High-Street Beauty Lookalikes Might Save Shoppers Hundreds. But Do Budget Skincare Items Actually Work?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer found out Aldi was selling a new beauty line that looked comparable to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper dashed to her local outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its sleek blue tube and gold lid of each creams look remarkably alike. While she has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK consumers report they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to nearly half among younger adults, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy well-known brands and offer cost-effective options to luxury items. They frequently have similar names and packaging, but sometimes the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty specialists contend some alternatives to high-end labels are decent quality and assist make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is necessarily better," comments dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all budget product line is bad - and not every premium skincare product is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are really impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a program 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

Medical expert another professional thinks dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in using a budget alternative or a product which is quite affordable because there's minimal that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the specialists also recommend consumers investigate and state that costlier items are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only funding the name and promotion - often the increased price also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the strength of the key component, the technology used to develop the item, and tests into the item's performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman says it's worth considering how certain alternatives can be priced so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they might include bulking agents that do not provide as many advantages for the complexion, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"The major uncertainty is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she says.

Commentator Scott says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the outer appearance," he warned.

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Regarding more complicated products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends selecting research-backed brands.

She explains these typically have been through expensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare items are required to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label states about the performance of the item, it needs research to verify it, "but the manufacturer does not always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite evidence completed by different brands, she clarifies.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

Are there any components that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up