Not only does this post contain proof that two drugstore mascaras are 92% and 82% the same as a cult favorite higher end mascara (trust me – I counted the ingredients), but it also contains a master list of which beauty brands are owned by which companies, which is pretty nifty if I do say so myself.

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When it comes to high end or drugstore products, maybe you like to remain ~exclusive.~  That is, perhaps you’re solely a high end snob or you tend to be only a drugstore aficionado.  Orrr might it be that you turn to high end for certain products and drugstore for others?

Whatever it might be, I’m sure we’ve all been in this scenario: high end product in one hand, “dupe” in the other, trying to figure out if the splurge is really worth the payoff in the end.  I personally tend to only buy drugstore mascara since they work the same for me and IMO it’s not worth it to spend hella $$$ on a product you’re supposed to get rid of every 2-3 months (if you want to read more about makeup expiration dates, I’ve already written a post about it here!), yet I find higher end eyeshadows more enjoyable to work with.

What are the benefits for higher end, anyhow?? Sometimes the price reflects the increased quality of the ingredients or the innovation backed by years of spending on R&D, but in some cases, you’re basically just paying for the name and the pretty packaging.

Let’s look at the following three mascaras: Lancôme Monsieur Big, Maybelline The Colossal Big Shot, and L’Oreal Paris Lash Paradise.

All of the mascaras above have pretty much achieved “cult status” when it comes to their proliferation in use in the beauty community.  Although the packaging on the outside is wildly different, it’s what’s on the inside that counts and their wands look pretty similar – let’s look at the little table I’ve created below, shall we?

	Lancôme Monsieur Big	Maybelline The Colossal Big Shot	L’Oreal Paris Lash Paradise
Price	$25.00	$7.99	$9.99
Weight (Oz)	0.33	0.33	0.28
Price per Oz	$75.76	$24.21	$35.68
Claims	Deliver up to 12x more volume* with up to 24 hour wear – buildable volume and length	Fully loaded volume in one coat	Voluptuous volume and length
Ingredients	Aqua / Water, Paraffin, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Copernicia Cerifera Cera / Carnauba Wax, Ethylene/Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Styrene/Acrylates/Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, Cera Alba / Beeswax, Synthetic Beeswax, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Polybutene, Cetyl Alcohol, Steareth-20, Glyceryl Dibehenate, Steareth-2, C12-13 Pareth-23, C12-13 Pareth-3, Tribehenin, Acacia Senegal Gum, Glyceryl Behenate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Silica, Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer, Disodium EDTA, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Caprylyl Glycol, Tetrasodium Edta, Ethylenediamine/Stearyl Dimer Dilinoleate Copolymer, Butylene Glycol, Bht, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Phenoxyethanol. May Contain: CI 75470 / Carmine, CI 77007 / Ultramarines, CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / Iron Oxides.	Aqua / Water / Eau, Paraffin, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Copernicia Cerifera Cera / Carnauba Wax / Cire De Carnauba, Ethylene / Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Styrene / Acrylates / Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, Cera Alba / Beeswax / Cire Dabeille, Synthetic Beeswax, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Polybutene, Cetyl Alcohol, Steareth-20, Glyceryl Dibehenate, Steareth-2, Phenoxyethanol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Acacia Senegal Gum, Tribehenin, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Behenate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Disodium Edta, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Stearyl Alcohol, Myristyl Alcohol, Tetrasodium EDTA, Propylene Glycol, Potassium Sorbate, Silica, Soluble Collagen, BHT, Trisodium EDTA. May Contain: CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / Iron Oxides, CI 77007 / Ultramarines, CI 77891 / Titanium Dioxide, Mica, CI 75470 / Carmine, CI 77288 / Chromium Oxide Greens, CI 77742 / Manganese Violet, CI 77510 / Ferric Ferrocyanide.	Aqua / Water / Eau, Paraffin, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Copernicia Cerifera Cera / Carnauba Wax / Cire De Carnauba, Ethylene / Acrylic Acid Copolymer, Styrene / Acrylates / Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer, Cera Alba / Beeswax / Cire Dabeille, Synthetic Beeswax, Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2, Polybutene, Cetyl Alcohol, Steareth-20, Glyceryl Dibehenate, Steareth-2, Phenoxyethanol, Hydroxyethylcellulose, Acacia Senegal Gum, Tribehenin, Caprylyl Glycol, Glyceryl Behenate, Sodium Dehydroacetate, Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil, Hydrogenated Palm Oil, Disodium EDTA, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Silica, Tetrasodium EDTA, Potassium Sorbate, BHT. May Contain: CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 / Iron Oxides, CI 77007 / Ultramarines.

