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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer learned a supermarket was selling a new beauty line that seemed akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her nearest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue container and gold lid of both creams look strikingly similar. Although she has not used the premium cream, she says she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

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

More than a fourth of UK shoppers report they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, based on a February survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate bigger name companies and present affordable alternatives to luxury products. They typically have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the formulas can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts say many substitutes to high-end labels are decent quality and help make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is invariably more effective," says consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget beauty label is inferior - and not all luxury beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are really amazing," notes a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast about famous people.

Many of the products modeled on high-end labels "sell out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he explains. "They will handle the basics to a acceptable standard."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be alright in using a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the experts also advise buyers do their research and state that more expensive products are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not just paying for the name and marketing - at times the higher price tag also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the research employed to develop the product, and trials into the item's performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Facialist she says it's worth considering how certain alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

In some cases, she believes they could contain less effective components that do not provide as many advantages for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"The major doubt is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no resemblance to the premium version".

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

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Regarding potent items or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends selecting research-backed labels.

She states these typically have been subjected to comprehensive studies to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty items need to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label advertises about the efficacy of the item, it must have data to verify it, "but the manufacturer does not always have to perform the testing" and can instead reference testing completed by different brands, she adds.

Read the Back of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a product is low-quality?

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