High-Street Skincare Lookalikes Might Save You a Fortune. Yet, Do Budget Skincare Items Perform?

Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell learned a discounter was selling a fresh beauty line that looked comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her closest outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The streamlined blue container and gold cap of each creams look noticeably alike. Although Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from popular shops and grocery stores for some time, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recently published study.

Dupes are beauty items that imitate established brands and provide cost-effective substitutes to high-end products. They typically have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals contend some dupes to high-end labels are good standard and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"I don't think more expensive is always more effective," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every premium skincare product is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are really excellent," notes a podcast host, who presents a podcast about celebrities.

Numerous of the products based on luxury labels "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

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

"These products will be effective," he comments. "They will perform the essentials to a reasonable level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in using a budget alternative or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the specialists also advise buyers do their research and say that higher-priced items are sometimes worth the premium price.

With high-end beauty products, you're not just covering the name and marketing - sometimes the higher price tag also is due to the formula and their grade, the potency of the key component, the research utilized to produce the item, and trials into the products' effectiveness, the expert says.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman suggests it's valuable thinking about how some alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she states they could have less effective components that don't have as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One big doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott admits in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she advises sticking to more specialised companies.

The expert states these typically have been through expensive studies to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty products need to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it needs research to back it up, "but the seller doesn't always have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively reference evidence done by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Container

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

Components on the list of the container are ordered by concentration. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up