Let’s take a look at price first: your “best value” by weight is the Maybelline option, followed by the L’Oreal Paris mascara and then the Lancôme one.  Hopping over to the claims themselves, you’ll see that they’re also very similar, putting a big emphasis on volume and length.  Now where am I going with this, you ask?  Let’s take a look at the ingredients:

Lancôme Monsieur Big	Maybelline The Colossal Big Shot	L’Oreal Paris Lash Paradise
Aqua / Water / Eau	Aqua / Water / Eau	Aqua / Water / Eau
Paraffin	Paraffin	Paraffin
Potassium Cetyl Phosphate	Potassium Cetyl Phosphate	Potassium Cetyl Phosphate
Copernicia Cerifera Cera / Carnauba Wax / Cire De Carnauba	Copernicia Cerifera Cera / Carnauba Wax / Cire De Carnauba	Copernicia Cerifera Cera / Carnauba Wax / Cire De Carnauba
Ethylene / Acrylic Acid Copolymer	Ethylene / Acrylic Acid Copolymer	Ethylene / Acrylic Acid Copolymer
Styrene / Acrylates / Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer	Styrene / Acrylates / Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer	Styrene / Acrylates / Ammonium Methacrylate Copolymer
Cera Alba / Beeswax / Cire Dabeille	Cera Alba / Beeswax / Cire Dabeille	Cera Alba / Beeswax / Cire Dabeille
Synthetic Beeswax	Synthetic Beeswax	Synthetic Beeswax
Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2	Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2	Bis-Diglyceryl Polyacyladipate-2
Polybutene	Polybutene	Polybutene
Cetyl Alcohol	Cetyl Alcohol	Cetyl Alcohol
Steareth-20	Steareth-20	Steareth-20
Glyceryl Dibehenate	Glyceryl Dibehenate	Glyceryl Dibehenate
Steareth-2	Steareth-2	Steareth-2
C12-13 Pareth-23	Phenoxyethanol	Phenoxyethanol
C12-13 Pareth-3	Hydroxyethylcellulose	Hydroxyethylcellulose
Tribehenin	Acacia Senegal Gum	Acacia Senegal Gum
Acacia Senegal Gum	Tribehenin	Tribehenin
Glyceryl Behenate	Caprylyl Glycol	Caprylyl Glycol
Sodium Laureth Sulfate	Glyceryl Behenate	Glyceryl Behenate
Silica	Sodium Dehydroacetate	Sodium Dehydroacetate
Divinyldimethicone/Dimethicone Copolymer	Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil	Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil
Disodium EDTA	Hydrogenated Palm Oil	Hydrogenated Palm Oil
Hydrogenated Jojoba Oil	Disodium Edta	Disodium EDTA
Hydrogenated Palm Oil	Butylene Glycol	Butylene Glycol
Hydroxyethylcellulose	Sodium Laureth Sulfate	Sodium Laureth Sulfate
Caprylyl Glycol	Stearyl Alcohol	Silica
Tetrasodium Edta	Myristyl Alcohol	Tetrasodium EDTA
Ethylenediamine/Stearyl Dimer Dilinoleate Copolymer	Tetrasodium EDTA	Potassium Sorbate
Butylene Glycol	Propylene Glycol	BHT
Bht	Potassium Sorbate
Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-T-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate	Silica
Potassium Sorbate	Soluble Collagen
Sodium Dehydroacetate	BHT
Phenoxyethanol	Trisodium EDTA
MAY CONTAIN:	MAY CONTAIN:	MAY CONTAIN:
CI 75470 / Carmine	CI 77491	CI 77491
CI 77007 / Ultramarines	CI 77492	CI 77492
CI 77491	CI 77499 / Iron Oxides	CI 77499 / Iron Oxides
CI 77492	CI 77007 / Ultramarines	CI 77007 / Ultramarines
CI 77499 / Iron Oxides	CI 77891 / Titanium Dioxide
	Mica
	CI 75470 / Carmine
	CI 77288 / Chromium Oxide Greens
	CI 77742 / Manganese Violet
	CI 77510 / Ferric Ferrocyanide

At a glance at my first table, the lists look pretty similar.  When you look at each list on an individual basis, the similarities become more apparent:  I’ve highlighted any “unique” ingredient above, which means any ingredient found in one list that isn’t found in the other two, and out of 119 total ingredients among the three lists, only 15 were “unique,” which means there’s 87% similarity across the board!  If you want to be super precise, here’s a breakdown mascara-by-mascara:

