Drugstore Dupes: MAC Electra and NARS Ashes to Ashes

I've been getting a lot of requests to do some more drugstore dupe comparisons so here are two that are dupes of some of my favorite shades of eyeshadow!

First we have NARS Shimmer Eyeshadow Single in "Ashes to Ashes" (retail: $22), which is one of my all-time favorite taupes. I recently discovered that one of the colors in the Wet n Wild Ultimate Expression Palette "Glamorous Gems" is a fantastic dupe! Now the bad part is that, if you don't already own this palette, it may be discontinued because it's not on the WnW site anymore. BUT, you can still find it on ebay for around 3 bucks.

Here are some pics (in all pics below, NARS is on the left and WnW is on the right):

Obviously the NARS shadow has a more creamy, silky consistency but if you've used any of these Ultimate Expressions palettes you know that the shadows are finely milled and apply very smoothly with great pigmentation. So the WnW shadow really gives NARS a run for its money with this one.

Next up we have MAC Electra Eyeshadow (retail: $14.50) which is probably the best silver eyeshadow I've ever owned. It has a foil effect that is absolutely stunning, so when I discovered a dupe in one of the new Maybelline Stylish Smokes quads, I was really surprised. The dupe is the lightest shade in the "Charcoal Smokes" quad and as you can see, in the pan it doesn't look like a match at all:

Sorry for the condition of my Electra shadow but I've dropped in on the floor a million times and it's definitely seen better days. Anyway, you'd THINK that the dupe of Electra would be one of the two top colors in the Maybelline quad, right? But no! The dupe is actually that light silver shade on the lower left corner. Don't believer me? Check it out:

MAC on left, Maybelline on right

Now clearly the pigmentation of the MAC eyeshadow is better, but if you use a heavier hand with the Maybelline shadow, you can get an extremely similar result (also, for added intensity wear a cream eyeshadow in a frosty white shade as a base).

That's it for now, but please stay tuned because I've got a lot more drugstore dupe comparisons coming up in the near future.