🔗 Share this article High-Street Skincare Dupes Could Save Consumers a Fortune. However, Do Affordable Skincare Items Really Work? Rachael Parnell She comments with certain dupes she "cannot distinguish the difference". After discovering Rachael Parnell heard a supermarket was launching a new skincare range that looked akin to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited". The shopper hurried to her closest outlet to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml item. Its sleek blue packaging and gold cap of both products look noticeably similar. Although Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far. She has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone. More than a quarter of UK buyers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to 44% among younger adults, based on a recently published poll. Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic bigger name companies and offer budget-friendly alternatives to premium items. These products often have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the formulas can vary significantly. Victoria Woollaston Luxury vs budget: One brand's 50ml face cream is priced at £240, while the supermarket's recent store-brand face cream is £8.49. 'Expensive Is Not Always Superior' Beauty professionals contend many alternatives to premium labels are decent standard and assist make skincare cheaper. "It is not true that higher-priced is always more effective," comments consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable skincare brand is bad - and not every high-end skincare product is the finest." "Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," notes a podcast host, who presents a program with famous people. Numerous of the items modeled on high-end labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he observes. Scott McGlynn Podcast host Scott McGlynn says some budget products he has used are "great". Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional believes dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes. "Alternatives will be effective," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a reasonable degree." A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and squalane. "If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or a product which is very inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she explains. 'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container' But the professionals also recommend buyers check details and say that more expensive products are at times worthy of the extra money. Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not just funding the brand and promotion - often the increased price tag also is due to the components and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science utilized to produce the product, and tests into the item's performance, the expert says. Skin therapist another professional says it's valuable considering how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively. Sometimes, she believes they might contain bulking agents that don't have as many positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected. "The key question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says. Podcast host Scott admits sometimes he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a well-known label but the item has "no resemblance to the original". "Don't be sold by the packaging," he cautioned. SimpleImages/Getty Images The dermatologist suggests opting for established brands for items with components like retinol or vitamin C. For advanced products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist suggests using medical-grade brands. She states these will likely have been subjected to costly trials to assess how effective they are. Beauty products need to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth. When the company advertises about the efficacy of the item, it requires data to support it, "but the brand does not always have to do the testing" and can alternatively cite studies completed by different companies, she says. Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle Are there any ingredients that could signal a item is inferior? Components on the label of the bottle are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up