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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was selling a recent product collection that appeared similar to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest shop to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The sleek blue tube and gold lid of the two products look strikingly similar. While Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been using beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK buyers say they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a February study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic well-known labels and present affordable substitutes to luxury products. These products often have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the components can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts say some alternatives to premium brands are good standard and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion more expensive is invariably more effective," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not all budget beauty label is poor - and not every luxury skincare product is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are truly amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who hosts a program about celebrities.

Many of the items based on high-end brands "run out so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry argues dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

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

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

But the experts also suggest consumers do their research and state that costlier products are occasionally worth the extra money.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the brand and marketing - often the higher price also comes from the formula and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the research employed to produce the product, and studies into the item's efficacy, she notes.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's worth considering how some dupes can be sold so at a low cost.

In some cases, she states they could contain filler ingredients that don't have as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The major uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, she advises sticking to research-backed brands.

She says these typically have been through costly studies to evaluate how efficacious they are.

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

When the company states about the efficacy of the product, it requires evidence to verify it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead use testing done by different companies, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are ordered by amount. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up