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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out a supermarket was selling a fresh beauty line that seemed comparable to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her nearest store to pick up the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The streamlined blue tube and gold top of both products look strikingly comparable. Although Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's impressed by the alternative so far.

She has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK buyers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate well-known labels and present cost-effective options to premium items. These products typically have comparable labels and design, but occasionally the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare specialists contend many dupes to luxury labels are reasonable quality and assist make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that more expensive is always superior," says consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all budget skincare brand is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast about famous people.

Many of the products modeled on luxury labels "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor believes dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can save money when searching for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a dupe or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's very little that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the experts also recommend consumers investigate and say that more expensive products are at times worthy of the extra money.

With premium beauty products, you're not only covering the label and advertising - sometimes the elevated cost also comes from the components and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the technology utilized to produce the item, and studies into the item's effectiveness, she says.

Facialist another professional suggests it's important thinking about how some alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

In some cases, she states they may contain filler ingredients that do not provide as many benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Expert McGlynn notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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For more complicated products or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate advises selecting medical-grade companies.

The expert explains these probably have been subjected to comprehensive tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Beauty products are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company makes claims about the performance of the product, it must have evidence to support it, "however the brand doesn't always have to do the trials" and can instead cite evidence completed by different companies, she clarifies.

Examine the Label of the Container

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

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are ordered by concentration. "Potential irritants that you should be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up