High-Street Beauty Alternatives Can Save Shoppers a Fortune. However, Do Economical Beauty Items Actually Work?

Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard Aldi was launching a fresh product collection that appeared comparable to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She hurried to her local store to pick up the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml product.

Its sleek blue packaging and gold cap of each items look noticeably alike. And though she has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK shoppers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to 44% among younger adults, as per a February survey.

Dupes are beauty items that copy established companies and provide cost-effective alternatives to premium items. These products often have comparable names and packaging, but sometimes the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty specialists argue certain alternatives to luxury labels are reasonable standard and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is always superior," states dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget product line is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are truly excellent," says a skincare commentator, who runs a program featuring public figures.

Numerous of the items modeled on high-end labels "sell out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional argues dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "They will do the fundamentals to a reasonable level."

Another skin doctor, advises you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be alright in using a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the professionals also recommend consumers do their research and say that costlier items are occasionally worth the premium price.

With high-end skincare, you're not just covering the brand and promotion - often the higher price tag also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology utilized to develop the item, and trials into the item's performance, Dr Belmo explains.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman suggests it's worth considering how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they could contain less effective components that do not provide as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

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

Commentator McGlynn says sometimes he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he warned.

SimpleImages/Getty Images

For advanced products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, she advises selecting research-backed labels.

She explains these probably have been through expensive trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty items must be tested before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the label makes claims about the performance of the product, it needs data to support it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively cite testing completed by other brands, she says.

Examine the Back of the Container

Is there any components that could suggest a product is inferior?

Components on the list of the container are listed by amount. "Potential irritants that you want to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up