High-Street Beauty Dupes Can Save Consumers a Fortune. Yet, Do Budget Beauty Products Really Work?

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell heard Aldi was selling a new beauty line that looked akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper rushed to her local outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold top of both items look remarkably similar. And though she has never tried the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for a long time, and she's not alone.

More than a fourth of UK buyers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy well-known labels and provide cost-effective substitutes to luxury items. They often have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Beauty experts argue some substitutes to luxury labels are decent standard and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that more expensive is always better," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is inferior - and not all luxury skincare product is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are truly impressive," says a skincare commentator, who presents a show about public figures.

Numerous of the items inspired by high-end labels "run out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "These items will perform the basics to a reasonable degree."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in using a budget alternative or a product which is quite low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

However the experts also suggest buyers investigate and state that more expensive items are sometimes worth the premium price.

With high-end skincare, you're not only paying for the label and marketing - at times the increased cost also is due to the formula and their quality, the potency of the effective element, the science used to develop the product, and trials into the products' performance, the expert explains.

Beauty expert she suggests it's valuable thinking about how certain alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she believes they might include less effective components that don't have as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The major question mark is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott notes on occasion he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a well-known brand but the item has "little similarity to the premium version".

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

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she advises selecting more specialised brands.

She explains these typically have been subjected to expensive trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty products must be tested before they can be sold in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the brand advertises about the efficacy of the item, it must have data to verify it, "however the brand doesn't always have to do the testing" and can instead cite studies completed by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the label of the tube are listed by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up