• Lancôme vs. Maybelline
  • Total Ingredients: 40 (Lancôme) + 45 (Maybelline) = 85
  • Unique Ingredients: 5 (Lancôme) + 10 (Maybelline) = 15
  • Same Ingredients: 35 (Lancôme) + 35 (Maybelline) = 70
  • % Similarity: 70/85 = 82%
• Lancôme vs. L’Oreal
  • Total Ingredients: 40 (Lancôme) + 34 (L’Oreal) = 74
  • Unique Ingredients: 6 (Lancôme) + 0 (L’Oreal) = 6
  • Same Ingredients: 34 (Lancôme) + 34 (L’Oreal) = 68
  • % Similarity: 68/74 = 92%
• Maybelline vs. L’Oreal
  • Total Ingredients: 45 (Maybelline) + 34 (L’Oreal) = 79
  • Unique Ingredients: 11 (Maybelline) + 0 (L’Oreal) = 11
  • Same Ingredients: 34 (Maybelline) + 34 (L’Oreal) = 68
  • % Similarity: 68/79 = 86%

For all three lists, the first 14 ingredients are exactly the same, but then the Maybelline and L’Oreal Paris formulas diverge slightly from the Lancôme one.  It’s not until the 26th ingredient that the Maybelline and L’Oreal Paris lists differ at all, but the most similar formulas in terms of the ingredients list is Lancôme and L’Oreal with 92% similarity.

As well all know, I’m not scientist.  Since we have no way of knowing what the exact ingredient amounts of the three formulas are aside from their order of predominance, maybe the amounts wildly differ and even though the ingredients lists are virtually identical, the actual formulation is very different.  I’m not fully convinced this is the case, but either way, I’m not surprised these mascaras are so similar on an ingredients-basis.

Why am I not surprised? Oh yeah.  Because they’re all owned by the same company!

That’s right, folks! Lancôme, Maybelline, and L’Oreal Paris are all owned by the L’Oreal Group, who has a pretty impressively extensive portfolio of other brands across their four different lines that you might also be pretty familiar with – YSL, Kiehl’s, Shu Uemura, and Urban Decay, it Cosmetics, and NYX just to name a few.  After this extremely long-winded intro, I’ve put together a list of brands owned by other brands that you may or may not have known about:

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Amore Pacific Group

• Beauty Care
  • Amore Pacific
  • Sulwhasoo
  • Laneige
  • Mamonde
  • innisfree
  • Etude House
  • HERA
  • IOPE
  • Primera
  • Hanyul
  • eSpoir
  • Odyssey
  • Lirikos
  • Verite
  • makeon

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Beiersdorf

• Nivea
• Eucerin
• La Prairie
• Labello
• Hansaplast
• Florena
• 8×4
• tesa
• atrix
• SLEK
• HIDROFUGAL

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Coty

• Luxury
  • Burberry
  • Calvin Klein
  • Gucci
  • Boss Hugo Boss
  • Chloe
  • Tiffany & Co.
  • Bottega Veneta
  • Marc Jacobs
  • Miu Miu
  • Alexander McQueen
  • Balenciaga
  • philosophy
  • Lacoste
  • Jil Sander
  • Joop!
  • Lancaster
  • Davidoff Parums
  • Stella McCartney
  • Cerruti 1881 Parfums
  • Roberto Cavalli
  • Escada
• Professional Beauty
  • Wella Professionals
  • OPI
  • ghd
  • Nioxin
  • Sassoon Professional
  • Professional Sebastian
  • Clairol Professonal
  • Kadus Professional
  • Londa Professional
• Consumer Beauty
  • Covergirl
  • Adidas
  • Clairol
  • Rimmel London
  • Bourjois Paris
  • Sally Hansen
  • Max Factor
  • Wella
  • Monange
  • Risque
  • Bruno Banani
  • Katy Perry Parfums
  • Playboy
  • James Bond 007
  • Moxx
  • Nautica Fragrances
  • Biocolor
  • Bozzano
  • Cenoura & Bronze
  • Paixao

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Estée Lauder Companies

• Aerin Beauty
• Aramis
• Aveda
• Becca
• Bobbi Brown
• Bumble and bumble
• Clinique
• Darphin Paris
• DKNY
• Donna Karan
• Editions de Parfums Frederic Malle
• Ermenegildo Zegna
• Estée Lauder
• Glamglow
• Jo Malone
• Kilian
• Kiton
• La Mer
• Lab Series
• Le Labo
• MAC
• Michael Kors
• Origins
• Rodin
• Smashbox
• Tom Ford Beauty
• Tommy Hilfiger
• Too Faced
• Tory Burch

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Johnson & Johnson

• Beauty Products
  • Aveeno
  • Clean & Clear
  • Neutrogena
  • Le Petit Marseillais

