Indie Dupes for MAC Eyeshadows

ByCordelia

I was talking on twitter with Sparklecrack Central about some MAC comparisons to Indie Shadows, so I ended up swatching a bunch of stuff. Most of the indie stuff is from Silk Naturals. One is from Evil Shades and others are from Stars Makeup Haven (linked to All Cosmetics Wholesale, who has good customer service in my experience). So these swatches are for LiAnn 🙂

Shade Descriptions:
Silk Naturals Nekkid – MAC Naked Lunch clone, shimmery pink. (contains carmine)
Silk Naturals Purr – Stila Kitten clone, shimmering golden pink. V.
Stila Kitten – shimmering nude pink
Silk Naturals Cabana – MAC Paradisco clone, golden peach shimmer
Silk Naturals Sonic – MAC Vanilla clone, a very light, pearlescent golden tone with an intense golden slightly pinkish copper highlight. V
MAC Fairylite – very pale ivory shimmer with opalescent pearl
MAC Yogurt – soft pale pink (matte)
MAC Juxt – bright green with golden shimmer (satin)
Silk Naturals Charmed – MAC Juxt clone, golden green shimmer. V.
Silk Naturals Fairy Dust – light shimmery gold green pink. V.
Silk Naturals Lunar – NARS Habanera clone, velvety aqua. V.
Urban Decay Asphyxia – lavender with blue shift
Evil Shades Suffocation – clone of Urban Decay Asyphyxia, lavender w/ blue shift
MAC Stars n’ Rockets – purple with pink pearl (veluxe pearl)
MAC Nylon – pale gold with icy metallic shimmer (frost)
Silk Naturals Papyrus – MAC Rice Paper clone, warm highlighter shade. V.
Silk Naturals Boom – MAC Shroom clone, warm cream. V.
Silk Naturals Hint – MAC Seedy Pearl clone, lightpink/lavender shimmer. (contains carmine)
Silk Naturals Retro – MAC Kitschmas clone, a very shimmery light purplish pink. V.
MAC Sushi Flower – Pinky-coral with pink shimmer (satin)
MAC Dazzlelight – neutral with shimmer (veluxe pearl)
MAC Blanc Type – creamy beige (matte2)
Stars Makeup Haven Creme d’ Nude – a matte peachy-pink flesh
MAC Orb – soft peachy-beige (satin)
MAC Copperplate – muted mid-tone grey (matte2)
MAC Knight Divine – black with silver pearl (veluxe pearl)
MAC Silver Ring – grey with silver sheen (veluxe pearl)
MAC Electra – silver with icy shimmer (frost)
Silk Naturals Meteor – MAC Natural Flair clone, golden bronze. V
Silk Naturals Idolize – MAC Idol Eyes clone, golden blue plum (contains carmine)
Silk Naturals Brimstone – MAC Slate clone, smoky purple copper. (contains carmine)
Silk Naturals Poly – MAC Parrot clone, medium/deep blue shimmer. V

I’ve tried to mark all the shades that I know that are vegan, as well as those that I know contain carmine. I believe all of the Silk Naturals shades are gluten free. One of the things I really love about indie companies is that they tend to avoid gluten, and some work to avoid carmine so that they’re vegan. I also tend to think they’re more pigmented than their mainstream counterparts.

Now to talk about color clones. Kitten and Purr look very close, Purr might be slightly deeper. Nekkid is in the same color family but definitely darker than Kitten and Purr. Nekkid is basically MAC’s answer to Kitten. Cabana is darker than Nekkid and more peach. Sonic is a great highlighter and Fairylite is a favorite of mine for a wash of color all over or a transitional shadow as it has slight pink interference.

Juxt is a tad deeper and has less shimmer than Charmed. They are very very close. Lunar was included because I find it pretty, same with Fairy Dust. Fairy Dust is really unique to me since it is the palest green with opalescent shimmer. Nymph and Vex are very close, though the pink shimmer appears to be slightly stronger in Vex.

Asphyxia and Suffocation are very close, Asphyxia has more of a pearl type finish where there’s a bit of sparkle in Suffocation. I included Stars n’ Rockets because I consider that to be MAC’s answer to Asphyxia, only it’s more intense and pearlescent. I love its finish. I do find the mainstream versions of these 3 harder to get good color payoff, whereas Suffocation is very easy to get good color payoff when applied.

I included Yogurt because it’s an interesting matte pink shade.

Nylon, Papyrus and Boom all seem to be shades favored for highlighting, though only Nylon is light enough for me and these days I think it’s probably a bit too dark for my taste. Papyrus and Boom are more transitional shades for me.

Hint and Retro are really pretty pinks, with Hint being more pearly and Retro being really sparkly. Sushi flower I absolutely love, no idea why, I don’t think its formula is great, but the color always makes me happy.

Dazzlelight is a fantastic highlighter. Blanc Type & Creme d’ Nude are very very close. Orb is slightly darker than both.

Copperplate is that amazing matte2 grey I always go on about.
Knight Divine and Silver Ring are both the beautiful veluxe pearl finish and you can see how great they look together. I also swatched Electra since I love that shade and it fits with Silver Ring and Knight Divine.

Meteor is lovely, but you all know I love gold/bronze shades. Idolize seems to be a bit more brown than the MAC shade, though I no longer own the MAC shade to swatch it side by side. Brimstone is really nice with Idolize. Poly is breathtaking. I can see why MAC Parrot goes for such a steep price on ebay. Poly has a deep blue base with teal-blue shimmer on top.

