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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard a discounter was offering a new product collection that seemed comparable to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its smooth blue container and gold lid of the two creams look remarkably alike. While she has not tested the luxury cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK buyers state they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among younger adults, based on a recently published survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate established brands and provide affordable substitutes to premium items. These products frequently have comparable labels and design, but occasionally the formulas can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts say certain dupes to luxury brands are reasonable quality and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably superior," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all low-budget product line is bad - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely excellent," says a podcast host, who hosts a show featuring famous people.

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

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor thinks alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or something which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the specialists also advise buyers investigate and say that more expensive items are at times worth the additional cost.

With high-end skincare, you're not only covering the brand and advertising - at times the increased price tag also stems from the components and their standard, the strength of the active ingredient, the research employed to develop the product, and tests into the products' performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Beauty expert another professional suggests it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be offered so cheaply.

Occasionally, she says they may include filler ingredients that lack as significant advantages for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One key uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn notes sometimes he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a big-name label but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be sold by the packaging," he added.

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Regarding advanced items or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she recommends using medical-grade companies.

The expert says these probably have been subjected to expensive studies to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare products need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, explains expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it must have data to verify it, "however the seller doesn't always have to do the trials" and can instead cite evidence conducted by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could signal a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the container are arranged by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up