🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

When one shopper learned Aldi was selling a recent skincare range that seemed akin to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She dashed to her local shop to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml product.

The smooth blue container and gold lid of both products look noticeably comparable. Although Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK consumers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recent poll.

Dupes are beauty items that imitate bigger name companies and provide cost-effective substitutes to premium products. These products frequently have alike names and packaging, but occasionally the formulas can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare specialists contend many alternatives to premium brands are decent quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion more expensive is necessarily superior," says skin specialist a doctor. "Not every budget product line is bad - and not every premium skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," notes Scott McGlynn, who hosts a program about celebrities.

Numerous of the products modeled on luxury brands "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry thinks alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "They will perform the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can spend less when searching for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be okay in using a dupe or something which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the professionals also suggest shoppers do their research and note that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

With premium skincare, you're not only funding the brand and marketing - at times the elevated price tag also stems from the components and their quality, the strength of the active ingredient, the research employed to create the item, and studies into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's valuable thinking about how some dupes can be sold so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she says they could contain less effective components that lack as numerous advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One big question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's bought skincare items that look similar to a big-name brand but the product itself has "no connection to the original".

"Do not be sold by the packaging," he warned.

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For potent products or those with components that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests using more specialised companies.

She says these probably have been through comprehensive trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty products are required to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label states about the performance of the item, it requires data to verify it, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively use evidence done by other companies, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Pack

Is there any components that could indicate a product is inferior?

Components on the back of the tube are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up