Grocery Store Skincare Dupes Could Save Shoppers a Fortune. But Do Economical Skincare Products Perform?

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out Aldi was offering a fresh skincare range that appeared similar to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael hurried to her closest store to buy the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml product.

Its smooth blue container and gold top of both items look noticeably alike. While she has not used the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been using lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a fourth of UK buyers report they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published poll.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic established brands and present cost-effective alternatives to high-end items. These products typically have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the components can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts contend many dupes to high-end brands are reasonable quality and assist make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that more expensive is invariably better," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all budget skincare brand is inferior - and not all luxury skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," adds Scott McGlynn, who hosts a program with famous people.

A lot of of the items modeled on high-end labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry believes dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory level."

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

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

However the professionals also advise shoppers do their research and state that higher-priced products are at times worth the additional cost.

With luxury beauty products, you're not just paying for the label and marketing - often the elevated cost also comes from the formula and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology employed to create the item, and tests into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman argues it's worth thinking about how some alternatives can be priced so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they could contain filler ingredients that do not provide as significant positive effects for the complexion, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The major doubt is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a well-known label but the item has "little similarity to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist suggests sticking to research-backed brands.

The expert says these typically have been through comprehensive studies to assess how effective they are.

Beauty products need to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it must have data to support it, "however the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively cite testing done by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up