Grocery Store Skincare Lookalikes Can Save Consumers a Fortune. However, Do Budget Skincare Products Really Work?

Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a supermarket was selling a new product collection that seemed similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest outlet to buy the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its sleek blue packaging and gold cap of both products look remarkably similar. While Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK buyers say they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recent survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy well-known companies and provide affordable substitutes to luxury items. They typically have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the components can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists say certain substitutes to luxury brands are decent quality and help make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think higher-priced is necessarily better," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget product line is bad - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

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

Numerous of the items based on luxury labels "disappear so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor thinks alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will handle the basics to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the professionals also advise buyers do their research and state that more expensive items are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not just paying for the brand and marketing - often the increased price also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the technology employed to develop the item, and studies into the products' efficacy, she notes.

Beauty expert another professional says it's worth considering how certain dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she believes they might have less effective components that don't have as many benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The key uncertainty is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn admits in some cases he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a well-known label but the item has "no connection to the premium version".

"Don't be convinced by the packaging," he cautioned.

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For advanced products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends using medical-grade brands.

She explains these probably have been through comprehensive tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty items need to be tested before they can be available in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand advertises about the performance of the item, it requires data to support it, "but the brand doesn't always have to perform the testing" and can alternatively use testing done by other brands, she says.

Examine the Back of the Container

Is there any components that could suggest a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the container are arranged by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up