Kmart shoppers rave about $8 dupe of popular Korean beauty brand: 'My skin is flawless'

We asked a skin and dermal therapist if Kmart's latest beauty range is really that similar to the original.

Once again, Kmart is offering customers a popular beauty dupe that’s sending shoppers wild, but is the budget buy really the same thing?

Makeup enthusiasts are already raving about the Watermelon OXX Skincare range, claiming that the products are an exact dupe of the popular Glow Recipe beauty brand.

“Kmart’s Glow Recipe dupes are going viral. They have hit shelves” TikToker @tanika.jaun told her 15,000 plus followers after spotting them at her local Kmart.

The skincare range includes a watermelon extract moisturiser, toner, cleanser, facial mist and serum which each cost $8 - significantly less than the Glow Recipe range. There are also Plum scented versions of the same products as well as $16 Skin Kits which feature smaller versions of all four products.

Glow Recipe Dupe Kmart
Shoppers pointed out how similar the products look with the Glow Recipe version (left) looking almost identical to the Kmart versions (right). Photo: Mecca/Kmart

Mecca stocks the Korean beauty brand in Australia with prices ranging from $50 for the Watermelon Glow Ultra Fine Mist to $77 for the Plum Plump Hyaluronic Serum. Glow Recipe, which launched in 2014, quickly became a leading skincare brand thanks to its antioxidant-rich fruit extracts packed products with clinically proven ingredients.

Shoppers are keen to test them out

Although the OXX products launched around a month ago, they were snapped up quickly and hard to come by, but those who had spotted them couldn’t believe how much the products looked like the real thing.

“The next time I go to Kmart I’m looking for these straight away,” one person said with another excitedly adding "The first time I saw all the new products I literally fell on the floor!"

RELATED:

According to several Kmart customers who have already tried and tested them out the results were pretty positive.

“Yes, I bought it a couple of months ago, they’re soooo good, they smell good and my skin is flawless,” one fan shared.

Glow Recipe Dupe Kmart
The Kmart dupes have had several rave reviews by shoppers who have already tested them out. Photo: Mecca/Kmart

“I tried the watermelon facial cream it’s amazing my skin is so soft now,” another excitedly said.

“It’s actually good though. I use it and it has done the exact same thing as Glow Recipe,” offered another.

Are they really the same?

Award-winning skin and dermal therapist Isabella Loneragan who has over 15 years of experience in dermatology and cosmeceuticals, broke down the ingredients list of the facial mist, telling Yahoo Lifestyle that the brand and quality of ingredients play a role in the price difference.

"The Kmart facial mist contains more synthetic and potentially irritating ingredients like PEG-40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Benzyl Alcohol, and fragrance. It also includes some beneficial ingredients like Hyaluronic Acid and Niacinamide, but they are listed after less desirable ones," she said.

The Glow Recipe mist, however, contained more "natural" ingredients.

"This ingredient list contains more natural and potentially beneficial ingredients like Citrullus Lanatus (watermelon) fruit extract, seed oil, and other plant extracts. It also includes Hyaluronic Acid and various plant extracts known for their skincare benefits like Centella Asiatica extract and Licorice root extract," she explained.

Ms Loneragan added that while the Glow Recipe product had more natural ingredients, the effectiveness of a product depended on how well the ingredients were formulated as a whole.

Some shoppers agreed saying that they weren't convinced using a dupe would deliver the same results.

Glow Recipe Dupe Kmart
The Kmart Skin kits are $16 compared to the Glow Recipe Fruit Babies Best Sellers kit which retails for $65. Photo: Kmart

“I'll stick with my glow recipe. It's pricey but seems to last ages,” one person said of the original range.

"Please be careful with the glow recipe dupe I got the watermelon cream and I burned my skin - nothing serious though since I washed it off quickly," another person warned.

SHOP:

But it seems more and more beauty fans are turning to budget beauty buys from Kmart's in-house brand, highlighting several products that have "worked wonders" on their skin. The store has launched several makeup dupes lately from bug name brands including Drunk Elephant and Sol De Janeiro.

"The OXX Hyaluronic Acid day and night gel literally gave me the best skin," one person said.

"I have been using the Mattifying Primer from OXX and I absolutely love it, it’s very works on my skin!" Another said.

Subscribe to our MAFS newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Got a story tip? Email us now.