Grocery Store Beauty Lookalikes Could Save You a Bundle. However, Do Budget Beauty Products Actually Work?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper learned a supermarket was launching a fresh product collection that appeared similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her local outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its smooth blue tube and gold top of each creams look strikingly similar. And though she has not used the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a February survey.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic established labels and offer cost-effective substitutes to luxury products. These products often have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty professionals contend certain substitutes to premium labels are reasonable quality and help make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion costlier is always more effective," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget product line is inferior - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," adds Scott McGlynn, who hosts a show featuring public figures.

Numerous of the products modeled on luxury labels "sell out so quickly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor believes dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

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

Another skin doctor, advises you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be fine in using a dupe or a product which is very inexpensive because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Box'

Yet the specialists also suggest buyers check details and note that more expensive products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not just funding the name and advertising - at times the elevated price also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the effective element, the research utilized to produce the product, and trials into the products' efficacy, the expert says.

Facialist another professional suggests it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she believes they could have filler ingredients that don't have as many positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The key question mark is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she says.

Expert Scott admits in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known label but the actual formula has "no connection to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding advanced items or ones with components that can irritate the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests selecting medical-grade brands.

The expert states these probably have been subjected to expensive tests to evaluate how effective they are.

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

When the label makes claims about the performance of the item, it requires data to support it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead reference testing done by different firms, she says.

Read the Back of the Container

Are there any components that could signal a product is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the container are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up