Are Dupe Aftershaves And Perfumes Any Good?

Some things in life are subjective. Like whether it’s fine dining or a burger; a beach holiday or a country cottage; Taylor Swift or Sleaford Mods. All options are good – and the decision making comes down to the personal tastes and preferences of the people involved.

And in the world of mens aftershave and women’s perfume, things are exactly the same. If you feel like splashing out on the latest heavyweight brand, in the immaculately constructed bottle, with the ultra-expensive ingredients, in the beautifully tailored packaging – even though you know a significant proportion of the price is marketing – then that’s between you and your bank balance.

But there is another option – and so called ’dupe’ perfumes are becoming ever more popular and much more prevalent on the high street. They offer great smelling scents – very similar to some well-known brands and names – at a fraction of the cost. Imagine the back-to-basics lines in a supermarket where the branding is toned down, but the actual product is, on the whole, indistinguishable from the so-called ‘higher end’ offerings.

Whilst it used to be the case that dupe aftershaves were the domain of dodgy Dave on a market stall, major chains are getting in on the action with Zara aftershaves being particularly well known for it. Although they tend to avoid making direct comparisons, calling a Bleu de Chanel smell alike Navy Blue doesn’t really take much imagination. Then we’ve got the pure dupe aftershave makers who often refer to the products as “inspired by perfumes” but, are selling on the fact that they’re making a copy aftershave or perfume and using perfume oils at the same percentage of strength that the designers use (so it’s not just the real thing watered down al la dodgy Dave). So getting something that smells like and lasts as long as the real thing for 20% of the price of the likes of Tom Ford or Creed sounds great, the question is whether or not they’re up to scratch.

What About Customers Dupe Aftershave Reviews?

Reviews of the scents, in general, are overwhelmingly positive, for the most part, two brands stand out in the UK, CopyCat and TEV. With solid reviews on the likes of trustpilot not just their own websites which can be easily faked. After all just because the influencers say dupe aftershaves smell good doesn’t mean they actually do when there’s advertising money involved.

Any Other Reasons For Dupe Aftershaves aside from Price?

And there are other advantages with dupe fragrances too: A low price figure allows buyers to experiment with different scents for different moods – to build up an aftershave or perfume collection on a budget, where you have the right scent for work and the right scent for a Friday night in town. Roughly speaking, the most you’ll pay for a dupe scent is around the fifty pound mark, while even a cursory glance at one high street store’s online perfume offering sees prices soaring above £200 for a 100ml bottle.

There’s also the added bonus that a lot of these brands are cruelty free, which a lot of the designer perfumes are not. And in some cases, the dupes actually last longer, say you like how one brands eau de toilette smells, but not their parfum (some are quite different), but want it to last as long as the parfum, then you may be able to get a dupe. Sauvage is a common example of this, a lot of people like the eau de parfum, but not the stronger Parfum or elixir.

Lastly there’s the option to get a smaller bottle to take on holiday as a lot of brands don’t do samples.

Are Aftershave Clones Really Good Value?

Plus, there’s a crucial feel-good factor – everyone likes a bargain right? And copycat fragrances certainly offer that. Even better, you still get to smell and sample the scents beforehand, as you would in a traditional perfumery, so you still know exactly what you are getting.

What about the downsides?

Of course, perfume purists might baulk at the suggestion that a copycat scent can come close to the exotic thrill of a designer scent – but some of the most popular dupes are, to most noses, almost identical to their higher-priced originals. The main downside is that it doesn’t look as flashy in your bathroom, but you can always tip it into an old bottle and hope nobody notices.

Yes, some of the ingredients are different (no clone fragrance claims to be 100% authentic) – and yes, from opening, to middle, to finish there might be differences good or bad. But for the most part – away from the exclusive crowd of perfume aficionados – the difference is negligible.

It makes you wonder just how much of the cash you pass over at the perfume counter is branding over quality…

The dupe scent offering is increasing in quality and increasing in number on a daily basis – and this new disruptor on the perfume scene looks like it’s here to stay. Just make sure to do your research first as not all of the dupe brands out there are of the same quality. As we already mentioned Copycat are pretty good, and you can read a full CopyCat Fragrances review here.

Like we said at the beginning – it’s all subjective – but what is without doubt is in a free world the choice of aftershave or perfume you choose to buy and wear just got a whole lot bigger and a whole lot cheaper.