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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer heard a discounter was offering a fresh skincare range that looked similar to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael rushed to her nearest outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its smooth blue tube and gold lid of both products look remarkably alike. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been using lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic well-known companies and present budget-friendly substitutes to high-end items. These products frequently have similar labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare specialists say some substitutes to luxury labels are good quality and assist make skincare cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is necessarily better," states skin specialist one expert. "Not all low-budget beauty label is poor - and not every premium beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are really excellent," notes a podcast host, who hosts a podcast about famous people.

Numerous of the items modeled on high-end brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor argues dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

But the professionals also suggest shoppers check details and state that more expensive products are at times worthy of the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and promotion - sometimes the increased price tag also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the research employed to create the item, and trials into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman argues it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be sold so cheaply.

Sometimes, she says they may include bulking agents that lack as significant positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The major doubt is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott admits in some cases he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a established label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the original".

"Do not be sold by the container," he warned.

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For more complicated products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist recommends sticking to medical-grade brands.

She explains these will likely have been through comprehensive tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare items need to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label makes claims about the performance of the product, it must have research to verify it, "but the brand doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead cite testing conducted by other firms, she adds.

Check the Label of the Pack

Are there any components that could suggest a product is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are ordered by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up