🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

When one shopper learned Aldi was offering a fresh beauty line that seemed comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael dashed to her nearest outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml cream.

The streamlined blue packaging and gold top of both products look strikingly alike. Although she has never tried the luxury cream, she states she's impressed by the product so far.

Rachael has been buying lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK consumers say they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a February survey.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic established brands and provide affordable alternatives to premium items. They typically have alike labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals say some dupes to premium labels are reasonable quality and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is invariably more effective," states dermatology expert one expert. "Not all affordable beauty label is bad - and not every premium skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says a podcast host, who presents a show featuring famous people.

A lot of of the products inspired by high-end labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks alternatives are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will perform the essentials to a acceptable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can save money when seeking simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is quite low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

However the experts also recommend shoppers do their research and say that more expensive items are sometimes worthy of the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the brand and marketing - often the higher price tag also is due to the components and their grade, the potency of the key component, the science used to produce the product, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's important considering how some dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she says they might include less effective components that lack as significant advantages for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One major doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For more complicated items or those with components that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate advises sticking to medical-grade companies.

She explains these typically have been through comprehensive studies to assess how effective they are.

Beauty items must be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, says expert another professional.

If the company makes claims about the performance of the product, it needs data to back it up, "but the brand does not always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively reference evidence conducted by different companies, she says.

Read the Back of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a product is poor?

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