🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a discounter was selling a fresh beauty line that seemed similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She dashed to her local shop to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

The smooth blue tube and gold top of the two creams look remarkably alike. Although Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recently published poll.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate well-known labels and present affordable substitutes to luxury items. These products frequently have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the components can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty professionals contend some substitutes to premium brands are reasonable standard and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion more expensive is always superior," states dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every affordable beauty label is poor - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

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

A lot of of the items based on high-end labels "sell out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor believes dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "They will do the essentials to a reasonable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when searching for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a dupe or a product which is very inexpensive because there's very little that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Box'

Yet the experts also suggest shoppers investigate and state that higher-priced products are at times worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not just funding the label and advertising - at times the higher price also comes from the components and their quality, the strength of the effective element, the science utilized to develop the item, and tests into the products' performance, she explains.

Skin therapist she argues it's worth thinking about how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they might contain less effective components that lack as significant advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The key question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Expert Scott says sometimes he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a established label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

Regarding advanced products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends using more specialised companies.

The expert states these typically have been through expensive tests to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty products need to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the company states about the performance of the product, it requires research to support it, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively reference evidence done by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Bottle

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

Components on the label of the bottle are listed by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up