🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was selling a fresh product collection that looked akin to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest store to buy the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its sleek blue packaging and gold cap of both creams look strikingly similar. While she has not used the luxury cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

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

Over a 25% of UK shoppers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published study.

Alternatives are beauty items that copy well-known companies and offer budget-friendly substitutes to premium items. These products often have alike labels and design, but in some cases the components can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts say many alternatives to luxury labels are decent standard and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think more expensive is necessarily superior," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget skincare brand is bad - and not every high-end beauty item is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who hosts a show with celebrities.

Numerous of the items inspired by luxury labels "sell out so quickly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry believes dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he explains. "They will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is very low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging'

Yet the experts also suggest buyers do their research and say that costlier products are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

With luxury skincare, you're not only covering the label and advertising - often the increased cost also is due to the components and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the research utilized to create the product, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she explains.

Facialist another professional suggests it's valuable considering how some alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they could contain bulking agents that don't have as significant advantages for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One big uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn says in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the item has "no connection to the premium version".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For more complicated items or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests using medical-grade labels.

The expert states these probably have been subjected to costly tests to assess how effective they are.

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

When the company makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it requires evidence to verify it, "but the brand does not always have to perform the testing" and can instead use studies conducted by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any components that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the container are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up