High-Street Skincare Dupes Might Save Shoppers a Fortune. However, Do Affordable Beauty Products Perform?

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard a supermarket was offering a fresh beauty line that looked similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her closest store to pick up the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its smooth blue container and gold top of the two items look strikingly alike. Although she has not tested the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's in good company.

Over a quarter of UK shoppers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recent poll.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy bigger name brands and offer cost-effective substitutes to premium products. These products frequently have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Superior'

Skincare professionals contend many substitutes to high-end brands are reasonable standard and assist make skincare cheaper.

"In my opinion more expensive is invariably better," states skin specialist a doctor. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is poor - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly impressive," says a podcast host, who presents a podcast with celebrities.

Many of the products inspired by luxury labels "run out so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will do the essentials to a reasonable level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a budget alternative or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

However the experts also suggest consumers do their research and state that costlier items are at times worth the additional cost.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the brand and promotion - often the elevated cost also comes from the components and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the science utilized to develop the item, and studies into the products' efficacy, the expert notes.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman suggests it's important questioning how some alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she believes they might include filler ingredients that lack as many advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The key question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Commentator McGlynn notes sometimes he's bought beauty products that look similar to a well-known label but the item has "no connection to the original".

"Don't be fooled by the container," he cautioned.

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For potent products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist recommends using research-backed companies.

She says these typically have been through expensive tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare products need to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the brand makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it requires data to back it up, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively use testing conducted by other companies, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could signal a item is poor?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are listed by amount. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up