You guys know my love for the Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture — it brought unique grungy shadows to the market and I am so here for it! But knowing the drama/difficulties surrounding this palette, I am always on the hunt for a good dupe…and saw a potential one in the new NYX Machinist Grind palette! Could it be a dupe?? Let’s find out!
If you missed any of my other battles in my “Dupe or Dud” series, you can check them all out here!
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ABH Subculture vs NYX Grind
The Products
Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture Palette | Retail Price: $42 | Anastasia Beverly Hills Subculture Eyeshadow Palette is an essential eye shadow collection with 14 shades featuring grungy mattes and bold metallics with an underground edge.
NYX Machinist Grind Palette | Retail Price: $25 | Letting you go full ‘steam’ ahead with your boldest make up looks yet, NYX Professional Makeup’s Machinist range exudes grungy glamour. The palette unites 12 highly pigmented hues that will breathe brilliant new life into all your eye-enhancing efforts.
Purchase at NYX Cosmetics | Purchase at Cult Beauty
Swatch Comparisons
Alright, let’s dive into the swatches first. All of these swatches were done with my finger and without any primer or base underneath them. Instead of just swatching each palette out side by side, I decided to swatch them in groups. So first off, here are the shimmer shades.
As you can see, there are no close dupe shades when it comes to the shimmers in the palettes. If any are close, it would be the Subculture Adorn and the last shadow I swatched from the Grind palette — but one leans a lot more brown and the other red. So I wouldn’t call any of them dupes. Okay, now let’s look at the matte shadows in the palette that do look like dupes.
Okay, so six shadows from the NYX Machinist Grind palette look like they’re close enough to the shades from the ABH Subculture to be dupes. As you can see, while they’re all very pigmented — Subculture still has more intensity to the shadows. But overall, the NYX Grind palette is close. Last up, here are the remaining shadows from each of the palettes that we haven’t swatched yet.
As you can see, there are several shades from the ABH Subculture palette that did not have an attempted dupe from the NYX Grind palette, and in the Grind palette there was a soft brown that wasn’t close to any of the shadows in the Subculture palette
The Live Demo
Over on my Youtube channel I’ve created one look using both of these palettes — one palette on each eye — so that you can see how they perform and the similarities/differences in each of the shadows as they’re applied to the lid!
The Similarities
Pigmentation/Consistency
While not exact dupes, they both are very pigmented and swatch beautifully. I don’t think I’ll ever find another palette that swatches as pigmented as the Subculture palette — that is in a league all its own! But when comparing it to other drugstore eyeshadows — and even some highend — the Grind palette is extremely buttery smooth and very pigmented when swatched or used on the eyes.
Color Vibrancy/Payoff
When blending them on the eyes, while it’s not as touchy as the Subculture palette, the Grind palette packs a punch when it comes to pigmentation and the payoff you get when used with brushes on your eyes. The deeper matte shades show up true to the color it appears in the pan — just like the Subculture.
Looks You Can Create
Okay, NOT including the shimmer shades in either of the palette…if we are talking about matte looks you can create with the palettes — they’re pretty darn the same! If you skipped over the video above…check it out to see a side by side comparison!
Lasting Power
Both of these palettes last all day on my eyes, without any issues. Even the deep green shades (which I can often experience fading/creasing). I’ve used the Subculture many times over the time I’ve owned it and I created at least 10 looks with the NYX Grind palette and I never saw any fading or creasing with either one.
The Differences
Packaging
Obviously, there’s a bit difference here! The NYX Grind palette is a square plastic palette and the ABH Subculture is a rectangle made out of soft felt-like material
Powder Kickup/Fall Out
This should come as no surprise, but the ABH Subculture is — once again — in a league all it’s own with the powder kickup and fall out you get on your face as you use it. The Grind palette does have some kickup and fall out…but no where near as much as Subculture.
Shade Selection
The ABH Subculture palette has 14 shades (3 shimmers and 11 mattes) and the NYX Grind palette has 12 shades (5 shimmers and 7 mattes), so there are obviously some holes. Which is why (as I feel like I’ve said a million times) the Grind palette can’t be an exact dupe in that respect.
Ease of Blending
They’re both very pigmented and once you lay down that first shade, neither likes to have a ton of shades piled on top, but I find that the NYX Grind palette is a lot easier to work with blending out, especially the edges. It’s very effortless and smooth, unlike the Subculture — which doesn’t like too much blending and takes a very, very light hand to softly blend out the edges.
Amount of Product
The Subculture palette says it contains a net weight of 0.7 grams (I calculated that to be 0.35 ounces) and the Grind palette says it has a net weight of 1.08 grams which equals about 0.46 ounces of product. So the cheaper alternative has a bit more product — win!
Shelf Life
I think everyone generally knows that the ABH Subculture palette only has a 6 month shelf life (which is not very long at all!) so I was curious to see what the NYX Grind palette would have. Surprisingly, the shelf life for the Grind palette is 24 months! Woo!
So, Is It a Dupe?
Short answer: For me, YES!!! But long answer… Might not be a dupe for everyone. Let me explain. 🙂
When you are only comparing the shades from the NYX Grind palette that look like the shades from the ABH Subculture palette…they are pretty darn duplicates! But that’s only 6 out of the 14 shades that the Subculture palette has, so the NYX Grind palette dupes just shy of half the palette.
Since the 6 shades that the NYX Grind palette dupes the ones I am most intrigued about in the ABH Subculture palette and are the shadows I tend to reach for…this drugstore alternative basically answers all my needs for duping the Subculture palette.
So it really depends if you want ALL the shades duped or not. What do you think about this drugstore dupe? Do you own either of the palettes mentioned?
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The products mentioned were purchased by me. Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning I make a small commission if you purchase through my links. Any questions about my disclosure, read here. Thank you for your support!
