Makeup Monday: Makeup Revolution Dupe Test (part 1)

All right ladies (and gents, as the case may be), settle in. This is about to be an info-packed post.
For those who aren’t aware, the brand Makeup Revolution often makes dupe products of popular eyeshadow palettes from Urban Decay, Lorac, Too Faced and Kat Von D. Controversy aside—the name-brand labels obviously aren’t thrilled about cheap versions of their products—we wanted to know: Do the Makeup Revolution versions come close to the real deals?
This month, editor Emma Frankart Henterly tested the Makeup Revolution dupes for Naked and Lorac palettes. She did wear tests for some of the palettes she already owns—Naked 1 and 3 and Lorac Pro 2—and did swatch comparisons of the rest.
MR Iconic 1 Redemption vs. UD Naked
Makeup Revolution shades are the left side of each pair, with corresponding Urban Decay shades on the right.
Cost: $7 vs. $54
Brush: Cheap dual-ended foam applicator vs. nice dual-ended brush
Mirror: None vs. small
Packaging: Cheap plastic vs. luxe-feeling velvet and heavy cardboard
Shade swatches: Very similar
Pigmentation: Shimmer shades are consistently good in the MR palette, though matte shades tend to be much lighter and require more building
Availability: Both at Ulta and respective brand websites; UD Naked also available at Sephora
MR Iconic 2 Redemption vs. UD Naked2
Makeup Revolution shades are the left side of each pair, with corresponding Urban Decay shades on the right.
Cost: $7 vs. $54
Brush: Cheap dual-ended foam applicator vs. nice dual-ended brush
Mirror: None vs. large
Packaging: Cheap plastic vs. metal tin
Shade swatches: Virtually identical, with a couple of exceptions
Pigmentation: Seems comparable when swatched, though matte shades may be a bit lighter
Availability: Both at Ulta and respective brand websites; UD Naked2 also available at Sephora
MR Iconic 3 Redemption vs. UD Naked3
Makeup Revolution shades are the left side of each pair, with corresponding Urban Decay shades on the right.
Cost: $7 vs. $54
Brush: Cheap dual-ended foam applicator vs. nice dual-ended brush
Mirror: None vs. large
Packaging: Cheap plastic vs. metal tin
Shade swatches: Very similar, but almost no true matches
Pigmentation: Fairly similar; the Naked3 received some criticism for its formula compared to its predecessors, which means the Iconic 3 Redemption had a smaller gap to close in quality
Availability: Both at Ulta and respective brand websites; UD Naked3 also available at Sephora
MR Iconic Smokey vs. UD Naked Smoky
Makeup Revolution shades are the left side of each pair, with corresponding Urban Decay shades on the right.
Cost: $12 vs. $54
Brush: Both have dual-ended brushes, though the UD version is a little higher quality
Mirror: Both have large, quality mirrors
Packaging: Cheap plastic vs. heavier, more durable-feeling plastic
Shade swatches: Virtually identical in nearly every shade
Pigmentation: Seems comparable, though the darker shades in the MR palette fall short
Availability: Both at Ulta and respective brand websites; UD Naked Smoky also available at Sephora
Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro 1 vs. Lorac Pro
Makeup Revolution shades are the left side of each pair, with corresponding Lorac shades on the right.
Cost: $12 vs. $44
Brush: Dual-ended brush vs. nothing
Mirror: Large vs. small
Packaging: Cheap plastic vs. slim, thick cardboard
Shade swatches: Virtually identical in all but the darkest matte shades
Pigmentation: It’s no surprise that MR didn’t come close to Lorac’s ultra-pigmented shades, but most colors—excluding the dark matte shades, which were quite chalky—could be built up to match
Availability: Both at Ulta and respective brand websites
Makeup Revolution Iconic Pro 2 vs. Lorac Pro 2
Makeup Revolution shades are the left side of each pair, with corresponding Lorac shades on the right.
Cost: $12 vs. $44
Brush: Dual-ended brush vs. nothing
Mirror: Large vs. small
Packaging: Cheap plastic vs. slim, thick cardboard
Shade swatches: Light matte shades are virtually identical, shimmers are within a shade or two and dark mattes simply can’t compare
Pigmentation: A huge draw of the Lorac palette is its vibrant dark matte hues, which MR can’t match even with patient building of applications; the shimmer shades in both are fantastic, however
Availability: Both at Ulta and respective brand websites
Ultimately, we felt that in most cases the Makeup Revolution palettes stood up to the big boys on virtually every shimmer shade. Matte shades were hit or miss, with most misses falling in the dark matte shades, which are notoriously difficult to get right even among the name brands. The Makeup Revolution palettes did require some more work and layering to get even, full pigmentation, however. All three brands performed very well under all-day wear with an eyeshadow primer base. (Emma used Urban Decay’s Primer Potion and a translucent powder to set in all wear tests.)
Most people—even fellow makeup mavens—had no idea that Emma was wearing a different palette on each eye. So if you’re on a budget, you really can’t go wrong with the dupes for anything but dark matte colors. But if you have the dough, we recommend the real deals to get full use of all shades.
And what about the Naked Heat palette coming later this month? Well, considering that the Lorac Pro 3 palette released last June and Makeup Revolution has yet to release a dupe for it, we can’t recommend waiting around if the Naked Heat colors are must-haves. But if you don’t mind the long wait? We say save the cash.