Rachael Parnell
When Rachael Parnell heard a supermarket was offering a recent product collection that appeared akin to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".
She dashed to her local shop to buy the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.
Its streamlined blue container and gold lid of both items look remarkably similar. While Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she states she's impressed by the alternative so far.
She has been buying skincare dupes from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.
More than a quarter of UK buyers say they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published study.
Alternatives are beauty items that copy bigger name companies and provide cost-effective options to premium items. These products typically have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the ingredients can vary significantly.
Victoria Woollaston
Skincare professionals say some alternatives to premium brands are reasonable quality and aid make skincare cheaper.
"It is not true that more expensive is invariably more effective," says consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all low-budget product line is inferior - and not all high-end beauty item is the best."
"Certain [dupes] are truly impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who presents a show featuring public figures.
Many of the products inspired by high-end brands "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he says.
Scott McGlynn
Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional argues dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.
"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "They will perform the fundamentals to a acceptable level."
A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.
"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is very low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.
However the professionals also suggest buyers do their research and note that higher-priced items are sometimes worth the additional cost.
With premium skincare, you're not just covering the name and promotion - sometimes the increased price also is due to the formula and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology utilized to develop the product, and tests into the item's effectiveness, she explains.
Beauty expert another professional argues it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be priced so cheaply.
Occasionally, she states they might have bulking agents that lack as many benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.
"One key doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.
Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".
"Don't be convinced by the packaging," he added.
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Regarding advanced items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she advises selecting research-backed companies.
She explains these probably have been through costly studies to determine how successful they are.
Skincare items are required to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.
When the label makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it needs evidence to verify it, "but the seller does not always have to conduct the trials" and can instead reference evidence conducted by other firms, she says.
Is there any ingredients that could suggest a item is low-quality?
Ingredients on the back of the container are ordered by concentration. "Potential irritants that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up
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