The Hype Helpline - Dupes: What Are They?

Jenn Krouse: Hi everyone. I’m Jenn Krouse, founder and CEO of AUNU, and welcome to Office Hours — AUNU’s Hype Helpline, where we cut through the skincare noise to break down what’s worth it, what’s overhyped, and what actually supports your skin through AUNU’s barrier-first, dermatologist-tested lens.

Today I’m here with Dr. Adam Geyer, board-certified dermatologist and AUNU’s Chief of Dermatology, to talk about dupes.

If you’ve spent any time on social media lately, you’ve seen the explosion of skincare and makeup products claiming to offer the same prestige formula for a fraction of the cost — or two brands selling what looks like the exact same product. Which raises the obvious question: what are we actually paying for, and how do two different brands end up with the same formula?

Where dupes actually come from

Jenn: Here’s the part most people don’t realize. Some of these dupes aren’t reverse-engineered in a lab. They’re bought.

If a brand doesn’t develop and own its formulas, it’s buying them from a lab or a contract manufacturer. That might be an off-the-shelf base the brand tweaks slightly, or a finished formula any brand can license and put its own label on.

When I was developing this line, I visited a number of these formula labs and manufacturers, and I was genuinely surprised by how readily available those formulas are.

Something worth sharing about you, Dr. Geyer — you’re not only a board-certified dermatologist, you also spent 10 years as a Kiehl’s brand ambassador and product development consultant. So you have a rare view of the formulation side of skincare, too.

Do the same ingredients mean the same product?

Jenn: Let’s start with the obvious question. If two products list the same ingredients on the label, are they essentially the same product?

Dr. Geyer: Not necessarily. An ingredient list tells you what is in a product. It doesn’t tell you where those ingredients came from, how they were processed, whether they’re present in meaningful concentrations, how they’re combined, or whether the finished formula has actually been clinically tested. Two products may both list niacinamide or hyaluronic acid and still perform very differently.

Why Comvita™ MediHoney® isn’t generic Mānuka honey

Jenn: That’s something we think about constantly at AUNU, because our hero ingredient isn’t just honey. It’s Comvita™ MediHoney® — medical-grade Mānuka honey, sourced exclusively from our partner in New Zealand. It’s FDA cleared for wound healing, which means you’ll find this ingredient in hospital wound care — and in AUNU.

Dr. Geyer, why does that matter from a dermatology perspective?

Dr. Geyer: MediHoney® is not a generic ingredient, and it isn’t average Mānuka honey. Comvita™ MediHoney® is recognized and used in the medical field for its antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and moisturizing properties. Its efficacy in wound care and in expediting healing has been published in clinical trials and medical journals, and studies on its use in other compromised skin conditions — acne, dermatitis, eczema — have been published as well.

What also sets it apart from other Mānuka honeys is the integrity of the ingredient itself. It goes through more than 34 tests for quality, purity, and performance. You simply can’t assume that’s true of a generic Mānuka substitute.

Concentration is the part nobody lists

Jenn: And it isn’t only about having the ingredient. It’s about how much of it is being used. Plenty of brands will list a hero ingredient on the label at a fraction of the concentration — just enough to say it’s there. We use therapeutic-level concentrations of MediHoney® in every formula, not trace amounts added for the label.

Dr. Geyer: An ingredient list doesn’t tell you concentration, and that matters more than people think. Two products can share the same hero ingredient and perform completely differently — one is using it at a level that actually does something, and the other is using it at a level that makes a claim.

Jenn: Which is why we’re transparent about how we formulate. The intent behind every formula is to showcase MediHoney®, but also the additional actives and how they interact with the supporting ingredients we’ve deliberately chosen.

Dr. Geyer: Exactly. Good skincare is rooted in formulation science, not individual ingredients. It’s about how they interact, how stable they remain over time, how they’re delivered into the skin, and whether the finished product has been shown to work through rigorous clinical testing.

Formulated vs. assembled: the peptide example

Jenn: This reminds me of the research we did on peptides — that brand advertising the most potent proprietary peptide blend. When we looked at the label, it was all off-the-shelf peptides crammed into one formula.

Dr. Geyer: I remember. When we actually read the ingredient list, it was a stack of common off-the-shelf peptides anyone could buy and combine. There’s nothing wrong with the individual ingredients — but there was nothing unique about them either. It was marketing built around ingredients everyone has access to. That’s the difference between a formula that’s genuinely developed and one that’s been assembled.

What to ask before you buy a dupe

Jenn: So what do you tell patients when they say they’ve found an exact dupe of a product — or a formula built around an ingredient you recommended — and they ask whether it’s worth using?

Dr. Geyer: I encourage patients to ask a few questions:

• What are the concentrations of the active ingredients?
• Has the product been clinically tested?
• Has there been proper research and vetting of how the key ingredients function?
• What evaluation and testing has been done on the formula as a whole to demonstrate its effectiveness?

The bottom line

Jenn: We’re not here to tell anyone what to buy. But if you’re investing in your skin — especially if it’s sensitive or compromised — skincare is much more than a list of ingredients.

That’s what you’re getting with AUNU:

• Clinical testing of the finished formula
• Ingredient quality and consistency, verified test by test
• Exclusive access to Comvita™ MediHoney®, medical-grade Mānuka honey
• Thoughtful, science-backed formulas with complementary, barrier-supporting ingredients chosen because they work together — not because they’re trending

Thank you for joining us, Dr. Geyer. And thank you for watching this episode of Office Hours — AUNU’s Hype Helpline. We’ll see you next time.