Jun 20

Jun 20 Pat McGrath Skin Fetish 003 Dupes & Swatches ft. Looxi Beauty

After posting my review of the Pat McGrath Sin Fetish 003 Highlighter Kits, I knew that I had to find a less expensive and more readily available dupe for you. I literally searched through my collection like a madwoman, and unfortunately, I came up empty-handed. Then came my mounds of Internet research (or, let's be honest, Instagram research). Low and behold, one of my FAVORITE indie makeup brands pulled through for us- Looxi Beauty.

Jessica, the owner of Looxi Beauty, began posting teaser pictures and videos on her Instagram of her new creations swatched next to the original Pat McGrath Skin Fetish Highlighters, and let me tell you, I was SO excited to get my hands on them. I have about 15 Looxi Beauty highlighters in my current collection (no, I'm not exaggerating...I LOVE this brand!), so I know how high quality their products are.

The two new highlighters Looxi Beauty released are Stripped and Stiletto, meant to be dupes of the Pat McGrath Nude and Golden Skin Fetish Highlighters, respectively. You can purchase them in a compact (as shown in my pictures) or in a pro-pan form. The compacts hold 9g of product and retail for $15, while the pro-pans hold 6.5g of product and retail for $7.50. Since all of Looxi Beauty products are made by hand, they sell out of inventory fairly quickly (although I do believe at the time of writing this post, they are available on the website for purchase). I will say that if you're interested in purchasing these, follow Looxi Beauty on Instagram. That's where you'll find restock dates & times for you to have your best chance at snagging them.

Now onto what you all really care about, the swatches! Here is a look at the Looxi Beauty Highlighter in Stripped:

Here are comparison swatches between Pat McGrath Skin Fetish in Nude (left) and Looxi Beauty Stripped (right):

Left: indirect sunlight; Right: direct sunlight

Here is a look at the Looxi Beauty Highlighter in Stiletto:

Here are comparison swatches between Pat McGrath Skin Fetish in Golden (left) and Looxi Beauty Stiletto (right):

And here's a look at all four highlighters swatched next to each other, so you can get a better idea of how they look from afar:

So as you can probably tell from the pictures, they are SO close, but I wouldn't say they're 100% identical. I would say they're about 97% identical (which is close enough for me, given the massive price difference). Here are the only differences that I can point out (and even this is being overly-critical):

Texture- The Looxi Beauty highlighters are MUCH more creamy and pigmented than the Pat McGrath. This means that you need to use less of the product to achieve the same look on the skin. Because of the rich, dense texture, you may want to use a slightly stiffer, or more dense brush to pick up the product and distribute it evenly.

Color- The Looxi Beauty highlighters have virtually the exact same base color as the Pat McGrath, and the overall look on the skin is very much identical. The Pat McGrath highlighters do have a VERY little bit of additional sparkle, that gives the overall color a little more pizzaz. I will say that this is only noticeable in a very concentrated swatch AND if the two products are swatched directly next to each other. When blended onto the cheeks, you literally can't tell a difference.

Price- OBVIOUSLY, Looxi Beauty wins here. 9g for $15 is a STEAL, especially since the Pat McGrath retails for $72 for 4g (granted, it did come with a double-ended cream highlighter stick and a brush, but neither of those products were very good in my opinion).

To sum it up, YES, I would classify these as dupes! Thank goodness for indie makeup companies being on top of the latest trends and having our backs (or having our wallets' backs). I would love to know if you've stumbled across any other dupes for the Pat McGrath Skin Fetish highlighters, because I definitely want to give them a go! Let me know :)

And in case you haven't heard enough, here's my video all about these dupes and more of my opinions on them:

xoxo Eshani a.k.a. TotalMakeupJunkie101