High-Street Skincare Alternatives Might Save You a Bundle. Yet, Do Economical Skincare Products Really Work?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell heard a supermarket was launching a recent beauty line that looked akin to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper hurried to her local outlet to buy the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue packaging and gold cap of both products look remarkably alike. Although she has never tried the high-end cream, she claims she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK buyers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to 44% among younger adults, as per a recent poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established brands and offer affordable alternatives to luxury products. These products frequently have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the components can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts argue many alternatives to premium labels are reasonable quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is always better," comments consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget skincare brand is poor - and not all premium skincare product is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are truly excellent," adds Scott McGlynn, who presents a show featuring public figures.

Many of the products inspired by high-end labels "run out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a acceptable level."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's not much that can be problematic," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the experts also recommend consumers do their research and say that costlier items are at times worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only funding the brand and promotion - sometimes the increased price also stems from the formula and their quality, the strength of the effective element, the science utilized to produce the product, and studies into the item's effectiveness, she says.

Facialist Rhian Truman argues it's important questioning how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they could have less effective components that don't have as numerous advantages for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"The big uncertainty is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn notes in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a established label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be sold by the container," he added.

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For potent items or those with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests using medical-grade brands.

She states these typically have been subjected to costly tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare products need to be tested before they can be available in the UK, says skin doctor another professional.

If the label states about the efficacy of the item, it requires evidence to verify it, "but the seller does not necessarily have to do the testing" and can alternatively cite studies done by other firms, she adds.

Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Are there any components that could signal a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are arranged by quantity. "Potential irritants that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up