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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned Aldi was offering a recent beauty line that seemed similar to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael dashed to her closest store to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue container and gold cap of the two items look strikingly alike. While Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among younger adults, based on a February survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate bigger name brands and present budget-friendly alternatives to premium products. They frequently have comparable names and packaging, but sometimes the components can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts say certain dupes to luxury brands are decent standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is always more effective," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every budget product line is poor - and not every premium skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast with public figures.

A lot of of the products inspired by high-end labels "sell out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor argues dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or a product which is fairly low cost because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

But the specialists also advise shoppers do their research and say that costlier products are at times worth the additional cost.

With luxury beauty products, you're not just covering the brand and advertising - often the higher cost also is due to the formula and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science employed to create the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo says.

Facialist another professional says it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be priced so cheaply.

Occasionally, she says they may have filler ingredients that don't have as significant positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

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

Commentator Scott admits sometimes he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a established label but the item has "no connection to the original".

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

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Regarding advanced products or those with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she suggests sticking to research-backed companies.

She says these will likely have been through expensive studies to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare items are required to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert another professional.

If the company advertises about the efficacy of the product, it must have data to verify it, "but the brand does not always have to perform the testing" and can instead use evidence done by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

Are there any ingredients that could signal a product is low-quality?

Components on the label of the bottle are ordered by amount. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up