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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard a supermarket was selling a new product collection that appeared comparable to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her local store to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The streamlined blue packaging and gold lid of each creams look noticeably alike. Although Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she states she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been buying skincare dupes from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's not alone.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published survey.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established brands and present budget-friendly alternatives to high-end items. They typically have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the formulas can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty professionals contend some substitutes to high-end brands are good standard and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that costlier is always superior," states skin specialist a doctor. "Not all low-budget beauty label is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely impressive," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast about celebrities.

Many of the products inspired by luxury brands "disappear so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional believes dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he explains. "These items will perform the basics to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in using a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the experts also suggest shoppers investigate and note that costlier items are sometimes worth the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just funding the brand and promotion - at times the increased cost also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the research used to develop the product, and tests into the item's performance, the expert explains.

Facialist another professional argues it's important questioning how some dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she believes they may have bulking agents that don't have as many advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The key question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Expert Scott says on occasion he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no resemblance to the premium version".

"Don't be convinced by the outer appearance," he warned.

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For potent products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she recommends using research-backed brands.

The expert states these will likely have been through expensive trials to determine how effective they are.

Beauty products need to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company advertises about the performance of the product, it needs data to back it up, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead use evidence done by other companies, she clarifies.

Examine the Label of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are listed by amount. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up