🔗 Share this article

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was selling a new skincare range that seemed akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael rushed to her closest outlet to pick up the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold top of the two creams look noticeably comparable. Although Rachael has not used the premium cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK buyers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to nearly half among younger adults, as per a February survey.

Dupes are skincare products that imitate well-known companies and provide budget-friendly options to high-end items. These products frequently have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the components can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts say some dupes to high-end labels are reasonable quality and assist make skincare more affordable.

"In my opinion costlier is always better," comments skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable skincare brand is inferior - and not all luxury beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are really excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who presents a show about famous people.

A lot of of the items inspired by luxury labels "disappear so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor argues dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be fine in using a dupe or something which is quite affordable because there's minimal that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

Yet the specialists also recommend buyers do their research and state that more expensive items are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

With luxury skincare, you're not just funding the name and marketing - sometimes the elevated price also is due to the formula and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the science employed to produce the product, and trials into the item's efficacy, the expert says.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman says it's important questioning how some dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

In some cases, she states they may have filler ingredients that do not provide as significant positive effects for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The big question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Commentator McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no resemblance to the premium version".

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

SimpleImages/Getty Images

Regarding potent products or those with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she suggests sticking to medical-grade companies.

She explains these probably have been through expensive trials to assess how successful they are.

Skincare items need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the company states about the effectiveness of the item, it needs data to support it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively use studies done by other firms, she adds.

Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the list of the container are ordered by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up