High-Street Beauty Dupes Could Save You a Bundle. Yet, Do Budget Beauty Products Really Work?
Rachael Parnell
When a consumer found out a discounter was selling a new skincare range that seemed similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".
She rushed to her nearest store to buy the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item.
The sleek blue packaging and gold top of each creams look remarkably alike. Although she has not used the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.
She has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.
Over a 25% of UK consumers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a recent poll.
Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established brands and provide cost-effective alternatives to high-end items. They typically have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the components can change significantly.
Victoria Woollaston
'Costly Isn't Always Superior'
Beauty experts say some dupes to premium labels are decent quality and help make skincare cheaper.
"I don't think more expensive is always more effective," comments dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every high-end skincare product is the finest."
"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who hosts a program with public figures.
Numerous of the products modeled on luxury brands "sell out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.
Scott McGlynn
Medical expert Ross Perry thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.
"These products will be effective," he says. "They will do the basics to a satisfactory degree."
Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.
"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she explains.
'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'
Yet the experts also recommend shoppers investigate and state that costlier items are at times worthy of the extra money.
Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just covering the label and advertising - sometimes the increased cost also comes from the formula and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology used to develop the product, and studies into the products' effectiveness, she explains.
Beauty expert she argues it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be offered so cheaply.
Sometimes, she believes they might include less effective components that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.
"One major uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.
Podcast host Scott admits sometimes he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "little similarity to the luxury product".
"Do not be fooled by the container," he added.
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For potent items or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests selecting more specialised brands.
She says these probably have been through comprehensive tests to assess how effective they are.
Skincare products are required to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor another professional.
If the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it must have data to verify it, "however the brand does not always have to do the testing" and can alternatively cite studies completed by other firms, she clarifies.
Examine the Ingredients List of the Bottle
Is there any components that could suggest a product is low-quality?
Ingredients on the label of the container are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up
