Supermarket Beauty Dupes Could Save You a Bundle. Yet, Do Economical Beauty Items Actually Work?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer heard a supermarket was selling a fresh product collection that looked akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper rushed to her local store to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its sleek blue tube and gold cap of each items look remarkably similar. While Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK buyers state they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44% among younger adults, as per a recent study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy bigger name brands and provide cost-effective options to premium products. They often have similar branding and containers, but sometimes the components can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Skincare experts contend certain substitutes to premium brands are reasonable standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is necessarily superior," says consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every affordable product line is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a show about public figures.

A lot of of the items inspired by luxury brands "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

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

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is quite affordable because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

But the professionals also recommend consumers do their research and say that higher-priced products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only paying for the label and advertising - often the increased price also stems from the components and their quality, the concentration of the effective element, the research utilized to produce the item, and studies into the item's efficacy, she explains.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's valuable thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they might include bulking agents that do not provide as many benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"The major uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Commentator McGlynn says on occasion he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be sold by the container," he added.

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Regarding potent items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests using research-backed labels.

She says these will likely have been through costly tests to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty items are required to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

If the company advertises about the efficacy of the product, it must have data to back it up, "however the brand does not always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively reference testing completed by other brands, she says.

Read the Label of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a item is inferior?

Components on the back of the container are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up