High-Street Skincare Alternatives Can Save Consumers Hundreds. However, Do Economical Beauty Products Actually Work?

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell heard Aldi was offering a fresh skincare range that seemed comparable to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael hurried to her closest shop to buy the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its smooth blue container and gold top of both creams look strikingly alike. While Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been using lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for some time, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK buyers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44% among younger adults, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established companies and present affordable options to high-end products. These products typically have similar labels and design, but in some cases the components can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty experts argue many substitutes to luxury labels are decent quality and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that more expensive is always more effective," states dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every affordable beauty label is inferior - and not every luxury skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a show with celebrities.

Many of the products based on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry argues alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will do the job," he says. "They will do the essentials to a reasonable level."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is very low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging'

However the specialists also advise consumers investigate and say that higher-priced items are at times worthy of the extra money.

With luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the label and marketing - at times the elevated cost also comes from the components and their grade, the strength of the active ingredient, the research utilized to produce the product, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo explains.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman argues it's important considering how some alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

In some cases, she says they could include filler ingredients that don't have as many benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The big uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Expert McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a established brand but the product itself has "no resemblance to the premium version".

"Don't be sold by the packaging," he cautioned.

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For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using medical-grade companies.

She states these will likely have been through costly tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the label advertises about the performance of the product, it must have evidence to back it up, "however the brand does not always have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively reference testing done by other companies, she adds.

Check the Label of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could signal a product is poor?

Components on the list of the bottle are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up