Becca is one of those brands you'll never have heard of unless you're a beauty addict, and even then, it usually takes a little while to get over the shock of how expensive tiny vials of makeup can be. That said, almost all their items are of very good quality - I personally am a fan of the Pressed Shimmer Powders (or PSPs if you know the lingo) and Loose Shimmer Powders (or LSPs). Every season, they also release palettes containing eyeshadows, cream blush and eyeliner that get a lot of good press. This season, they released the Prairie Moon Palette, which consisted of a lip/cheek creme, and some eyshadows.
As usual, I was drooling over those pictures, in particular the beautiful silvery-green eyeshadow. It's second from the right, and it looked absolutely gorgeous. I was thinking - since it was that silvery-green eyeshadow I wanted most, surely in my massive stash, there must be something similar, if not a dupe, for it?
So I rooted around in my makeup stash, and voila. This is what I found. Not a dupe, but pretty, nonetheless.
Yes, that's the £1-a-pop Superdrug MUA line. They have a series of loose eyeshadow powders, called the Eye Dusts, which I found a little bit overrated, to be honest. But for £1, what's not to like? This is Shade 1.
Shade 1 is a silvery-green with gold shimmer, much like the Becca version. I really like this colour - I think it leans cool, but the gold shimmer warms it up so that it's not unwearabble if you're a warmtoned girl. It's very pretty, and it was the colour that made me buy it in the first place.
This looks quite close to the Becca version to me, only that the Becca version isn't as glittery. I have to admit, the glitter in this one is in rather large chunks, while the Becca version isn't. Also, I think the Becca shade is a bit more brown, leaning khaki, while the Superdrug MUA shade is a more simplistic silver-grey shade, without the khaki hints. So it's not a dupe. But it's still a pretty shadow in a similar colour family.
So, with that in mind, I decided to attempt an eye look with this shade. Here is how it turned out. Firstly, you'll have to excuse the lashes - I had an incident with my eyelash curler, which chopped off a good 4-5 lashes, leaving me with a bald spot along my lashline:
Here is a breakdown of the eye look:
Superdrug MUA Eye Dust Shade 1 on lid
Urban Decay Twice Baked in crease
Milani Snow Frost on browbone
Covergirl Lashblast mascara
Urban Decay Yeyo 24/7 Eyeliner Pencil in inner corner
GOSH Velvet Touch Eyeliner Pencil in Metallic Brass in outer lower lashline
For this look, I foiled the Superdrug MUA Eye Dust. The Eye Dusts are only of medium pigmentation, so if you really want that wet look you'll have to foil them. And when you foil them, it's a good idea to use a sticky base, instead of just water like I did. These loose powders have little staying power, so a good base is necessary.
Here is a picture of the eye look with my eyes closed. You can see the Eye Dust falling off onto my lashes already without a base. You can also see the stumps of lashes where my eyelash curler brutally chopped them off:
So, was the dupe-the-look attempt successful? Not really, because the Superdrug MUA Eye Dust isn't really a dupe for the Becca eyeshadow in the palette. But I guess for £1, it's the cheapest way possible to get a similar look. So I imagine if you're on a budget, and don't mind the blingy shimmer in the Eye Dust, it would probably be worth a go for you. But if you hate big chunky shimmer, and don't want to deal with loose powder fallout, then the Becca palette will bring you much more enjoyment.
