🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell heard a supermarket was offering a recent product collection that appeared similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her closest store to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml product.

The smooth blue container and gold cap of both creams look strikingly similar. While she has not tested the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK buyers state they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, based on a February survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate established labels and provide budget-friendly options to luxury products. These products typically have alike labels and design, but occasionally the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty specialists say many substitutes to premium brands are reasonable quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily superior," says consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all low-budget beauty label is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really amazing," adds Scott McGlynn, who presents a show about public figures.

Many of the products based on luxury labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "They will perform the basics to a acceptable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or a product which is quite low cost because there's minimal that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'

But the professionals also advise shoppers check details and state that higher-priced items are at times worthy of the additional cost.

With high-end beauty products, you're not only paying for the label and advertising - often the increased price also is due to the formula and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the research utilized to produce the item, and trials into the item's efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's worth thinking about how some alternatives can be priced so cheaply.

Sometimes, she believes they could have less effective components that lack as significant advantages for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott says in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the item has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be convinced by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises sticking to more specialised labels.

The expert explains these typically have been through expensive tests to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty products need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor another professional.

If the brand makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it must have evidence to back it up, "but the seller does not necessarily have to perform the testing" and can alternatively reference testing done by other firms, she says.

Read the Back of the Bottle

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

Components on the back of the container are listed by amount. "The baddies that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up