🔗 Share this article Supermarket Beauty Dupes Might Save Shoppers Hundreds. However, Do Budget Skincare Items Perform? Rachael Parnell She comments with certain alternatives she "fails to see the distinction". After discovering a consumer heard Aldi was launching a fresh product collection that seemed comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited". She dashed to her local shop to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml product. The sleek blue container and gold top of each items look remarkably similar. While she has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far. Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone. Over a fourth of UK consumers state they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recent poll. Lookalikes are beauty items that copy well-known brands and present cost-effective alternatives to premium products. They typically have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the formulas can differ significantly. Victoria Woollaston High-end vs affordable: One brand's 50ml face cream retails for £240, while Aldi's new Lacura face cream is £8.49. 'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior' Skincare experts contend certain alternatives to premium labels are good standard and help make beauty routines cheaper. "It is not true that higher-priced is invariably better," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every affordable beauty label is bad - and not all premium skincare product is the finest." "A number of [dupes] are absolutely impressive," says a podcast host, who runs a show featuring famous people. Numerous of the products based on high-end brands "disappear so fast, it's just crazy," he says. Scott McGlynn Podcast host Scott McGlynn says some budget items he has used are "great". Medical expert Ross Perry thinks dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers. "These products will be effective," he explains. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree." Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient. "When you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is quite affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she says. 'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging' Yet the specialists also recommend consumers do their research and note that more expensive products are occasionally worthy of the additional cost. With premium skincare, you're not only paying for the label and advertising - often the higher cost also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the active ingredient, the research utilized to develop the product, and tests into the item's efficacy, Dr Belmo says. Facialist she argues it's important questioning how some alternatives can be sold so at a low cost. Sometimes, she believes they might contain filler ingredients that do not provide as numerous benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality. "The major question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she says. Podcast host Scott says on occasion he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a big-name brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the luxury product". "Don't be convinced by the packaging," he added. SimpleImages/Getty Images Dr Bhate suggests opting for more specialised brands for products with components like retinol or vitamin C. For more complicated items or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends sticking to medical-grade companies. The expert states these typically have been subjected to expensive studies to determine how effective they are. Beauty items are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, says consultant dermatologist another professional. If the brand states about the performance of the product, it requires evidence to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to perform the testing" and can instead cite testing completed by other companies, she adds. Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle Are there any components that could signal a product is low-quality? Components on the list of the bottle are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up