🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

When a consumer found out Aldi was launching a fresh skincare range that appeared akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her nearest shop to buy the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue container and gold cap of both products look remarkably comparable. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK consumers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a recent study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic bigger name brands and offer affordable options to high-end products. They often have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Better'

Skincare experts say some dupes to luxury brands are decent quality and aid make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think higher-priced is invariably superior," says consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not all affordable product line is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely impressive," says a podcast host, who hosts a program with public figures.

Numerous of the products modeled on high-end labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional thinks dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he comments. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is quite low cost because there's minimal that can be problematic," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

But the specialists also suggest shoppers do their research and state that higher-priced items are sometimes worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just paying for the name and promotion - sometimes the elevated price also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the strength of the active ingredient, the technology employed to create the product, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she notes.

Skin therapist she argues it's important questioning how some dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she says they could include bulking agents that do not provide as significant positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"One big doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott says sometimes he's bought skincare items that look similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the premium version".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist advises sticking to research-backed labels.

The expert explains these typically have been subjected to costly studies to assess how successful they are.

Beauty products need to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, explains expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand advertises about the efficacy of the item, it must have data to support it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead reference testing completed by different companies, she adds.

Read the Label of the Container

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

Components on the label of the tube are ordered by amount. "The baddies that you need to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up