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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer learned a supermarket was offering a new skincare range that appeared similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael dashed to her closest store to pick up the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue container and gold cap of each products look remarkably alike. And though she has not tested the luxury cream, she claims she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers say they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate established brands and provide affordable options to premium products. These products typically have similar labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Beauty professionals say certain substitutes to luxury labels are decent quality and aid make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily superior," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every high-end beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who runs a show about celebrities.

A lot of of the items modeled on luxury brands "sell out so quickly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "These items will perform the basics to a acceptable standard."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in using a dupe or a product which is very low cost because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the experts also advise consumers do their research and state that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

With luxury skincare, you're not just paying for the brand and promotion - often the higher cost also comes from the components and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the research utilized to develop the product, and tests into the products' efficacy, she says.

Facialist Rhian Truman argues it's worth thinking about how certain dupes can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they might include filler ingredients that don't have as significant advantages for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One major doubt is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott admits sometimes he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the premium version".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he cautioned.

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Regarding more complicated products or those with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends selecting medical-grade companies.

The expert states these typically have been subjected to comprehensive trials to assess how successful they are.

Skincare items must be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company states about the effectiveness of the product, it needs research to back it up, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead reference studies done by other brands, she adds.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Components on the label of the container are listed by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up