Marc Jacobs Beauty alternatives

Earlier this week I posted about the eyeshadows from the new Marc Jacobs makeup line (read it here). I went to have another look at the collection at Sephora and it seems like the entire line is a big bunch of higher-cost dupes.

The foundation ($48), which is a "gel formula," is really fluid and has a weightless feel. It's not too matte, so it can give you a natural finish. However, the texture and coverage seems very similar to those of Urban Decay Naked Skin, Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation, and NARS Sheer Glow, all of which are less expensive. So if you already own one of those, maybe take a look at them again before purchasing this one.

I didn't get a picture of the brow gel, but it's pretty standard; a mascara-type wand in a clear gel. But why would anyone ever have to pay $24 for clear brow gel? Get the Maybelline Great Lash mascara; they have a clear formula that works great for brows.

The lip balm ($24) is just like the Fresh Sugar lip balm, except the one from Fresh is a dollar cheaper and comes in a lot of colors--which is nice if you want color when you wear a lip balm this thick, because any lip color that you apply over it will slide right off.

Each of the nail polishes is $18, which is ridiculous. Try Essie; there are a lot of similar colors, and for the price of one Marc Jacobs nail polish you can get two or more Essie ones, depending on where you buy it. The Marc Jacobs claims to have the strength and shine of 30 coats, to which I say, so what? There are so many factors in determining how long your nail polish lasts, like if you're scratching, typing, or doing dishes--the best you can do is get a really good top coat. Try Seche Vite top coat.

Top: Marc Jacobs
Bottom: Stila Stay All Day eyeliner

The eyeliner ($30) is a really typical felt tip pen style; Stila's Stay All Day eyeliner is even more pigmented, and lasts better too. For a drugstore option, Revlon's Colorstay felt tip eyeliner performs very much the same as the one from Stila.

The brushes in this line are very expensive--and also strangely designated. The one in the picture is supposed to be the foundation brush ($48), but why would you use such a fluffy brush for your foundation? A foundation brush needs to be more densely packed with shorter bristles for even, precise, and controlled application. Also, the bronzer brush is way too big for contouring, so it's more like an extra-large powder brush. Try Real Techniques brushes instead; they're so much cheaper (under $10 each), and is actually made by a makeup artist who knows something about brushes.

Bottom line: Marc Jacobs is a fashion designer, not a makeup artist. There's already a lot of great makeup out there, and I feel like they just made a bunch of dupes with really expensive packaging. I'm sure if I explored the counter a little longer I would've found even more dupes, because I found alternatives for half of the products. My experience with the Marc Jacobs makeup has made me applaud their marketing department for hyping up this collection as much as it has. See the entire Marc Jacobs Beauty line here.

Marc Jacobs Beauty Lolita eyeshadow palette: Review, swatches, and comparisons!

Marc Jacobs Beauty just launched at Sephora last week--I picked up the eyeshadow palette in The Lolita.

The packaging is really sleek, and reminds me of a Mont Blanc pen. It seems pretty sturdy, and it snaps shut, so it won't fling open when you're traveling with it. It also comes inside a sleeve, so that shiny enamel case doesn't get scratched.

You get seven eyeshadows and a nice, long mirror. The thing that's notable about this palette is that you get five light colors, one medium shade, and one really dark color--it's a little unbalanced, which means you probably won't have a lot of variety/options with this palette.

Look at how chunky the white color is! :(

The quality of the colors is just okay; the matte colors (first three from the left) are a little difficult to build up and kind of chalky, and the glittery color (middle) is really flaky. The three shimmery colors on the right are fine, but the quality is not as good as Urban Decay eyeshadows. Just looking at the colors, though, it really reminds me of the Too Faced Natural Eye palette.

Swatching the colors side-by-side, you can see that there are a lot of similarities between these two palettes! The only color in the Marc Jacobs palette that seems more unique is the pink color, which has purple iridescent shimmer in it, but if you already have the Too Faced palette, it's really not worth getting the Marc Jacobs just for this one color.

Top row: Shades from the Marc Jacobs palette
Bottom row: Comparable colors from the Too Faced Natural Eye palette

The price is also kind of concerning; it's $59 for seven eyeshadows--I'm sure most of that goes towards the packaging. To put this in perspective, that's $8.43 for each color; the Too Faced palette is $36 for nine colors, so $4.00 each. Each of the colors in the Urban Decay Naked palettes cost $4.17.

The high cost is particularly disappointing when you dump out the sponge-tip applicator at the bottom of the sleeve; for $59, I would expect an "extra" that is much more impressive than this.

Hot or Not: NOT

If you already have neutral palettes, The Lolita palette is really not worth getting; there are just palettes with more variety, higher quality eyeshadows, and more reasonable prices out there. If you're interested in these colors, get the Too Faced Natural Eye palette (find it here); it's cheaper, better quality, and has more colors.

However, this seven-color palette also comes in other colors (there's one with jewel tones, one with purples, and one with a mix of neutrals and colors) which may be worth checking out if you want a really luxurious eyeshadow palette with some unique colors. See the whole Marc Jacobs Beauty collection here.