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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned a discounter was launching a new beauty line that appeared comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael dashed to her closest store to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The smooth blue tube and gold lid of each items look remarkably alike. Although Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK buyers report they've bought a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to 44% among younger adults, based on a February survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy established brands and present affordable alternatives to premium items. These products frequently have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare experts argue some dupes to premium labels are reasonable standard and help make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think costlier is invariably better," comments consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every budget beauty label is bad - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really amazing," notes Scott McGlynn, who hosts a podcast about public figures.

Numerous of the items inspired by high-end brands "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry thinks dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, advises you can save money when searching for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in using a dupe or a product which is quite low cost because there's not much that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the professionals also recommend shoppers check details and note that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only funding the label and marketing - at times the increased price also is due to the formula and their standard, the strength of the effective element, the research employed to create the product, and tests into the products' effectiveness, she notes.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's important questioning how certain alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they could include bulking agents that don't have as many positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The big uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Expert Scott says sometimes he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a big-name label but the item has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he warned.

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For potent items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the complexion if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she advises selecting medical-grade brands.

The expert says these typically have been subjected to comprehensive trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the company makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it requires evidence to back it up, "however the brand does not always have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite evidence conducted by different firms, she adds.

Read the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is poor?

Components on the label of the container are ordered by quantity. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up