🔗 Share this article High-Street Skincare Alternatives Could Save You Hundreds. But Do Budget Beauty Items Really Work? Rachael Parnell She says with certain dupes she "cannot distinguish the variation". When a consumer learned Aldi was offering a recent product collection that appeared similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited". The shopper dashed to her nearest outlet to pick up the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item. The sleek blue packaging and gold lid of the two products look remarkably alike. While Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far. Rachael has been buying skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone. More than a quarter of UK shoppers state they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a February study. Alternatives are skincare products that imitate established brands and offer cost-effective options to high-end products. They frequently have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can vary significantly. Victoria Woollaston Luxury vs budget: Augustinus Bader's 50ml face cream costs £240, while the supermarket's new Lacura face cream is £8.49. 'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Superior' Beauty specialists contend many alternatives to premium brands are good standard and help make skincare more affordable. "It is not true that more expensive is invariably better," comments skin specialist one expert. "Not all budget beauty label is poor - and not every premium beauty item is the best." "A number of [dupes] are truly excellent," adds a podcast host, who runs a show with celebrities. Many of the products modeled on luxury labels "disappear so fast, it's just unbelievable," he remarks. Scott McGlynn Skincare expert Scott McGlynn claims a few budget items he has used are "fantastic". Skin specialist a doctor believes alternatives are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes. "Alternatives will serve a purpose," he says. "They will perform the fundamentals to a reasonable degree." Ketaki Bhate, advises you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient. "When you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be okay in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds. 'Don't Be Swayed by the Container' Yet the experts also advise buyers check details and say that more expensive items are sometimes worthy of the premium price. Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just paying for the name and promotion - at times the higher price also is due to the formula and their grade, the potency of the key component, the technology used to develop the product, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo says. Skin therapist Rhian Truman says it's valuable questioning how certain alternatives can be priced so cheaply. Sometimes, she says they may include less effective components that don't have as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced. "The major doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks. Expert McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a well-known brand but the item has "no connection to the premium version". "Do not be sold by the outer appearance," he added. SimpleImages/Getty Images An expert suggests opting for clinical brands for products with components like retinol or vitamin C. For more complicated products or those with components that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends using research-backed brands. The expert states these will likely have been subjected to costly tests to determine how effective they are. Beauty products need to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist another professional. When the label advertises about the efficacy of the item, it needs evidence to verify it, "however the brand doesn't always have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively cite studies conducted by other firms, she clarifies. Read the Ingredients List of the Container Is there any ingredients that could signal a item is inferior? Components on the label of the bottle are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up