Grocery Store Skincare Dupes Might Save Shoppers Hundreds. However, Do Budget Beauty Products Perform?

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard Aldi was launching a fresh product collection that seemed similar to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She dashed to her closest outlet to buy the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The smooth blue tube and gold lid of the two creams look strikingly comparable. While Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's pleased by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK buyers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a recent study.

Dupes are skincare products that copy well-known labels and present cost-effective alternatives to premium items. They typically have similar labels and design, but occasionally the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty professionals contend some substitutes to high-end labels are decent standard and aid make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is always more effective," comments consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," says a skincare commentator, who hosts a show with celebrities.

Many of the items modeled on high-end brands "run out so rapidly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Dupes will do the job," he says. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can save money when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be okay in using a dupe or something which is very low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

However the professionals also suggest shoppers investigate and state that higher-priced products are occasionally worth the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just covering the brand and advertising - at times the higher price tag also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the research employed to create the product, and tests into the item's effectiveness, Dr Belmo explains.

Facialist another professional argues it's valuable thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she states they could contain filler ingredients that lack as significant positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One big question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Commentator McGlynn says in some cases he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a big-name label but the item has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be convinced by the outer appearance," he added.

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Regarding potent items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends selecting more specialised companies.

She says these typically have been through expensive studies to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty products need to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

If the company states about the efficacy of the product, it must have data to back it up, "but the brand does not necessarily have to perform the testing" and can instead cite testing done by different firms, she adds.

Read the Ingredients List of the Pack

Are there any components that could suggest a item is inferior?

Components on the label of the bottle are arranged by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up