🔗 Share this article Grocery Store Beauty Lookalikes Could Save Consumers Hundreds. However, Do Economical Beauty Products Actually Work? Rachael Parnell She says with a few lookalikes she "fails to see the variation". After discovering Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was offering a new beauty line that appeared akin to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited". She hurried to her closest outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item. The smooth blue packaging and gold lid of each items look noticeably similar. While Rachael has not used the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far. Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend. More than a quarter of UK shoppers report they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to nearly half among younger adults, according to a recently published poll. Alternatives are skincare products that imitate bigger name brands and offer affordable alternatives to high-end items. These products typically have comparable names and packaging, but sometimes the components can change significantly. Victoria Woollaston High-end vs affordable: One brand's 50ml face cream is priced at £240, while Aldi's recent Lacura face cream is £8.49. 'Expensive Isn't Always Superior' Beauty professionals argue certain substitutes to premium brands are decent quality and assist make skincare more affordable. "In my opinion more expensive is invariably better," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget beauty label is poor - and not all high-end beauty item is the top." "A number of [dupes] are truly impressive," says Scott McGlynn, who presents a program featuring public figures. Numerous of the products based on luxury brands "disappear so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks. Scott McGlynn Skincare expert Scott McGlynn states some budget items he has used are "fantastic". Skin specialist a doctor argues dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes. "These products will do the job," he comments. "These items will do the basics to a reasonable level." Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient. "If 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 inexpensive because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains. 'Do Not Be Sold by the Container' However the specialists also recommend buyers do their research and say that higher-priced items are at times worth the extra money. With high-end beauty products, you're not just covering the brand and promotion - often the elevated price tag also comes from the formula and their quality, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology used to develop the item, and tests into the products' efficacy, she explains. Beauty expert another professional suggests it's valuable thinking about how some dupes can be sold so at a low cost. In some cases, she believes they could contain filler ingredients that don't have as significant benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected. "One key uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks. Expert Scott admits sometimes he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a big-name brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original". "Do not be convinced by the packaging," he warned. SimpleImages/Getty Images An expert suggests choosing more specialised labels for items with components like retinol or vitamin C. For potent products or ones with components that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests using research-backed companies. The expert states these typically have been subjected to costly studies to evaluate how efficacious they are. Skincare items need to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains expert Emma Wedgeworth. If the company states about the effectiveness of the item, it needs research to support it, "however the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite testing completed by other companies, she adds. Check the Label of the Bottle Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is inferior? Components on the label of the bottle are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up