🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was selling a new product collection that appeared comparable to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The smooth blue tube and gold lid of each items look noticeably similar. While Rachael has not used the premium cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK consumers report they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy bigger name labels and provide cost-effective alternatives to high-end products. They typically have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty professionals argue certain dupes to high-end brands are reasonable quality and aid make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that more expensive is always more effective," comments dermatology expert a doctor. "Not every low-budget beauty label is inferior - and not every high-end skincare product is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who runs a program featuring public figures.

Numerous of the items modeled on high-end brands "run out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry thinks dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he explains. "These items will perform the essentials to a reasonable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when searching for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Container'

But the specialists also recommend buyers check details and say that more expensive items are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

With premium skincare, you're not only paying for the name and marketing - at times the elevated price also comes from the formula and their quality, the potency of the active ingredient, the research used to develop the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist another professional says it's important thinking about how some dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they may include less effective components that don't have as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a big-name label but the item has "no resemblance to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the outer appearance," he warned.

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests selecting more specialised labels.

She explains these probably have been through costly trials to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it must have data to back it up, "however the seller does not always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively cite testing completed by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Container

Are there any components that could indicate a product is poor?

Components on the label of the tube are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you need to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up