🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell found out a discounter was offering a new beauty line that appeared similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her nearest store to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its smooth blue container and gold lid of each items look noticeably similar. While she has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to nearly half among younger adults, as per a recent survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate well-known brands and offer budget-friendly alternatives to luxury products. These products frequently have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the components can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty specialists say many substitutes to premium labels are reasonable standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is necessarily more effective," says skin specialist a doctor. "Not all low-budget beauty label is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely excellent," says a skincare commentator, who presents a show with public figures.

A lot of of the items modeled on high-end brands "sell out so quickly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

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

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "They will do the basics to a acceptable level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can save money when seeking simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the specialists also suggest buyers check details and state that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not just covering the label and promotion - sometimes the increased cost also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the potency of the effective element, the research utilized to produce the item, and tests into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman suggests it's important considering how some dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they could include filler ingredients that don't have as many benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The big uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a well-known label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be fooled by the packaging," he added.

SimpleImages/Getty Images

Regarding more complicated products or those with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she recommends sticking to more specialised labels.

The expert explains these typically have been through costly studies to determine how effective they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the label advertises about the effectiveness of the item, it needs data to verify it, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead reference studies done by other brands, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Container

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

Components on the back of the container are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you want to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up