🔗 Share this article Grocery Store Skincare Dupes Could Save You a Fortune. But Do Affordable Skincare Items Really Work? Rachael Parnell Rachael says with certain alternatives she "can't tell the distinction". After discovering one shopper learned Aldi was launching a recent beauty line that appeared similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited". She hurried to her nearest shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml product. The streamlined blue packaging and gold cap of the two items look remarkably comparable. And though Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far. Rachael has been buying skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company. Over a 25% of UK shoppers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published study. Lookalikes are beauty items that copy well-known brands and present budget-friendly options to luxury products. These products often have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can vary considerably. Victoria Woollaston High-end vs affordable: One brand's 50ml face cream is priced at £240, while Aldi's new Lacura face cream is £8.49. 'Costly Isn't Always Superior' Skincare experts argue many substitutes to luxury brands are good standard and help make skincare cheaper. "It is not true that costlier is necessarily more effective," says skin specialist one expert. "Not all low-budget beauty label is bad - and not all premium skincare product is the best." "A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," says a skincare commentator, who runs a program featuring celebrities. A lot of of the items based on high-end labels "run out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes. Scott McGlynn Podcast host Scott McGlynn states a few budget items he has tested are "great". Medical expert another professional thinks dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes. "Alternatives will serve a purpose," he explains. "They will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable degree." A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient. "When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can go wrong," she explains. 'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging' But the experts also advise buyers investigate and state that costlier products are sometimes worth the additional cost. Regarding luxury skincare, you're not only funding the brand and promotion - often the higher cost also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the research utilized to produce the product, and tests into the item's effectiveness, Dr Belmo says. Skin therapist she argues it's important questioning how certain alternatives can be priced so at a low cost. In some cases, she says they may include bulking agents that do not provide as significant benefits for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality. "One major uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks. Podcast host Scott notes in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a big-name brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the luxury product". "Don't be fooled by the outer appearance," he cautioned. SimpleImages/Getty Images Dr Bhate suggests sticking to clinical brands for items with ingredients like vitamin A or vitamin C. Regarding more complicated items or those with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends using more specialised brands. She explains these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive studies to assess how successful they are. Beauty products are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth. If the brand advertises about the performance of the item, it needs data to verify it, "but the seller does not always have to do the testing" and can instead reference evidence done by different companies, she clarifies. Read the Ingredients List of the Pack Is there any components that could indicate a product is poor? Components on the back of the container are ordered by concentration. "Potential irritants that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up