🔗 Share this article Supermarket Skincare Alternatives Could Save You Hundreds. Yet, Do Affordable Skincare Items Perform? Rachael Parnell She comments with a few alternatives she "cannot distinguish the distinction". Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was selling a new beauty line that looked similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited". The shopper hurried to her closest store to purchase the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml product. Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of each products look strikingly similar. Although she has not tested the high-end cream, she states she's satisfied by the dupe so far. She has been purchasing skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company. More than a fourth of UK consumers report they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recent study. Dupes are skincare products that imitate well-known companies and provide cost-effective options to premium products. These products often have comparable labels and design, but in some cases the ingredients can vary substantially. Victoria Woollaston Luxury vs budget: Augustinus Bader's 50ml face cream costs £240, while Aldi's recent store-brand face cream is £8.49. 'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better' Skincare experts contend certain dupes to premium labels are reasonable quality and help make beauty routines less expensive. "I don't think more expensive is always better," says consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not all low-budget product line is bad - and not every luxury skincare product is the finest." "A number of [dupes] are really excellent," says a podcast host, who presents a podcast with famous people. Many of the items based on high-end brands "run out so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes. Scott McGlynn Podcast host Scott McGlynn says a few affordable products he has tried are "fantastic". Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes. "Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable degree." Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient. "If you're purchasing a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in using a dupe or a product which is very inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains. 'Don't Be Influenced by the Container' Yet the specialists also recommend buyers check details and say that higher-priced items are occasionally worth the extra money. Regarding high-end skincare, you're not only paying for the brand and promotion - at times the increased cost also comes from the components and their grade, the concentration of the effective element, the technology utilized to develop the product, and studies into the item's efficacy, the expert says. Skin therapist she says it's worth questioning how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively. Sometimes, she believes they could have filler ingredients that lack as many benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced. "The key doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks. Podcast host Scott admits on occasion he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a big-name label but the item has "no resemblance to the original". "Don't be fooled by the container," he cautioned. SimpleImages/Getty Images Dr Bhate suggests choosing more specialised labels for items with components like retinol or vitamin C. For advanced products or those with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests using research-backed companies. The expert states these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive tests to determine how efficacious they are. Beauty products are required to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, explains expert another professional. When the company states about the effectiveness of the product, it needs data to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to do the testing" and can instead cite evidence done by different brands, she clarifies. Read the Label of the Bottle Are there any components that could indicate a item is inferior? Ingredients on the list of the container are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up