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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper found out a supermarket was selling a new skincare range that seemed similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her local store to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The smooth blue packaging and gold lid of each creams look noticeably alike. While Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published poll.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate bigger name brands and offer budget-friendly alternatives to high-end items. They typically have similar labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts contend certain alternatives to luxury labels are good standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that more expensive is invariably superior," comments consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really excellent," notes a podcast host, who hosts a podcast about public figures.

Many of the items based on high-end brands "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues alternatives are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

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

Another skin doctor, thinks you can save money when searching for simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in using a dupe or something which is quite low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'

But the experts also suggest consumers investigate and state that higher-priced items are sometimes worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not just covering the brand and marketing - sometimes the increased price also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the effective element, the technology used to develop the product, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she notes.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman says it's valuable questioning how some dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

In some cases, she says they might contain less effective components that do not provide as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One key doubt is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Commentator McGlynn says on occasion he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

"Don't be fooled by the container," he warned.

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For advanced products or those with components that can irritate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate recommends using medical-grade companies.

She says these will likely have been subjected to expensive studies to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare products must be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the company advertises about the effectiveness of the item, it requires evidence to support it, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite testing conducted by other brands, she clarifies.

Check the Label of the Pack

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

Components on the back of the bottle are arranged by amount. "Potential irritants that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up