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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned a supermarket was offering a recent product collection that appeared similar to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper rushed to her local store to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its smooth blue packaging and gold lid of each creams look strikingly similar. And though she has never tried the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK consumers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, based on a recently published study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate bigger name brands and provide budget-friendly alternatives to luxury products. They typically have comparable labels and design, but occasionally the ingredients can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Superior'

Skincare professionals contend some substitutes to high-end labels are good quality and help make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that costlier is necessarily more effective," states dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," says a skincare commentator, who presents a program about celebrities.

A lot of of the products based on luxury brands "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor thinks dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he explains. "These items will handle the basics to a reasonable level."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a dupe or something which is fairly affordable because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

Yet the specialists also recommend buyers check details and note that higher-priced products are sometimes worthy of the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not just funding the brand and advertising - often the higher cost also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the effective element, the technology employed to create the product, and studies into the item's effectiveness, she says.

Facialist Rhian Truman argues it's worth questioning how some alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they might have filler ingredients that don't have as numerous benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn admits sometimes he's bought skincare items that look similar to a well-known brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he cautioned.

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Regarding more complicated items or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends using more specialised labels.

The expert explains these probably have been subjected to costly trials to assess how efficacious they are.

Beauty items need to be tested before they can be available in the UK, says skin doctor another professional.

If the company advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it requires evidence to back it up, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead reference studies completed by different companies, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any components that could indicate a item is poor?

Components on the list of the container are listed by concentration. "The baddies that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up