Walk down any beauty aisle, and you’ll be told every product is essential, transformative and worth hocking a kidney for. For every £300 miracle cream that claims to somehow change your entire facial structure, however, there’s someone – usually on social media – insisting you can buy a perfect dupe of a cult luxury fragrance. It can feel bewildering.
After more than 15 years working in the industry – and testing hundreds of products a year – I can confirm that beauty is rarely as simple as luxury v high street. But there are a few insider realities about how beauty products are made, priced and marketed that are worth knowing before you decide which are worth the spend – and which ones aren’t.
