Rachael Parnell
Upon hearing a consumer learned a supermarket was offering a recent product collection that seemed comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".
She hurried to her local store to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml cream.
The smooth blue packaging and gold lid of both creams look remarkably comparable. And though she has never tried the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.
Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for a long time, and she's part of a trend.
Over a quarter of UK consumers state they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February poll.
Alternatives are beauty items that copy established companies and provide cost-effective alternatives to luxury items. These products often have alike labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can differ considerably.
Victoria Woollaston
'Expensive Is Not Always Better'
Beauty experts argue some alternatives to luxury labels are good quality and help make skincare more affordable.
"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily more effective," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every budget product line is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the best."
"Certain [dupes] are really amazing," says a podcast host, who presents a program featuring public figures.
Many of the items inspired by luxury brands "run out so quickly, it's just insane," he says.
Scott McGlynn
Skin specialist Ross Perry believes alternatives are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and face washes.
"These products will be effective," he explains. "They will do the basics to a acceptable standard."
Another skin doctor, advises you can save money when searching for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.
"If you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be alright in using a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's not much that can go wrong," she says.
'Don't Be Swayed by the Box'
But the professionals also suggest buyers investigate and state that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the extra money.
With luxury skincare, you're not only covering the name and advertising - at times the higher price also comes from the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the technology used to create the item, and tests into the item's performance, she explains.
Facialist she argues it's worth considering how some dupes can be offered so at a low cost.
In some cases, she says they might contain less effective components that lack as significant benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.
"One major doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.
Commentator Scott notes in some cases he's bought skincare items that look similar to a well-known brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the premium version".
"Do not be fooled by the packaging," he warned.
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For advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not made correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests selecting medical-grade companies.
The expert says these will likely have been through expensive tests to evaluate how successful they are.
Skincare items need to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.
When the brand makes claims about the performance of the item, it needs evidence to support it, "but the manufacturer does not necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead reference testing conducted by different brands, she adds.
Check the Back of the Container
Are there any components that could signal a product is low-quality?
Components on the list of the container are ordered by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up
