Grocery Store Beauty Dupes Can Save Consumers a Fortune. But Do Affordable Beauty Products Actually Work?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper learned a supermarket was selling a recent skincare range that seemed akin to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her nearest store to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its smooth blue tube and gold lid of each creams look noticeably similar. And though Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she states she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying lookalike products 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 purchased a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a February study.

Dupes are skincare products that imitate established companies and offer budget-friendly alternatives to high-end products. They typically have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the formulas can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Superior'

Skincare experts contend some alternatives to premium labels are reasonable standard and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion costlier is always better," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every affordable beauty label is bad - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast with public figures.

Many of the products modeled on luxury labels "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry thinks alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he says. "They will perform the essentials to a acceptable level."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the experts also recommend buyers check details and note that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With premium skincare, you're not just funding the label and advertising - sometimes the increased price tag also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the strength of the effective element, the technology employed to develop the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, she explains.

Beauty expert she argues it's worth considering how some dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she states they may contain filler ingredients that do not provide as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The major uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn notes in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".

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

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For more complicated items or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends sticking to research-backed brands.

She explains these probably have been through costly tests to determine how efficacious they are.

Skincare items need to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the company makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it needs research to support it, "but the seller does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively reference evidence done by other brands, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Pack

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a product is low-quality?

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