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KOSÉ Corporation

• High-Prestige
  • DECORTÉ
  • JILLSTUART
  • SEKKISEI MYV
  • INFINITY
  • Predia
  • ADDICTION
  • Paul Stuart
  • AWAKE
  • tarte
• Prestige
  • SEKKISEI
  • ONE BY KOSÉ
  • SHIROSUMI
  • HADAKIWAMI
  • ASTABLANC
  • ESPRIQUE
  • CARTÉ CLINITY
  • CRIE
  • PHIL NATURANT
  • FORMULE
  • MAIHADA
• Cosmetaries
  • Visée
  • FASIO
  • ELSIA
  • Nature & Co
  • SportsBeauty
  • NAILHOLIC
  • Stephen Knoll New York
  • Rimmel
  • softymo
  • Je l’aime
  • Clear Turn
  • SUNCUT
  • KOKUTOUSEI
  • GRACE ONE

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L’Oreal Group

• L’Oreal Luxe
  • Lancôme
  • YSL
  • Kiehl’s
  • Shu Uemura
  • Helena Rubinstein
  • Disel
  • Yue Sai
  • Urban Decay
  • Paloma Picasso
  • IT Cosmetics
  • Giorgio Armani
  • Biotherm
  • Ralph Lauren
  • Cacharel
  • Clarisonic
  • Viktor&Rolf
  • Maison Margiela
  • Guy Laroche
  • Atelier Cologne
  • Proenza Scouler
• Consumer Products Division
  • L’Oreal Paris
  • Garnier
  • African Beauty Brands
  • NYX
  • Magic
  • Maybelline New York
  • Essie
  • Niely
• Professional Products Division
  • L’Oreal Professional
  • Redken
  • Pureology
  • Mizani
  • Carita
  • Kerastase
  • Matrix
  • Shu Uemura Art of Hair
  • Decleor
  • Biolage
• Active Cosmetics Division
  • Vichy
  • SkinCeuticals
  • Sanoflore
  • La Roche-Posay
  • Roger & Gallet
  • CeraVe

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LVMH

• Perfumes & Cosmetics Division
  • Guerlain
  • Acqua di Parma
  • Christian Dior
  • Givenchy
  • Loewe
  • Benefit Cosmetics
  • Make Up For Ever
  • Kenzo
  • Fresh
  • Kat Von D
  • Maison Francis Kurkdjian
  • Fenty Beauty by Rihanna

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Markwins International

• Markwins Beauty Brands
  • Lip Smacker
  • Physicians Formula
  • Wet n Wild
  • Black Radiance

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Procter & Gamble

• Beauty Division
  • Aussie
  • Head & Shoulders
  • Herbal Essences
  • Ivory
  • Olay
  • Old Spice
  • Pantene
  • Rejoice
  • Safeguard
  • Secret
  • SK-II

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Revlon, Inc.

• Revlon
• Elizabeth Arden
• Almay

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Shiseido Group

• Prestige
  • Bare Minerals
  • Benefique
  • Buxom
  • De de Peau Beaute
  • d’icilà
  • ípsa
  • Laura Mercier
  • NARS
  • Shiseido

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Unilever

• Personal Care (I’ve shortened this list because there were a LOT of brands!)
  • Axe
  • Dove
  • Sunsilk
  • TRESemmé
  • Vaseline
  • Caress
  • Eskinol
  • Fair & Lovely
  • Nexxus
  • Noxzema
  • Pond’s
  • Q-tips
  • simple
  • Suave
  • VO5

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At the end of the day, the higher end item might be worth the splurge for you, but if you’re a cynic like me, maybe you want to do some research first and see what the difference really is.  If you’re not a fan of my list format above (*sad face*), this post by Avery Mae Beauty is a lot prettier and more concise!

I’m not saying that the fact that two brands are owned by the same company guarantees that their products will be exactly the same, but in some cases where products seem to have an uncanny resemblance, such as my mascara example above, you may want to do a deeper dive into the ingredients list, and knowing the parent companies of all these brands is a good place to start.

Out of the three mascaras, I’ve actually only ever tried the L’Oreal Lash Paradise one (and I liked it – you can actually read my review here), but I’ve heard people rave about the Lancôme Monsieur Big mascara on YouTube.  TBH, I haven’t heard much about Maybelline The Colossal Big Shot, but given the similar ingredients and wand and my success with Lash Paradise, I might opt for the Maybelline option, which would save me $2.

An exercise like this might help you say no to the increased price tag and opt for the product’s more affordable brother or sister, saving you more $$$ for whatever your little heart desires!

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PRODUCTS MENTIONED

• Lancôme Monsieur Big Mascara // $25
• Maybelline Volum’ Express The Colossal Big Shot Mascara // $7.99
• L’Oreal Paris Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara // $9.99

OTHER SOURCES

• Avery Mae Beauty // Who owns who? Corporate ownership of global makeup brands

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*Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with or compensated by any of the brands mentioned (I wish!).  As always, all thoughts & opinions are my own (unless stated otherwise)!