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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out a discounter was offering a recent product collection that appeared similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her closest store to pick up the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

The smooth blue container and gold lid of each creams look remarkably comparable. Although Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she claims she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK shoppers state they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to nearly half among younger adults, based on a February poll.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy bigger name brands and provide affordable alternatives to high-end items. These products often have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty specialists argue many alternatives to premium brands are good quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"I don't think costlier is always better," comments dermatology expert a doctor. "Not every budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every luxury beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are really excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a program with famous people.

Numerous of the items inspired by luxury brands "run out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional argues dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "They will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Box'

Yet the experts also advise buyers check details and state that costlier items are at times worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just covering the name and marketing - at times the elevated price tag also is due to the components and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the research used to produce the item, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she explains.

Facialist Rhian Truman argues it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

In some cases, she says they could include filler ingredients that lack as many benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One major doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott admits in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a well-known brand but the item has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

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Regarding advanced products or those with components that can irritate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises sticking to more specialised companies.

She states these probably have been through costly trials to determine how successful they are.

Beauty items need to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, says consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the label advertises about the performance of the product, it needs data to support it, "however the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead cite testing conducted by other firms, she says.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the label of the container are arranged by amount. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up