🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard Aldi was offering a new skincare range that looked similar to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She dashed to her closest store to buy the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its sleek blue container and gold lid of the two items look noticeably alike. Although she has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK buyers say they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published poll.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic established labels and present budget-friendly alternatives to premium items. These products typically have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the formulas can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Superior'

Skincare experts argue many substitutes to high-end labels are good standard and assist make skincare more affordable.

"In my opinion more expensive is invariably better," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every budget product line is inferior - and not every premium skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast about public figures.

Numerous of the products based on high-end labels "run out so quickly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will be effective," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in using a dupe or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

Yet the specialists also advise shoppers investigate and say that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not just paying for the brand and promotion - at times the higher price tag also stems from the components and their grade, the strength of the active ingredient, the technology used to create the product, and tests into the item's performance, she notes.

Facialist she argues it's valuable considering how some dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she believes they could include less effective components that lack as significant positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One big uncertainty is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott admits sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a big-name label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

Regarding more complicated products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends using medical-grade labels.

The expert states these will likely have been through expensive studies to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare products need to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it must have evidence to verify it, "however the seller does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead cite testing completed by different firms, she adds.

Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Components on the list of the container are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up