As you can see, you can find some great indie equivalents of popular mainstream shades. In my opinion, in general, the indie versions tend to have better color payoff and seem to be easier to blend.

I do wish that someone made an entire line of colors with the veluxe pearl finish. The way Knight Divine, Silver Ring, Stars n’ Rockets and Dazzlelight look is really appealing to me. I do love Silk Naturals eye shadow formula as it’s nice and easy to blend.

What do you think about these colors? Do you see any that you’d like to try?

Cordelia Frost is the creative force behind Phyrra, a treasure trove for cruelty-free indie and goth makeup enthusiasts. She's the author of the game-changing 'Hooded Eyes Makeup Manual' a must-read for hooded eyes makeup.

Cordelia's world is a kaleidoscope of alternative beauty, gothic fashion, and life-enhancing tips, making every visit to Phyrra a journey into a more colorful and inspired self.

24 Comments

  2. Brimstone looks AMAZING! And I need Sonic and Fairy Dust!
    After sorting through my stuff yesterday I realized I had some Silk Naturals stuff but mostly blush sample jars and only 3 jars of eyeshadow. I must have been on a blush kick that day!

  3. Thank you for this, it’s very useful! Also, I think I might have to pay a visit to the Silk Naturals website…I’ve never tried anything of theirs but their shadows look awesome!

    1. I think they’ve got some great shadows.
      Also they have some really pretty bright mattes/nearly mattes.
      Canary (bright yellow), Royal (bright blue), Lagoon (bright teal), Vivid (bright violet), Safety (bright orange), Swamp (bright green) and Flame (bright red).

      1. Thanks for the recommendations! I took a look at them and I think I may be placing an order soon…..

  4. You took a lot of time with this and I appreciate it. I am on a MAC mission this year. I only have 4 shadows and 2 blushes and a handful of lip products. I have a looong Silk Naturals wish list and I wondered how their dupes compared to the real thing. Thanks for sharing!

    1. I only own 2 MAC blushes. Full Fuchsia, which I find amazing with my skintone and Maidenchant, which was my first MAC blush.

      Silk Naturals dupes are pretty close, but they tend to be a formula that’s easier to work with, in my opinion.

  5. It’s funny, Purr and Kitten are more cousins than dupes to my eye – different undertones and finish. Although I think Purr is prettier! I love Silk Naturals – you posted about their Naked Palette dupes, and I got them for Christmas and am so happy about it. Those are EXACT matches. I don’t know how she does it!

    One note about MAC Parrot/ Silk Naturals Poly … I know you can’t recommend Orglamix, but for everyone’s information, her Aegean is another Parrot dupe, in fact she has quite a few famous brand clones though they’re not marked as such.

    1. Yay! I’m glad you got the naked palette dupes! Yeah from some angles Purr & Kitten look dead on, from other angles Purr looks like it has more depth.

      Yeah I can’t support Orglamix because she threatened me with legal action for disliking her product.

  6. A thing about ACW – my friend got 2 Benefit blushes fake from there, one Coralista and one Thrrrob. She gave me Coralista and I found it was fake when we finally got benefit in Sephora so I compared those two. Fake. 🙁

  7. I adore Asphyxia… so in your opinion thats a good dupe for those of us with tiny pocketbooks? Thanks so much for this post.

    So often people don’t realize they don’t need to spend a fortune to get high quality looks/products. 😀

    Your new haircut is adorable btw. 😀 I love it! Suits your facial features quite well.

    1. Yep. Suffocation from Evil Shades is a good dupe. I’d bet that Silk Naturals version is good too, but I haven’t tried it because I already own 2 shadows like it so can’t justify buying it merely to swatch it.

      Thanks!

  8. Awesome post! Lots of pics is right, lol. Very helpful by the way!

    Oohh how I wish I could get my hands on every single matte2… their formula is the best matte one out there imo. I think that has to do with me staying away from indie and any other matte due to the possibility or a formal gone wrong, lol.

    1. I wish there were more vibrant matte2 shades. I have Copperplate, Blanc Type, Fig. 1, Tete-A-Tint and Prussian. Actually some indies have great mattes. Morgana Cryptoria and Overall Beauty have some fab mattes, and Fyrinnae has some great nearly mattes too.

  10. Now I’m wondering how Poly compares to Shiro’s Zora – though Poly has the gold flecks, which Zora doesn’t have. Is Poly from Silk Naturals?

    With their extreme love of the repromote (and sending people into a frothing frenzy – witness the Stereo Rose madness of last year) that MAC would re-release Parrot with some of its collections. (Or has it done that recently and I just haven’t paid any attention?)

    1. Oops! I just went back and added company names under the Shade Descriptions. Sorry, was more tired than I thought!

      I think Silk Naturals may even have a Stereo Rose clone. I know they have Crinoline, which is a clone of Pettiecoat.

      Yes, Silk Naturals makes Poly.

  11. Wow, I’m dizzy from looking at all those colors! I play with all my colors before bed a lot, trying on a few and swatching them all over my hands and arm, so I’m pretty sure I’ve had that same spotted look going on. Then I just stare at all the pretty.

    Oh, I’ve been checking out your blog for awhile now (I almost commented on Twitter again, but I’m avoiding becoming a re-lurker), and I just now noticed the poodle hanging out with you on your header, has it always been the same and I’ve been so dopey and blonde I didn’t notice? Anyway, too cute!

    1. Yep! It’s been there since February or April. Though a friend of mine is supposed to make me a new header soon.

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