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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned a discounter was offering a new product collection that appeared comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest shop to buy the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its sleek blue container and gold top of the two products look strikingly similar. While Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the alternative so far.

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

Over a quarter of UK buyers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup alternative. This rises to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a February survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy established companies and present cost-effective alternatives to high-end products. These products typically have comparable branding and containers, but occasionally the components can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals argue certain dupes to high-end labels are reasonable standard and aid make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that costlier is necessarily more effective," states skin specialist one expert. "Not every budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," notes a podcast host, who runs a program with famous people.

Many of the items based on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor thinks alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

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

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can save money when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a budget alternative or something which is very low cost because there's not much that can cause issues," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the specialists also recommend buyers do their research and note that more expensive items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just covering the name and advertising - often the increased price tag also comes from the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the research used to produce the item, and studies into the item's effectiveness, she explains.

Facialist another professional argues it's important thinking about how some dupes can be offered so cheaply.

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

"The key question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott admits on occasion he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a well-known label but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

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

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Regarding potent items or those with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate advises selecting research-backed brands.

She states these will likely have been subjected to expensive tests to determine how successful they are.

Skincare products are required to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand states about the performance of the product, it needs evidence to support it, "however the manufacturer does not always have to perform the trials" and can instead reference evidence conducted by other firms, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a product is poor?

Components on the list of the tube are listed by amount. "The baddies that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up