11 Makeup Brands to Try If You're Obsessed With ColourPop

Updated on Jun 04, 2021

collage of beauty products — Design by Dion

ColourPop Cosmetics' signature slogan is music to any makeup hoarder's ears: "Beauty that doesn't break the bank." Beguiling, right? Of course, there are plenty of beauty brands on the market attempting to sing a similar song, but the difference with ColourPop is its formulas truly walk the branding its addictive products talk. Even more impressive? The bubbly, cult-adored brand was founded in 2014 by dynamic sibling duo Laura and John Nelson and was born and produced right here in the U.S. (Los Angeles, specifically!).

ColourPop is admired by makeup fans pretty much everywhere, as even self-proclaimed brand snobs openly say the brand's eyeshadows and concealers are some of the best on the market. This is only amplified by its commitment to cruelty-free manufacturing and using the highest-quality ingredients. Oh, and let us not forget the whimsical and shimmering collections of eye shadows, lippies, and other products it consistently blesses us with.

As we said, the majority of brands boasting craveable formulas at reasonable price points leave us disappointed. (Sad, but true). But there are some makeup brands like ColourPop that manage to maintain an impressively devoted following and high-quality products, formulas, and ever-evolving innovations to match. Plus, the cheeky and lovable packaging keeps us hooked. If you're just as infatuated with ColourPop as we are, here are 11 additional makeup brands that compare in terms of price range, essence, and the temptation to play. (Because yes, makeup should be fun!).

Keep scrolling for the ColourPop-esque brands we're equally obsessed with here at Byrdie HQ.

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Lime Crime

Lime Crime Diamond Dew Liquid Eyeshadow $20

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Self-defined as "vegan and cruelty-free makeup for unicorns," you can automatically assume anything packaged by the cult-loved brand is just as fun to gaze upon as it is to open and apply. Industry-wide, Lime Crime is known for its Technicolor shade ranges, brilliant wear, and color payoff, plus a trustworthy dedication to experimental yet high-quality collections. Anything you purchase will be filled to the brim with playfulness and compliment-yielding results—including the diamond dew liquid eyeshadow, which boasts serious color payoff and reminds us of ColourPop's Jelly Much Shadow ($9).

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BH Cosmetics

BH Cosmetics Lookin Like a Snack 9 Color Shadow Palette $15

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We hear time and again that the brushes and palettes delivered by BH Cosmetics are comparable—if not slightly superior—to iterations twice and three times their price. Defined by its "high-quality but affordable" tagline, the brand has a reliable deluge of clickable eyeshadows, mascaras, lipsticks, blushes, and complexion products—all at a wallet-friendly price tag. Our recent fave is this under $20 nine-pan eyeshadow palette that's brimming with ultra-pigmented mattes and high-shine shimmers.

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Zoeva

Zoeva Cocoa Blend Eyeshadow Palette $28

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Just like for ColourPop and Lime Crime, we have a major soft spot for Zoeva when it comes to its dynamite packaging and branding aesthetic. The incredible founder, Zoe Boikou, got her start in the beauty biz by selling makeup brushes on eBay back in 2008 and since then has grown her passion for budget-friendly (yet dependable) beauty to over 300 products and tools. If you're new to the brand, let their creamy eyeshadow palettes serve as a gateway product—they're blendable, pigmented, and so easy to use.

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Morphe Cosmetics

Morphe Jaclyn Hill Eyeshadow Palette $39

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Morphe has been gaining a lot of buzz as of late, and when you take a look at the brand's amazing product range and collaborations (the Jaclyn Hill palette below pretty much sold out in seconds when it initially debuted), it's 100 percent understandable. While it was first known and loved for its inexpensive but professional-caliber makeup brushes, it now supplies us with the eyeshadow palettes, foundations, concealers, and lip glosses of our dreams without breaking our precious piggy banks.

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Melt Cosmetics

Melt Cosmetics Ultra Matte Lipsticks $22

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One part moody, one party enchanting, Melt was founded back in 2012 when Lora Arellano and Dana Bomar felt there was a need for ultra-pigmented, ultra-matte, ultra-bold shades of lipsticks. One year later, they debuted five single shades that sold out instantaneously online the second they were available. Of course, the brand has only continued to gain cutting-edge steam and now boasts shadow stIcks and highlighters in addition to those initial fan-favorite lipsticks.

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Makeup Geek

Makeup Geek Fearless False Lashes $8

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In addition to its fun and playful product repertoire, we appreciate Makeup Geek's passion for education and equipping us and all other product-hungry consumers with the knowledge and skills to make the most of makeup experimentation. Not surprising, mind you, since MUG was founded by YouTube's own Marlena Stell. (If you feel like dropping into a tutorial black hole, we highly recommend clicking her name and staying awhile). We're keen on the brand's false lashes because they're easy to apply, can garner up to 10 uses, and make a bold statement.

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Milani Cosmetics

Milani Baked Blush $8

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Perhaps one of the more well-known brands of this ColourPop-like bunch, Milani boasts the top-tier products, quality, and innovation of the best and most expensive brands within the beauty biz but with price tags of roughly half the scare factor. We're obsessed with everything, but we collect its cult-loved blushes at an alarmingly fast rate.

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Nyx Cosmetics

Nyx Cosmetics #ThisIsEverything Lip Oil $6

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Whenever we execute ultimate drugstore hauls here at Byrdie, Nyx rarely fails to come in best of class. Since it's miraculously priced and yields impressive and enduring results we'd frankly never expect of anything found at the drugstore, we're bowled over again and again by its luscious new launches, cute-yet-chic branding, expansive range, and top-notch formulas. On days we're looking for a sheer wash of color on our lips, this lip oil remains a purse staple.

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Sigma Beauty

Sigma Beauty Cor-De Rosa Blush Palette $49

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We're consistently impressed with Sigma Beauty's dedication to innovation and product releases. Though it started with professional-grade brushes (which, admittedly, are a bit more of an investment than others in this roundup), it's successfully graduated to enchanting palettes, primers, and plenty of other fun beauty stuffs sure to satisfy even the hungriest and nit-pickiest makeup consumers. Just look at their blush palette, which features six buildable, blendable shades (and a gorgeous rose imprint!).

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Jaclyn Cosmetics

Face It All Brightening & Settling Palette

Jaclyn Cosmetics Face It All Brightening & Setting Palette $39

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We never know what to expect when it comes to what Jaclyn Cosmetics will launch next, but one thing is for sure across the board: their products—which range from brightening under-eye powders and face palettes to velvety liquid lipsticks—deliver. And we're not stuck wondering why jconsidering the brand was founded by former Mac Cosmetics makeup artist and beauty mogul Jaclyn Hill. Though pricier than ColourPop, the brands are similar in many respects: their launches are unexpected, the products actually perform, and they've quickly risen to fame and are now cult-favorites across beauty buffs.

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Lemonhead.LA

Lemonhead.LA Spacepaste Glitter Concentrate $22

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Did we save best for last? Maybe. We can't help it, but we go insane for Lemonhead.LA and its disco-techy array of "glitter for adults." (Yep, that's its verbatim trademark!) Take even an innocent, five-second dive into the glittering depths of its website, and you'll forget both your budget and the fact that you told yourself back in 2007 you'd never again don glitter. Because oh, you most definitely will. Where shimmer and surprisingly wearable glitz are concerned, Lemonhead.LA simply does it best.

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