I tried Sol De Janeiro dupes from Superdrug to Poundland – a £10 buy was grim but a £1 version blew me away

IT'S no secret that beauty products can cost a small fortune and as we all keep trying to tighten the purse strings and avoid unnecessary splurges, dupes are a great option.

Sol De Janeiro has taken the world by storm with their sweet scents and luxury body butters - but with body sprays starting at £24, they're very pricey.

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But that's where the high street is trying to keep up.

From Poundland to Primark, it seems every budget retailer has taken a swing to replicate the Brazilian brand.

And it's not just those two, Home Bargains has a range of products that are so popular, even I couldn't track them down.

The most popular scent from Sol de Janeiro has to be Brazilian Crush Cheirosa 62 - pistachio and salted caramel and when you give it a sniff it's not hard to see why.

Unlike most body sprays, this has the layering effect of a designer perfume, sweet caramel hits the nose before an an almost savoury nutty smell cuts through giving it the balance it needs.

That being said, I got my hands on four dupes and put them to the test to see if they really do stack up to the original - and the results were rather surprising.

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Primark

First up we had Primark's body sprays which come in three scents, Maldives Sunset is described as having notes of almond and caramel.

The packaging was a bit fiddly and the lid wasn't as secure as the original but for £3.50 for 100ml I won't complain about it.

After the first sniff, I was left wondering why everyone online was calling it a dupe.

Yes, it had a vanilla scent that smells good, but it didn't have the depth or nuttiness of Scent 62.

Rating: 5/10

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Superdrug

I was super excited to get my hands on this body spray after social media users raved about scent 86 being exactly the same as Sol de Janeiro's.

Sharing a picture of the Mine fragrance mist in Sweet Vanilla, number 86, beauty fan Libbie called it the "best £5 you'll ever spend".

"Smells the exact same," she insisted.

With notes of sweet vanilla, musk, tobacco and cedar for a smoky hint, I thought we'd be on to a winner.

The spray is £9.99 usually but can be bought half price if you have a Superdrug members card in your possession making it a bargain with 200ml of product.

Despite the reasonable price tag, this just didn't do it for me.

It does have a warmth to it thanks to the more manly scents tucked away in the vanilla, but again, the nutty smell didn't come through for me.

Rating: 3/10

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Lush

I had heard online that it smelt like Sol de Janiero thanks to the buttery caramel popcorn scent so was excited to give this a go.

I especially love Lush's sweeter smells so was very excited to put it to the test.

But the body spray itself cost £25, making it the same price as the Sol de Janeiro one.

I really wasn't a fan of this, it smelt like fresh popcorn but not in the sweet, buttery way you would want.

If however, you are looking for a Lush body spray, I really recommend Dirty as a clean minty scent that lasts a lifetime on the skin.

Rating: 1/10

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Poundland

Last but not least, we had Poundland who have come up with a range including body sprays, shower gels, body butters and exfoliators.

To start with, the packaging of the range was by far the closest to the original than the other dupes I tried.

And that's not even the best part, the Brazilian Bliss body spray in this range starts at just £1 along with the other products which all have the note of salted caramel.

While giving the body spray a sniff, I wasn't amazed by the scent, yet again it didn't have the exact same details as Sol da Janeiro, but it wasn't too far off.

However, I was truly blown away by the other products in the range.

The shower gel and moisturiser did have different textures to the originals and clearly felt much cheaper.

But the scent (which is the most important part) was identical to Brazilian Crush Cheirosa 62, and I would even argue it was stronger than Sol da Janeiro's shower gel or moisturiser.

While the spray may not work alone, layered with the other products, this set makes the best dupe on the high street for the luxe brand.

Rating: 8/10