Grocery Store Beauty Dupes Can Save Consumers Hundreds. However, Do Affordable Beauty Items Perform?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper learned a supermarket was selling a recent beauty line that seemed comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her nearest shop to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

The streamlined blue container and gold lid of the two creams look remarkably comparable. And though she has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the product so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone.

More than a fourth of UK buyers say they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published survey.

Dupes are beauty items that copy well-known labels and present cost-effective substitutes to luxury products. These products frequently have similar labels and design, but occasionally the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists argue certain alternatives to luxury labels are good quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"I don't think costlier is necessarily more effective," comments consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every affordable skincare brand is inferior - and not all premium skincare product is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," adds a podcast host, who presents a podcast featuring public figures.

Many of the items inspired by luxury brands "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Dupes will do the job," he explains. "These items will handle the basics to a acceptable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's minimal that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Box'

Yet the specialists also recommend consumers do their research and say that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

With premium beauty products, you're not only covering the name and advertising - often the increased price also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the science utilized to create the item, and trials into the products' efficacy, she says.

Beauty expert she suggests it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she states they may contain less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The major doubt is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Expert Scott notes in some cases he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a established label but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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Regarding advanced items or those with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she advises using medical-grade companies.

The expert explains these typically have been subjected to expensive tests to assess how effective they are.

Skincare items must be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company advertises about the efficacy of the item, it must have data to back it up, "but the manufacturer does not always have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively cite evidence done by different brands, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

Is there any components that could signal a product is low-quality?

Components on the label of the container are listed by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up