Grocery Store Beauty Lookalikes Can Save Consumers a Fortune. However, Do Economical Beauty Items Perform?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer heard Aldi was offering a new beauty line that seemed akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper hurried to her local shop to purchase the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml product.

Its streamlined blue container and gold lid of each products look strikingly comparable. And though she has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've tried 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 bigger name companies and offer affordable alternatives to luxury items. They often have alike labels and design, but in some cases the components can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Better'

Skincare professionals argue certain dupes to high-end brands are good quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that more expensive is invariably more effective," says consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is poor - and not every premium skincare product is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are really amazing," notes a podcast host, who hosts a show featuring celebrities.

Many of the items modeled on high-end labels "run out so fast, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he comments. "These items will perform the basics to a acceptable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when searching for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is fairly low cost because there's not much that can be problematic," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also recommend shoppers do their research and state that costlier items are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not only funding the name and advertising - often the elevated cost also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science used to develop the product, and tests into the item's efficacy, she notes.

Beauty expert she says it's valuable thinking about how some alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she states they could contain less effective components that do not provide as significant advantages for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One major doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott notes in some cases he's bought beauty products that look similar to a big-name label but the item has "no resemblance to the original".

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

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For potent products or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends sticking to more specialised labels.

She states these probably have been subjected to costly trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company advertises about the performance of the product, it must have evidence to back it up, "but the brand doesn't necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead use evidence conducted by different brands, she says.

Examine the Label of the Container

Is there any components that could signal a item is poor?

Ingredients on the back of the container are listed by concentration. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up