Duped: Makeup Revolution The Emily Edit: The Wants

If you saw my post yesterday, you'll know that I was very disappointed in The Wants palette by Makeup Revolution The Emily Edit. I had never before tried a Makeup Revolution product, in large part because I don't really like their business model of largely ripping off successful products from other brands.

I know this is a debate in the beauty community, but I am on the side of protecting intellectual property. Yes, many palettes are inspired by others. Just look at how many red-toned palettes came out after the success of ABH Modern Renaissance (like Huda Beauty Desert Dusk, Huda Beauty Mauve Obsessions, Urban Decay Born to Run, Wet W Wild Rosé in the Air, Jeffree Star Blood Sugar, and the new Urban Decay Naked Cherry [eye roll], to name a few), and that palette was inspired by the Lime Crime Venus palette.

But there is a difference between being inspired by a color scheme (and wanting to copy it for your own financial gain) and blatantly ripping off the color scheme, name, and packaging of an existing successful product, which Makeup Revolution has done on multiple occasions.

As I mentioned in my review, if there is one "influencer" whose product I would want to buy, it's Emilynoel83. I appreciate that she doesn't have any sponsored content, she appears to be a very genuine person, and she doesn't seem to be a content creator for fame or money. She really seems like she just loves talking about her passion of makeup. And even if buying this palette sends a message that people like Emily are the ones brands should be collaborating with instead of those who are racist, problematic, selfish, vapid, and dishonest, I think it was a worthwhile purchase.

And then I used it, and it was awful.

The colors lacked pigment, and they were dry, patchy, and difficult to blend. I couldn't have been more disappointed in it. And then I received several messages from people telling me that this is classic Makeup Revolution formula. It's just bad.

I was thinking last night about how disappointed I was in the palette, especially because I liked the color scheme, so I decided that I wanted to try to replicate it with shadows in my collection that are high quality. And, frankly, duping this palette felt highly appropriate since the brand made its success on duping other brands.

So, I did.

Here is The Emily Edit: The Wants:

And here is my duped version of it:

Row one: The Wants / Duped

The Cream / Viseart matte white

Hobby / Makeup Geek Desert Sands

Prayer / Costal Scents Petal Peach

Grateful / Colourpop Rosé All Day

Good Vibes / MAC Coppering

Side Hustle / Makeup Geek Typhoon

Row two: The Wants / Duped

Midwest / Viseart matte warm brown

Dues Paid / Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear

Eve Rose / Touch of Glam Beauty Merlin's Wand

Belle Violet / Touch of Glam Beauty Corrupted

Capricorn / Coloured Raine Queen Mother

Pi Phi / Viseart shimmer pruple

Row three: The Wants / Duped

Oh Heavens! / Make Up For Ever Pearl

Love Tons / ABH Love Letter

Pizzazz / ABH Macaroon 

Family / Ardency Inn Violet 

Top Story / Too Faced Molasses Chip

Apartment / Coloured Raine Dutchess

Row four: The Wants / Duped

Cupcake / Makeup Geek Cosmopolitan

Laughcry/ Lime Crime Rebirth

Cheer / Lime Crime Muse

Heartbeat / MAC Cranberry

Corduroy / Urban Decay Graffiti

Dark & Early / Coloured Raine Dethrone 

As with all of my posts on "duped" palettes, I have to give a few disclaimers. 

1. Not all of the shadows I used in my palette are sold as singles. Many of them were previously depotted from palettes.
2. Not all of the shadows are an exact color match. I'm making my own palette, so I sometimes swap in shades that I personally like more. 
3. In a few instances, I did not have an appropriate color match, so I improvised as best as I could. 

Now, I'm just going to be frank. I love how my duped palette looks. And I absolutely credit Emily with curating a great color scheme. But I like mine much more. I think mine is vibrant, rich, and the colors just pop out more than they do in the Makeup Revolution palette. And I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that mine has very high quality shadows. 

The biggest changes that I made to the palette were:

• Replacing Capricorn—a darkened purple shimmer that came off as black—with a rich warm purple shimmer. 
• Replacing Pi Phi —a dark berry matte—with a lighter warm purple shimmer
• Replacing Family—a matte dark purple—with a dark purple shimmer
• Replacing Corduroy—a matte dark green—with a dark green shimmer
• Replacing Dark & Early—a matte black—with a dark brown shimmer

For what it's worth, I didn't have an exact duplicate shadow for Pi Phi, Family, Corduroy, or Dark & Early, and that's because—for the exception of Corduroy—I don't like those colors. I would have replaced those shadows with other colors even if I had a suitable dupe. 

Corduroy was the only shadow that I liked the color but didn't have a dupe. (If anyone knows of one, please let me know.) I replaced it with the best option that I had, which is a dark green shimmer. 

I made other minor changes to the palette, such as making Prayer more peach/pink–based instead of rose/brown. Colourpop Rosé All Day is a close color match to Grateful, but it is just more true to color in the pan.  

Looking at my duped palette, I feel really excited to use it, which is how I felt about The Wants before I actually delved in. I plan on using this palette in the coming week to see what kind of looks I can come up with, again, inspired by Emily's color scheme. 

As a final note, I just wanted to say that trying to dupe a palette with shadows in your own collection is always a great way to temper the craving to buy something. I would also encourage you to depot some of your palettes so that you can use those shades in this process as well. I remember feeling timid about depotting my Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts palette, but I've been able to use the shades in it for many duped palettes, which I've really enjoyed. Another great thing about duping palettes is that they don't have to be forever. You can use one color scheme for a while, and then when you feel tempted by a new release, just deconstruct one of your other duped palettes and make the one that's currently tempting you. That way, you can use the inspiration from the latest new palettes without having to actually spend the money on things you already own. 

As for my Wants palette, I won't be using it again and it will be decluttered from my collection. But I only kind of consider it a wasted purchase. Yes, the quality was awful, and no, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else. But, I'm glad I have tried the Makeup Revolution formula (and can now speak to it in future posts), and I feel pretty okay about buying an "influencer" palette that might inform the future of who is being offered these deals and opportunities.

Now, I have my own version of the gorgeous color scheme Emily curated, but it's better suited to my personal taste and is of great quality.  

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