the size, 0.8 ounces to 1.52, so the saving is closer to half per ounce than the two-thirds the shelf prices suggest. Our Hydro Grip review names the same dupe, with one reservation: e.l.f. is a little stickier. Not sure you need one at all? See do you need a makeup primer.

6. Tatcha Silk Canvas dupe: e.l.f. Liquid Poreless Putty Primer

Tatcha The Silk Canvas is a primer balm, sold by weight. Dimethicone is its first ingredient, with water and glycerin right behind, and squalane, silk powder and silk extracts further down. It contains fragrance.

e.l.f. Liquid Poreless Putty Primer has water first and dimethicone second, and it shares more than the silicone: glycerin, squalane, green tea extract and the same powder ingredient (HDI/trimethylol hexyllactone crosspolymer) appear on both. e.l.f. describes it as a lightweight liquid that grips makeup and leaves a poreless-looking finish. There’s no silk in it and no fragrance on its list. Texture is the real difference. Tatcha’s is a balm; this is a liquid. You get more of it, 0.94 fluid ounces to Tatcha’s 0.7 ounces, for a fifth of the price. If the dense balm feel is why you buy Silk Canvas, the liquid won’t replace it.

7. Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi dupe: e.l.f. SKIN Bronzing Drops

Drunk Elephant D-Bronzi Sunshine Drops is a bronze-tinted serum you stir into moisturizer for color that washes off. It isn’t a self-tanner.

e.l.f. SKIN Bronzing Drops works the same way, in the same 30 ml size, for under a third of the price. e.l.f. makes four shades and says the formula has sunflower seed oil, vitamin E and marula oil. The link here goes to Pure Gold. It’s the dupe our D-Bronzi review names, and that review’s one reservation holds: e.l.f. reads a little more shimmery. Neither product has SPF, so sunscreen still goes on first.

8. Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm dupe: e.l.f. Squeeze Me Lip Balm

Summer Fridays Lip Butter Balm is a glossy balm in a squeeze tube. Its label has shea and murumuru seed butters, a blend of vegan waxes and sodium hyaluronate, and the Vanilla version is flavored to match. Summer Fridays suggests it for daytime shine or as an overnight lip mask.

e.l.f. Squeeze Me Lip Balm is a squeeze-tube balm with a sheer tint, sold in a range of shades and flavors, and e.l.f. says it’s made with hyaluronic acid. The link here goes to Vanilla Frosting. This match rests on format and finish more than on the label, so it’s last. The tube is also less than half the size, 0.21 ounces to 0.5, which makes it about half the price per ounce and not the fifth the shelf prices suggest. Our Lip Butter Balm review picks the same dupe and calls it the thinner formula of the two.

When the expensive one is still worth it

When shade matters. The originals come in tones e.l.f. doesn’t copy one for one, and a glow product in the wrong undertone looks off no matter what it cost. When texture is the point, as with the Silk Canvas balm. When size matters: several of these dupes come in smaller packages, so check the price per ounce before you count the saving. And when one ingredient matters to you, like the niacinamide in Milk’s setting spray.

If I Were You

• If you only swap one thing, I’d swap the Flawless Filter. It’s the closest label match here, on the product you’d use most often.
• If your makeup slides off by lunch, I’d start with Power Grip Primer and add the setting spray only if the primer alone doesn’t hold.
• If your skin is dry or reacts to alcohol-based products, I’d note that the e.l.f. primer lists no denatured alcohol and the Milk one does. Persistent stinging or redness is a question for a dermatologist.
• If large pores are your complaint, I’d pick the Liquid Poreless Putty Primer over either grip primer. Sticky gels hold makeup. They don’t blur.
• If fragrance bothers you, I’d lean toward the e.l.f. putty primer and setting spray, which list none.
• If you love one original and want to keep it, I’d keep the one whose shade or texture you can’t match, and dupe the clear products: the brow wax, the primer and the spray.

Bottom line

e.l.f. is at its best when it copies a format: a glow booster, a cushion wand, a grip primer, a clear brow wax. Those are the easy swaps. Keep the original where a shade, a balm texture or one ingredient is what you’re paying for. For more low-cost swaps, see our drugstore makeup dupes and the rest of the makeup archive.