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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer heard Aldi was offering a recent skincare range that appeared akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her local store to purchase the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of the two creams look noticeably similar. Although she has not tested the luxury cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

Over a quarter of UK consumers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This jumps to 44% among younger adults, as per a February survey.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic well-known companies and offer affordable alternatives to high-end items. These products frequently have alike names and packaging, but in some cases the formulas can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare specialists contend some substitutes to premium labels are decent standard and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that higher-priced is always superior," states dermatology expert one expert. "Not all affordable beauty label is inferior - and not every luxury beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," says Scott McGlynn, who presents a program featuring famous people.

Numerous of the products modeled on high-end brands "sell out so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will perform the essentials to a reasonable level."

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

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a dupe or a product which is very inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Box'

Yet the specialists also advise buyers investigate and state that more expensive products are sometimes worth the extra money.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not just covering the name and marketing - often the elevated cost also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the research used to develop the product, and tests into the item's efficacy, she explains.

Facialist she suggests it's worth thinking about how certain dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she says they might contain bulking agents that do not provide as significant advantages for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn admits in some cases he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the item has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be sold by the packaging," he cautioned.

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Regarding more complicated products or those with components that can inflame the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she advises sticking to more specialised brands.

The expert states these will likely have been through comprehensive tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty items are required to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company makes claims about the performance of the product, it requires data to verify it, "but the brand doesn't always have to do the testing" and can instead cite testing completed by other firms, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Container

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

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are ordered by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up