High-Street Skincare Lookalikes Could Save Consumers Hundreds. Yet, Do Economical Beauty Items Really Work?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was selling a new skincare range that looked comparable to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She hurried to her closest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue tube and gold cap of each items look noticeably alike. While she has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, based on a recently published poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate well-known labels and present budget-friendly alternatives to high-end products. They often have alike labels and design, but sometimes the formulas can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty experts argue some substitutes to luxury brands are good quality and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion more expensive is necessarily more effective," comments dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable product line is poor - and not all luxury skincare product is the top."

"Some [dupes] are really amazing," notes a podcast host, who hosts a show with celebrities.

A lot of of the products based on luxury brands "run out so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor argues alternatives are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will do the job," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory level."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is quite affordable because there's very little that can go wrong," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Box'

But the professionals also recommend buyers check details and state that costlier products are at times worthy of the premium price.

With premium beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and advertising - often the elevated price tag also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the science utilized to produce the product, and studies into the products' performance, the expert notes.

Skin therapist she suggests it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

Occasionally, she states they might have bulking agents that don't have as significant benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One key doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott admits on occasion he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original".

"Don't be fooled by the packaging," he warned.

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Regarding more complicated items or those with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests using research-backed labels.

She says these will likely have been through expensive tests to assess how efficacious they are.

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

If the label states about the efficacy of the item, it needs data to verify it, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite testing done by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Pack

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are arranged by quantity. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up