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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper found out a supermarket was selling a new product collection that appeared akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael hurried to her local outlet to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue container and gold lid of the two creams look strikingly similar. While she has not tested the premium cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic bigger name labels and present affordable substitutes to luxury products. They frequently have comparable branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty specialists argue many dupes to premium brands are reasonable standard and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is necessarily superior," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every affordable product line is inferior - and not every luxury beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who hosts a program with celebrities.

Numerous of the products modeled on high-end brands "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry thinks alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the basics to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be alright in using a dupe or something which is quite affordable because there's minimal that can cause issues," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

However the specialists also suggest buyers investigate and state that more expensive products are at times worthy of the premium price.

With premium beauty products, you're not just funding the brand and promotion - sometimes the higher cost also comes from the components and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science used to create the item, and trials into the item's performance, the expert says.

Beauty expert she says it's important considering how certain alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they could contain filler ingredients that do not provide as significant positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The major question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn notes sometimes he's bought beauty products that look similar to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be fooled by the container," he cautioned.

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For potent products or ones with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests sticking to medical-grade labels.

The expert explains these will likely have been through costly tests to assess how effective they are.

Skincare items must be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company states about the performance of the product, it needs data to back it up, "but the seller does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead use evidence completed by other firms, she clarifies.

Examine the Back of the Pack

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the label of the tube are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up