High-Street Beauty Lookalikes Could Save Shoppers Hundreds. However, Do Budget Skincare Products Perform?

Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a supermarket was offering a new skincare range that appeared similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She dashed to her local store to buy the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The sleek blue container and gold top of each items look remarkably comparable. While she has not tested the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a fourth of UK consumers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This jumps to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recent survey.

Alternatives are beauty items that copy established companies and present affordable alternatives to high-end products. These products often have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty specialists say certain substitutes to premium brands are reasonable standard and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"It is not true that more expensive is always more effective," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every affordable beauty label is inferior - and not every high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," says a podcast host, who runs a program featuring famous people.

Numerous of the items based on high-end brands "sell out so quickly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "These items will do the essentials to a reasonable standard."

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

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in using a lookalike or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

However the specialists also suggest buyers investigate and state that higher-priced products are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just covering the label and promotion - sometimes the higher price also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the strength of the key component, the technology used to develop the product, and trials into the item's efficacy, Dr Belmo explains.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's valuable considering how some dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

In some cases, she states they might have filler ingredients that do not provide as many benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"The key uncertainty is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn says sometimes he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a established brand but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he added.

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For more complicated items or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist recommends selecting research-backed companies.

She explains these typically have been subjected to expensive trials to determine how successful they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand makes claims about the performance of the product, it must have data to back it up, "but the seller does not necessarily have to perform the testing" and can alternatively use evidence conducted by different companies, she adds.

Check the Label of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the label of the container are listed by concentration. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up