High-Street Beauty Lookalikes Could Save Shoppers a Fortune. However, Do Economical Skincare Products Actually Work?
Rachael Parnell
When Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was selling a recent product collection that appeared comparable to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".
Rachael rushed to her nearest store to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.
The smooth blue container and gold lid of the two items look noticeably comparable. And though she has not tested the luxury cream, she states she's satisfied by the alternative so far.
She has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.
Over a fourth of UK shoppers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, according to a recent poll.
Dupes are skincare products that mimic well-known brands and present affordable substitutes to high-end products. They frequently have comparable names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can vary substantially.
Victoria Woollaston
'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'
Beauty specialists contend some alternatives to premium brands are good quality and help make beauty routines cheaper.
"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily more effective," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is bad - and not all premium skincare product is the best."
"Some [dupes] are really amazing," adds a skincare commentator, who hosts a program with celebrities.
Many of the products modeled on high-end brands "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.
Scott McGlynn
Skin specialist another professional argues alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.
"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will do the essentials to a reasonable degree."
Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.
"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is quite affordable because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.
'Do Not Be Swayed by the Box'
However the experts also recommend buyers investigate and note that more expensive products are at times worth the additional cost.
Regarding luxury skincare, you're not just funding the brand and advertising - often the higher price tag also stems from the components and their grade, the potency of the key component, the research utilized to produce the item, and tests into the products' efficacy, the expert notes.
Skin therapist Rhian Truman argues it's worth thinking about how certain dupes can be priced so cheaply.
Occasionally, she says they might have filler ingredients that do not provide as many advantages for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.
"The big uncertainty is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she says.
Expert Scott says on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a well-known label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".
"Don't be fooled by the container," he warned.
SimpleImages/Getty Images
Regarding potent products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests using more specialised brands.
She says these probably have been subjected to expensive tests to assess how successful they are.
Skincare products need to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.
If the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it requires data to verify it, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to do the testing" and can instead cite evidence completed by different firms, she adds.
Examine the Back of the Container
Is there any ingredients that could signal a product is low-quality?
Components on the back of the tube are listed by quantity. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up
