🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard a discounter was offering a new beauty line that looked akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her closest store to buy the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its smooth blue container and gold cap of the two items look remarkably similar. While she has not used the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK buyers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a February poll.

Dupes are beauty items that copy bigger name labels and offer cost-effective options to premium products. These products typically have alike labels and design, but occasionally the formulas can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare specialists say certain alternatives to premium brands are reasonable standard and aid make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think higher-priced is always superior," says consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every affordable product line is inferior - and not every premium beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are truly amazing," adds a podcast host, who presents a program with celebrities.

Numerous of the items modeled on luxury labels "disappear so fast, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

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

"These products will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will handle the basics to a reasonable standard."

Another skin doctor, advises you can save money when seeking simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a dupe or something which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

But the professionals also suggest buyers investigate and state that more expensive items are at times worth the extra money.

With premium skincare, you're not just paying for the label and marketing - at times the elevated price tag also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the strength of the key component, the research employed to produce the item, and tests into the products' performance, the expert notes.

Skin therapist another professional says it's valuable questioning how some alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

In some cases, she says they could have filler ingredients that lack as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The major uncertainty is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Expert Scott notes on occasion he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a established brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends selecting more specialised companies.

She explains these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive trials to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare items are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label advertises about the performance of the item, it requires research to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead use evidence completed by other companies, she clarifies.

Examine the Label of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the label of the container are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up