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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was selling a recent beauty line that looked comparable to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael dashed to her closest store to purchase the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its sleek blue container and gold top of both products look strikingly similar. Although Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, according to a February survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic well-known brands and offer budget-friendly options to premium products. These products often have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the formulas can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty specialists say certain alternatives to premium labels are decent standard and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion higher-priced is always superior," says consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every low-budget product line is poor - and not all premium skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really excellent," adds a podcast host, who runs a podcast about public figures.

A lot of of the products inspired by luxury labels "sell out so quickly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor argues dupes are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will do the job," he explains. "These items will handle the essentials to a acceptable level."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can go wrong," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

Yet the specialists also recommend consumers do their research and note that costlier items are at times worth the extra money.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only paying for the label and promotion - at times the increased cost also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the key component, the science utilized to develop the product, and studies into the item's efficacy, she explains.

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

Occasionally, she believes they may have filler ingredients that do not provide as significant benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One key question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott says on occasion he's bought beauty products that look similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

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

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For potent products or those with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate advises selecting medical-grade labels.

She says these typically have been subjected to comprehensive trials to determine how successful they are.

Skincare products need to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

If the company makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it requires research to back it up, "but the brand doesn't necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead cite testing completed by different companies, she adds.

Check the Back of the Bottle

Is there any components that could signal a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the label of the tube are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up