High-Street Skincare Dupes Might Save Consumers a Bundle. Yet, Do Economical Skincare Products Really Work?

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned a supermarket was offering a fresh beauty line that appeared comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael dashed to her closest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

The streamlined blue container and gold cap of both items look strikingly similar. And though Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she states she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers say they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recently published survey.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic well-known labels and provide cost-effective alternatives to high-end items. These products typically have comparable branding and containers, but occasionally the components can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Beauty professionals contend some alternatives to premium brands are decent standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion more expensive is always better," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all affordable product line is bad - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really amazing," notes a skincare commentator, who presents a show featuring celebrities.

Many of the products modeled on high-end labels "run out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor argues alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can spend less when searching for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is very inexpensive because there's minimal that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Container'

Yet the experts also suggest shoppers investigate and state that more expensive items are at times worthy of the premium price.

With premium skincare, you're not only covering the label and marketing - at times the increased price also stems from the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the science used to produce the item, and studies into the item's efficacy, the expert explains.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman says it's worth questioning how certain alternatives can be priced so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she says they might have filler ingredients that don't have as significant advantages for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"One key question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott admits in some cases he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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For advanced items or ones with components that can irritate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests using research-backed companies.

The expert says these will likely have been through expensive studies to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare products are required to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label states about the efficacy of the product, it needs research to verify it, "but the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively cite studies completed by other firms, she says.

Check the Label of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could signal a item is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the container are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up