🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell found out a supermarket was launching a recent product collection that looked comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper hurried to her local shop to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

The streamlined blue packaging and gold cap of each items look remarkably alike. And though Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she says she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, according to a recent poll.

Dupes are skincare products that imitate established companies and offer budget-friendly substitutes to premium items. They frequently have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the formulas can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty specialists argue certain dupes to premium brands are decent standard and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably superior," states skin specialist one expert. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not all premium beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are really excellent," adds Scott McGlynn, who hosts a show featuring famous people.

Numerous of the items based on luxury labels "sell out so fast, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry thinks dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will do the essentials to a satisfactory level."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or a product which is very low cost because there's minimal that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

But the specialists also recommend shoppers do their research and say that costlier items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only covering the name and marketing - often the higher price also stems from the components and their grade, the potency of the key component, the technology utilized to create the product, and studies into the products' efficacy, the expert says.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's worth questioning how certain dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they could contain less effective components that lack as many positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One key question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott admits in some cases he's bought beauty products that look similar to a well-known label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For advanced products or ones with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests selecting research-backed companies.

The expert states these will likely have been through comprehensive tests to assess how effective they are.

Skincare products are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it must have data to back it up, "but the brand does not always have to do the trials" and can alternatively reference evidence conducted by other companies, she says.

Examine the Label of the Container

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

Components on the list of the bottle are listed by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up