10 CHEAP Makeup Brands Everyone Ignores (But They're Absolute Goldmines)

A Hermès lip oil costs $63. A ColourPop lip oil costs $10. Same formula category. Same basic chemistry. Different bottle. And an absurd price tag. Ten cheap makeup brands are quietly using the same ingredients, the same manufacturing facilities, and in some cases the exact same factories as the luxury labels charging 3x to 5x more. In this video you will know which brands are goldmines, which prestige products are overpriced, and how to never pay $60 for a $10 product again. Plus four quick tests you can run in any store to instantly tell whether a cheap product actually delivers — or just looks cheap. What we cover: The brand that generated $1.3 billion in revenue last year, outperformed every prestige cosmetics company on the stock market in 2023, and still gets scrolled past at Target Why the extra $19 you pay for Tarte Shape Tape over e.l.f. Camo Concealer goes to Sephora shelf placement and influencer budgets — not the formula Maybelline's per-millilitre secret: why their $12.99 lip gloss is actually cheaper per unit of product than Fenty's $35 version The brand that owns its own factory — and why that single decision is the entire reason ColourPop can sell a lip oil for $10 while Hermès charges $63 An independently owned brand with Italian-baked formula technology, 45 shades, and three-year customer retention on a $14 concealer The brand that started as a professional makeup artist supplier before L'Oréal paid $500 million for it — and still hasn't drifted upward in price A 45-year-old brand selling highlighters for $6.49 that beat a $40 Patrick Ta powder in pigmentation tests The German mascara that has held the number one bestselling spot on Amazon for nearly a decade — for $5 The brand that puts the dupe positioning directly on the packaging — no pretence, no euphemism — manufactured in Korea for a fraction of the prestige price The one prestige exception that earned its spot: why Rare Beauty Soft Pinch at $25 genuinely outperforms every drugstore alternative — and the pigment chemistry that justifies every penny Brands covered: #elf #maybelline #colourpop #milani #nyxcosmetics #nyx #wetnwild #essence #catrice #mcoc #rarebeauty Not sponsored. All findings sourced from e.l.f. Cosmetics annual revenue reports, L'Oréal acquisition disclosures, Seed Beauty manufacturing records, Cosnova brand documentation, independent side-by-side application testing, and per-millilitre price analysis. Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 00:45 NUMBER 1 - e.l.f. COSMETICS 03:00 NUMBER 2 - MAYBELLINE 05:16 NUMBER 3 - COLOURPOP 07:50 NUMBER 4 - MILANI 09:58 NUMBER 5 - NYX PROFESSIONAL MAKEUP 12:18 BREAK - THE FOUR TESTS 13:53 NUMBER 6 - WET N WILD 15:44 NUMBER 7 - ESSENCE COSMETICS 17:35 NUMBER 8 - CATRICE 19:45 NUMBER 9 - MCO BEAUTY 22:00 NUMBER 10 - RARE BEAUTY (THE EARNED EXCEPTION) Next time you walk past the e.l.f. section at Target — stop. Pick up the Camo Concealer. Flip it over. Read the ingredients. Then walk to the Tarte section and do the same thing. The formula will tell you everything the price tag never will. Share this with someone still paying prestige prices for drugstore chemistry. #skincare #skincareroutine #skincaretips #cosmetics #makeup #skin