🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a supermarket was launching a fresh beauty line that seemed comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her local shop to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The smooth blue packaging and gold cap of each creams look strikingly alike. Although Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she says she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers say they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This jumps to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic established brands and present affordable alternatives to high-end items. These products typically have alike labels and design, but in some cases the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty specialists contend many dupes to high-end brands are decent quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion more expensive is necessarily better," says consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all affordable product line is bad - and not every premium skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast with famous people.

A lot of of the products based on high-end labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor thinks dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will do the job," he comments. "These items will do the basics to a reasonable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or a product which is quite low cost because there's very little that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Box'

Yet the experts also suggest consumers do their research and note that more expensive items are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

With luxury skincare, you're not just covering the label and advertising - sometimes the increased price also comes from the components and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the science utilized to develop the item, and tests into the products' efficacy, she says.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's important thinking about how some alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

Occasionally, she believes they could contain less effective components that do not provide as many benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One major uncertainty is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a established label but the item has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

"Don't be sold by the container," he warned.

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For potent products or ones with components that can irritate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate advises selecting more specialised labels.

The expert states these typically have been through expensive tests to assess how effective they are.

Skincare products must be tested before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand states about the effectiveness of the product, it requires evidence to support it, "however the brand doesn't always have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively reference evidence conducted by other companies, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a item is inferior?

Components on the back of the bottle are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up