Is this £5 Primark foundation really a Double Wear dupe?

As beauty obsessives, naturally we’re a member of lots of Facebook beauty groups – they’re amazing and we’ve discovered so many incredible products through them. So when we saw a LOAD of posts claiming that Primark’s new makeup line had a dupe for Estee Lauder’s bestselling foundation Double Wear, we needed to investigate.

About our skin

Before we start testing, I wanted to let you know about my skin type, as obviously everyone’s different. I have clear, dry-ish skin, with visible pores around my nose, a bit of redness on my cheeks and a few freckles, which is how I gauged the level of coverage. I don’t have any acne scars or active spots, so I haven’t been able to test the coverage on those.

I’m also one of those (probably) quite annoying people that doesn’t usually wear much base makeup. You’re much more likely to catch me wearing a tinted moisturiser than a full on coverage foundation like Double Wear – I’ve never even tried it before!

However, in case you didn’t know already, Beauty Markdown is actually a duo – so watch this space for a review of this Primark foundation on a different type of skin!

What are the facts?

There are a couple of different foundations being lauded as “the Primark Double Wear dupe“, but the one we saw being mentioned most often is the £5 PS Pro Longwear Mineralized Foundation, which comes in a frosted glass bottle.

We picked up a sample of Estee Lauder Double Wear from a counter, just straight up Double Wear that also comes in a frosted glass bottle, not DW light, or DW nude. As we assumed that this is the Double Wear people are referring to.

It’s £31 from Boots and most department stores, so around six times more expensive than the Primark alternative. However, this is actually the most expensive foundation Primark does – it says it’s £4 on the website, but it cost us £5! Other Primark foundations are £2-£3.

They both claim to be long wearing, and have SPF – Estee Lauder has an SPF of 10 and Primark’s has 15. Size-wise, Primark gives you 32ml vs 30ml for a bottle of Double Wear.

In terms of value, so far it’s Primark 1, Double Wear 0.

Packaging

Although I only got a sample of Double Wear, I’m going to judge this on the full sized packaging, to be as fair as possible. Honestly, though – Primark blows Estee Lauder out of the water with this one. Personally, I wish all foundations came in tubes with a pump on the end like the It Cosmetics CC Cream, just for travelling purposes, BUT frosted glass does give it a luxe feel.

What really annoys me about Double Wear is that it doesn’t come with a pump, even at £31! You’re supposed to unscrew the lid and pour it out. Apparently the MAC foundation pump fits on Double Wear bottles, but that’s another £4.50 you’d have to spend on something that probably costs the company pennies. Primark manages to have a pump AND a lid so you don’t accidentally push it down for a fiver.

After that, it’s Primark 2, Double Wear 0.

Colours

Now I think you can see from the photo that Primark was a better match for me personally. I was matched with a machine at the Estee Lauder counter, and lets be honest, it was a bit orange. The colour I was matched to in Double Wear was 1N2 Ecru, and I think I should have probably been 1N1 Ivory Nude.

My shade from Primark was Ivory, and unusually (pasty and ginger as my ancestry is), this wasn’t even the palest colour. Porcelain looked like pure tippex on me, so if you have a similar skin tone to me, you’re in luck.

BUT. This is just my experience. I have a very average skin tone for the UK. In general though, you’re so much more likely to get a good match from Estee Lauder, their website shows 44 (yep, seriously) shades in an incredible amount of colours and undertones. This foundation is the UK’s best seller for a reason!

This particular Primark foundation comes in 5 colours, four of which are varying shades of white. (Try harder Primarni!)

We can only hope that as Primark’s makeup line is quite new, that they’ll try and bring out a better range of shades next time.

Scoreboard – Primark 2, Double Wear, 1. 

Application & finish

Now, I wore these foundations on different halves of my face for a whole week – even though they were kind of a different colour. I deserve a medal.

To give them a true test I applied them as many different ways as possible, and I didn’t use a primer.

With a Beautyblender (my preferred method of application) there is basically no difference in how they applied or how they looked afterwards. BUT a bb applies such a thin layer, that it’s not really a true test of a full coverage foundation.

Using a brush (the Zoeva 104 buffer brush) you can DEFINITELY tell which foundation was which. Double Wear glides on super smoothly, and covered up all my freckles straight away, whereas the brush left lines in the Primark foundation and it just did not look as flawless after application.

I then used my fingers – people are so judgy about going tool-free, but for some foundations it’s my favourite way to apply them. It’s also the most ‘full coverage’ way to put your makeup on, as none of the product gets absorbed by the brush or sponge. And WOAH. Yep, there was a difference, again Double Wear applied like a dream, but my fingers left streaks on the Primark side of my face. I managed to fix it with a bit of concealer, but it just wasn’t the same.

The finish of each foundation is actually quite different, I took pictures every day, but the camera picked up the biggest difference on the day I applied it with my fingers.

This is Estee Lauder Double Wear:

This is PS Pro:

I hope you’re able to see that although the coverage is quite similar, Primark has a dewier finish than Estee Lauder. Which in my opinion gives it much less of a “flawless” finish as it shows up the texture of my skin a bit more. Of course, this is solved by powder, but it’s the biggest difference between the two products so far.

The score: Primark 2, Double Wear 2.

Wear

At the end of the day (quite literally) both of these foundations had done what they said they would. I made sure to test these out properly on long days of being out and about without touch-ups, and when I got home they were both still there.

If you want to be pernickety about it, Primark had settled into my wrinkles slightly more than Estee Lauder, but I’m not awarding a whole point for that.

Scoreboard: Primark 2, Double Wear 2 1/2

Is it a dupe?

Honestly, no. Now, the Primark foundation IS GOOD, I promise. But it doesn’t give the (I woke up like this) flawless finish quite like Double Wear does.

It’s slightly more shiny, it’s more difficult to apply and you’re much less likely to find a good colour match.

Which one would I spend my money on? Primark, duh! It’s a fiver, the packaging is a winner, and I’m lucky enough to have a near enough perfect match for my skin. But if you’re hooked on Double Wear and want a cheaper alternative, this might not be quite as good as it seems.

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Bronni Hughes

Hey! I’m Bronni and I’m a financial journalist and deals hunter in my mid 20s. I’m really into cats, pop music, the internet and barely substantiated celebrity gossip.

bronni.co.uk