🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a discounter was launching a recent skincare range that looked comparable to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael hurried to her nearest store to purchase the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its smooth blue tube and gold cap of the two products look noticeably alike. And though Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK buyers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, according to a recently published study.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate well-known labels and offer affordable substitutes to high-end products. They often have similar labels and design, but occasionally the formulas can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty professionals contend some alternatives to luxury brands are good quality and aid make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that more expensive is always more effective," says consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget beauty label is poor - and not all luxury skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a program featuring celebrities.

Many of the items modeled on luxury brands "sell out so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues alternatives are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he explains. "They will do the basics to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be alright in using a dupe or something which is quite affordable because there's minimal that can be problematic," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

But the experts also advise consumers investigate and state that costlier products are at times worthy of the premium price.

With premium beauty products, you're not only paying for the brand and marketing - at times the increased cost also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the research employed to develop the product, and studies into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist she argues it's important questioning how some alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they might include filler ingredients that do not provide as many advantages for the complexion, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a established label but the item has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For advanced items or those with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests sticking to research-backed labels.

She says these will likely have been subjected to costly studies to determine how effective they are.

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

If the company states about the effectiveness of the product, it needs research to support it, "however the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead use studies conducted by different companies, she adds.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up