🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

When one shopper learned a discounter was offering a fresh skincare range that looked comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper dashed to her nearest shop to pick up the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

The streamlined blue packaging and gold cap of both items look remarkably comparable. While she has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers report they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a February survey.

Dupes are skincare products that imitate well-known companies and offer affordable alternatives to premium items. They frequently have alike labels and design, but sometimes the formulas can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts say certain dupes to high-end labels are good standard and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is invariably superior," says dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget product line is poor - and not all premium skincare product is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are truly amazing," says a podcast host, who runs a program about celebrities.

Numerous of the items inspired by luxury brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues alternatives are suitable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "They will do the essentials to a satisfactory level."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can cut costs 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 fine in using a budget alternative or a product which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

But the specialists also advise buyers investigate and note that higher-priced products are at times worthy of the additional cost.

With premium skincare, you're not just funding the name and marketing - sometimes the increased cost also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the technology utilized to develop the product, and trials into the products' effectiveness, she says.

Beauty expert another professional suggests it's valuable questioning how some alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

In some cases, she says they could contain less effective components that don't have as many positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"The key question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a established label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Don't be fooled by the container," he added.

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For more complicated items or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist advises sticking to more specialised companies.

She says these will likely have been subjected to expensive tests to determine how effective they are.

Skincare items must be tested before they can be available in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company states about the performance of the item, it needs evidence to support it, "but the seller does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively use testing conducted by other brands, she adds.

Check the Back of the Bottle

Are there any components that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Components on the list of the container are listed by concentration. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up