Obviously, I had to jump on the bandwagon and see what all the fuss was about when I spotted all the tut-tutting at Aldi’s shameless duping of well-known brands.
Don’t quote me, but I think there has to be 7 clear design differences between products for them not to be ‘deemed’ as copycats. In truth, I’m not sure how Aldi got away with it, but then, what about supermarkets’ own brand cereals and their obvious copying of famous logos?
The problem here though, is that these well-known beauty products work in a specific way; because these dupes look the same, and have more or less (usually less) of the same ingredients, you’re fooled into thinking they will perform in the same way.
I went to a new Aldi store to update my Jo Malone candle post. They had stocks of candles 1, 2 and 11 (Peony Blush, which I bought). It was nearly closing, but I had a quick sniff of 1 and 2 and one of them – can’t remember which, smells like old damp towels, so be warned!
I quickly grabbed a few products I’d seen on social media and these are the ones I’m going to trial over the next couple of weeks.
HEALTHY GLOW
Achingly obvious dupe of Pixi Glow Tonic, loved by many (including me) and reviewed here. I have a new bottle of Pixi, so I will compare the two. I already know the ingredients differ in quantities, but will magnify the tiny writing on the label and properly compare.
No. 4 FREESIA & PEAR LUXURY HAND & BODY WASH
Very cheap looking dupe of Jo Malone English Pear & Freesia Body & Hand Wash.
I’ll get a sample of this from the Jo Malone concession this week, but I already know the Aldi version is weak.
ABBOTT & BROOME RHUBARB & ROSE HAND WASH
Dupe of Molton Brown Delicious Rhubarb & Rose Fine Liquid Hand Wash.
Again, I’ll grab a sample, although the Aldi one is strongly and pleasantly scented, this could be a nice surprise. This brand has been around a long time and is well established, but the bottle shapes were completely different in the old days. There’s been a very calculated decision to clone Molton Brown.
LACURA PINK CLAY MASK
I bought this because the Lacura range isn’t half bad and I thought it probably wasn’t a dupe because I hadn’t seen a similar product, then I checked online…
Dupe of Australian brand Sand & Sky.
I’m in two minds about these dupes:
- With luxury brands, we know we’re not just paying for high quality ingredients. We’re paying for advertising,
spoilt vloggers’ freebies and trips, the ‘feel good’ factor of owning a high-end brand name and gorgeous packaging. The general feeling is that these products are more expensive than they need to be. - But, if I owned one of these brands and spent years building it up to become a household name with a reputation for being a superior product, and then a supermarket copies my hard work and cheapens it, I’d be absolutely furious!
It’s a hard one to call.
I also bought Lacura Charcoal mud to foam cleanser and Charcoal Micellar Water (not sure yet if these are dupes as well). I just liked the sound of them both and as I said above, the Lacura range is fairly solid.
