Supermarket Beauty Lookalikes Can Save Consumers Hundreds. But Do Budget Beauty Items Actually Work?
Rachael Parnell
When a consumer heard a discounter was offering a recent skincare range that looked comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".
Rachael dashed to her local shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for under ÂŁ9 for 50ml - a small portion of the ÂŁ240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.
Its streamlined blue packaging and gold top of each products look strikingly alike. While she has never tried the high-end cream, she claims she's impressed by the dupe so far.
Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for a long time, and she's part of a trend.
Over a fourth of UK shoppers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recently published survey.
Dupes are beauty items that copy bigger name brands and provide budget-friendly substitutes to high-end products. They often have alike names and packaging, but occasionally the components can change considerably.
Victoria Woollaston
'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'
Beauty specialists argue certain alternatives to premium labels are good standard and assist make skincare more affordable.
"I don't think costlier is invariably more effective," states dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not all high-end beauty item is the top."
"Some [dupes] are really excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast with famous people.
Numerous of the products based on high-end brands "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he says.
Scott McGlynn
Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.
"These products will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will perform the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."
Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.
"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or a product which is very low cost because there's not much that can cause issues," she adds.
'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'
Yet the experts also suggest shoppers do their research and say that costlier items are sometimes worth the additional cost.
With premium beauty products, you're not just funding the name and advertising - sometimes the elevated price tag also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology utilized to produce the product, and tests into the item's performance, the expert notes.
Beauty expert she suggests it's worth thinking about how some alternatives can be offered so cheaply.
In some cases, she says they might have bulking agents that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.
"The big doubt is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.
Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the premium version".
"Don't be sold by the outer appearance," he added.
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Regarding more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends sticking to medical-grade labels.
The expert says these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive studies to evaluate how effective they are.
Beauty items must be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.
If the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it needs research to support it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can instead reference evidence completed by different companies, she adds.
Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle
Are there any components that could signal a item is poor?
Ingredients on the back of the container are arranged by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up
