Supermarket Beauty Alternatives Can Save You a Fortune. However, Do Budget Beauty Products Perform?

Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out Aldi was launching a new product collection that seemed comparable to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the high-end 50ml product.

The streamlined blue tube and gold top of the two creams look remarkably similar. Although Rachael has not used the premium cream, she claims she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recently published survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic well-known brands and offer affordable options to premium products. They typically have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Skincare experts argue some dupes to luxury brands are decent standard and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is necessarily more effective," comments skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget beauty label is poor - and not every premium beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," notes a skincare commentator, who presents a podcast about celebrities.

A lot of of the items modeled on high-end labels "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor believes dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is very affordable because there's very little that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

But the experts also advise buyers investigate and state that more expensive items are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not only paying for the name and advertising - at times the increased price tag also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the strength of the key component, the research used to create the product, and studies into the item's performance, she notes.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's important thinking about how some alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she believes they could contain bulking agents that lack as many advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One big question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn notes in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

"Do not be fooled by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

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Regarding advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she suggests sticking to medical-grade brands.

She says these probably have been subjected to expensive tests to assess how successful they are.

Skincare items are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it needs research to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively cite testing completed by different companies, she adds.

Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any components that could suggest a item is poor?

Components on the label of the tube are arranged by concentration. "Potential irritants that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up