High-Street Beauty Dupes Could Save You a Fortune. However, Do Budget Beauty Items Really Work?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper heard Aldi was selling a recent product collection that appeared comparable to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She rushed to her closest shop to buy the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the high-end 50ml item.

The smooth blue packaging and gold top of each creams look strikingly alike. While she has not used the luxury cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

More than a 25% of UK buyers report they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic well-known companies and present affordable substitutes to luxury products. These products often have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals argue some substitutes to luxury labels are reasonable quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily better," comments skin specialist one expert. "Not all low-budget product line is poor - and not every premium beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are truly amazing," says a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast with celebrities.

A lot of of the products modeled on luxury brands "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor thinks alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he explains. "These items will do the basics to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is quite affordable because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

However the experts also suggest shoppers do their research and note that more expensive products are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the label and marketing - at times the higher price tag also stems from the components and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the technology employed to develop the item, and trials into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo explains.

Facialist Rhian Truman suggests it's valuable considering how some alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she believes they may have filler ingredients that don't have as many positive effects for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"One key uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott admits sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a big-name brand but the item has "little similarity to the original".

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

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Regarding advanced items or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using medical-grade brands.

The expert explains these will likely have been through expensive trials to assess how successful they are.

Skincare items are required to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the item, it must have research to back it up, "but the manufacturer does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively use evidence conducted by different brands, she says.

Read the Label of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the list of the tube are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up