The Delight of Dupes, an e.l.f story
I think it’s fair to say that e.l.f has taken over my life.
I spend a lot of time fascinated with e.l.f Cosmetics: watching the virality of their launches, their confidence in their products and their pride in their niche in the beauty industry. It was the release of the Suntouchable! Whoa Glow sunscreen that reeled me in. The summer of 2023, it finally occurred to me that I should be using daily sunscreen on my face, under my makeup. I figured a primer with sunscreen would fit the bill and this was a dupe for the famous Supergoop sunscreen. For only $14, it would serve as a primer, and protect from sun damage; sign me up! Between then and now, I’ve delved into the Flawless Finish Foundation, primers, color correctors, brow gel, eyeshadow, eyeliner, lip oil, lip liner and liquid blush. I’ve quickly and efficiently fallen down an e.l.fing rabbit hole of makeup experimentation and delight.
As someone who wasn’t raised with makeup, I didn’t get into it until 2020. During the pandemic, I got a little more curious about makeup and what I could do with it. Being stuck at home where no one had to see me, it felt like a good time to start trying eyeshadow palettes.
I continued to tinker with what I could do with makeup, and it was fun to try something out and just take it off if I didn’t like it. If I did, I could snap a few pics and share on Instagram (or forget to). I’d watch makeup tutorials, without having any of the products to imitate their techniques. They would say specifics like which type of formula they preferred for their products, the best type of brush or tool to use for application, mixing products together for a perfected look- and hardly any of this made sense to me. I’d look at the brushes they were using or the products mentioned and buying all of those would have added up considerably. So I resorted to really basic things like finding my shade in a few foundations and concealers, a mascara that I love and determining that a sponge is the easiest for me to work with for face makeup. I’d watch Ulta sales and makeup Subreddits to see what the people were into, and test and learn.
YouTube directed me towards Kelly Goosh and from her channel I was intrigued by the products, brands, reviews and makeup history. She’s a great guide for the best drugstore brand products, as I had previously bought some drugstore items only to be disappointed when the products didn’t meet expectations. I had seemingly internalized that if you want something good, you have to be willing to pay.
When Kelly would talk about the best or latest launches at the drugstore, e.l.f was a name I heard often. Maybe part of it was that I finally knew if it’s pronounced elf or e.l.f. (don’t judge). But the price tag was always mentioned: e.l.f was doing great for less. And here is where I started to think, I could try out a bunch of products, a haul if you will, and create to my heart’s content without breaking the bank.
While I’m not a fan of copycats, we have an economic system that is built upon implied worth. A product or service has worth based on whether or not other people want to buy it or not, not for its innate value. So we have marketing teams to invent problems for consumers and are ready with the solution you can purchase. For a lot of products, do the bells and whistles matter if the product works and suits your needs?
What I love about dupe culture as it pertains to makeup is that the most expensive version of a product may not be the best. We have this bias that a high price tag means high value and performance. The more money we put behind something, the stronger we believe in its abilities. We think that if it costs this much, it must be worth it and anything that costs less probably won’t cut it. But that’s usually not true. Oftentimes we’re paying for the name, the prestige of the brand and that branding doesn’t always equate to quality. E.l.f is a brand who’s whole strategy is to make dupes. They are not out to make the best products per se- they are out to prove that you can have quality and affordability in the same sleek package. I don’t think they are setting out to dupe the best out there; they are taking what’s viral and expensive and asking “Why?”. And it works.
Dupes also don’t stop consumers from buying from prestige brands if they want to. Some people want the more expensive one or better believe in its properties. Some are brand loyalists and aren’t even looking at any other beauty industry noise. But dupes do allow more consumers to experience different types of products and join in the fun. They provide access for price-sensitive people to also try things out and see what they like. As long as the quality is still great, dupes democratize beauty!
I just love the proof that you don’t have to charge an exuberant price in order to signal the value of your product. E.l.f products can stand on their own, their affordable pricing making them inviting to try but their quality creates a cult like following.