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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was launching a new beauty line that seemed akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael dashed to her closest store to pick up the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

The streamlined blue container and gold lid of each products look remarkably comparable. While Rachael has not used the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for a long time, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK buyers say they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate bigger name labels and provide cost-effective substitutes to luxury products. These products typically have comparable labels and design, but in some cases the components can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty specialists say many dupes to luxury labels are good standard and assist make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily more effective," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not all affordable product line is bad - and not every high-end beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," says a podcast host, who presents a podcast with famous people.

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

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional believes dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

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

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or something which is very low cost because there's minimal that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

But the professionals also suggest shoppers investigate and state that more expensive products are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

With high-end beauty products, you're not only funding the label and advertising - often the higher price tag also stems from the formula and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the research employed to develop the item, and studies into the products' efficacy, she says.

Skin therapist she says it's valuable considering how some alternatives can be priced so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they could have bulking agents that do not provide as numerous advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

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

Expert Scott admits in some cases he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a established brand but the item has "no connection to the premium version".

"Do not be fooled by the outer appearance," he added.

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For potent items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests using more specialised brands.

The expert explains these will likely have been through expensive studies to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty products must be tested before they can be sold in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company makes claims about the performance of the item, it requires data to back it up, "but the brand does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead cite evidence conducted by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could signal a item is poor?

Components on the list of the bottle are listed by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up