Dud or Dupe? Colour Correcting Primer

By BR Kellie

It's always the way isn't it? You find a holy grail must-have beauty product, you go to repurchase it and discover it's discontinued. It's a vaguley terrifying moment, when thoughts like 'what will I do now?', 'where will I find a product just like it?', 'oh my giddy aunt my life is over' run through your head. Most recently this happened to me when my beloved Dermalogica Redness Relief Primer ran out. 

Man I loved that primer. 

Too much sun as a youngster, too much spicy food, wearing glasses etc have contributed to redness around my nose and cheek area, and while it's not the redness of a day drinker, it's something I'm conscious of, and Dermalogica's Redness Relief Primer not only acted as a lovely base for my makeup it also toned that colour right down.

So when I ran out and went to buy it online from Dermalogica and saw it was no longer on their site, the 'oh no' was real. I even messaged them via Facebook to see if it still existed. It didn't. They did offer an alternative but while it sounded lovely it didn't mention redness reduction.

Then the beauty fairies decided to smile upon me and presented with with an advertisement for Australis' new range of colour-correcting primers, which includes one for redness.

The clouds did part. The sun did shine. The angelic chorus resounded.

Helloooooooo trip to Farmers. I swatched said primer on my hand and it looked like it did something - and the $19.95 price tag was festive-friendly - so to the counter I went where the purchase was made, and off I drove home, praying the whole way I'd found a dupe, not a dud.

Usually I'd do a before and after pic here. But my camera's not good enough to show what happened next - so you're just going to have to trust me on this...

So... is it magic or meh?

Well abra-ka-freaking-dabra. It worked. Beautifully.

My redness was toned down every bit as well as the Dermalogica primer had done. Even better - it's a great primer. My foundation stayed on all day, and there was no slip. The only minor downside? The primer did sit in my pores initially and looked a touch greeny-white, but a little dab dab dab with my fingertips saw that blend away. 

So is it an exact dupe? No. The texture is different. Dermalogica is greener in colour, thicker in texture and the Australis Colour Clique has a more silky silicone feel on the skin. But does it do the job just as well?

Darn tootin' it does. Colour me a convert!

So do tell... what dupes have you found recently that we need to know about? Are you on the look out for dupes for any discontinued products? Maybe our wonderful BR beauty community can help? As always... sharing is caring!