Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Dupes: MAC vs. Milani Eye Shadow

Hello my lovely readers! You may have noticed that I like using Milani powder eye shadows from time to time in many of my looks. Although I could use MAC eye shadows, I intentionally use Milani sometimes to show how great the colors are. Milani is definitely a wonderful alternative to some of the MAC eye shadows, especially if you don't want to spend as much money. Milani eye shadows typically sell for $3.99 USD (regular price) whereas MAC eye shadows are $14 USD (or $11 USD for a MAC Pro refill pan).

I came up with the idea for this post a few months ago, so I was slowly buying both Milani eye shadows and MAC eye shadows that look similar so that I could post more dupes for you. So here they are!


MAC "Stars 'N' Rockets" and Milani "Shock" are very similar. "Shock" is a little more purple toned, but I usually use "Stars 'N' Rockets" on top of a purplish base to bring out the purple anyway.


MAC "Black Tied" is a bit darker than Milani "Storm", but they look pretty much identical if you apply a couple layers of "Storm" to make it darker. They also match in the silver shimmer as well!


I couldn't decide which one Milani "Java Bean" would be a MAC dupe for. I think the closest in shade is MAC "Mulch" (they look the same even in the pan), but the closest in shimmer would probably be "Twinks" or "Glamour Check!" (part of the Starflash collection). What do you think is the closest match?


The first Milani eye shadow I bought was "Blue Ice". I got it when I barely owned any blue eye shadows. Of the MAC eye shadows I have, the closest one to "Blue Ice" is "Fall Deeply" from the MAC Devoted Poppy: 6 Classic Eyes palette (Holiday 2008 Collection). They vary a little in color, but I think it's still a close match for the price.

I also own two of the Milani Runway Eyes single eye shadows ("Leaf Green" and "Caribbean Sea"), but I don't think they are as nice as the smaller Milani eye shadows in my pictures. The Runway Eyes are more expensive too (I bought mine for $4.99, which I believe was on sale). Don't be deceived by the pretty shimmer -- as soon as I swipe some off the top, the rest of the eye shadow underneath doesn't have the same shimmer. Boo.

I highly recommend checking out the Milani powder eye shadows (there are more shades than the ones I've included in my pictures). I also have the Runway Eyes Fashion Shadows in "Glamorous Gems" -- this is awesome too! It comes with six colors, and the colors are vibrant. They are a little pricier though (~$8.99 USD), but I got mine on sale for $5.99. I also looked it up on Amazon.com, and I found some for only $6.99!



I usually buy Milani products at Walgreens and Target, but I think they are sold in other places as well (Longs/CVS). They also have a website: http://www.milanicosmetics.com

One last thing I want to mention in this post:

I'm going to have my very first contest/giveaway soon, so subscribe to (or follow) my blog so that you don't miss it! :)

2 comments:

300pockets said...

Hi! I was wondering where I would be able to get Milani eye shadows, they look like they're my kind of eye shadow because I'm just playing around with makeup at the moment and don't want to spend a huge amount of money.

Nerdy Girl Makeup said...

Hi! Do you live in the US? If so, I usually buy Milani at Walgreens. I've also seen them at Target and CVS. They are not at all locations though, so I usually go to different stores to see which ones carry Milani. If you don't have any of those stores near you, I've included some links on this post (towards the end). You can check out Milani's website, and you could also find them on Amazon.com and even eBay.

I'm also having a giveaway soon on my blog, so please subscribe/follow my blog so you don't miss it! I might be giving away some Milani items ;)