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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard a supermarket was launching a fresh product collection that seemed comparable to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael dashed to her local store to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

The sleek blue packaging and gold cap of the two products look remarkably comparable. Although Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been using beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK consumers say they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published study.

Dupes are skincare products that imitate established brands and present budget-friendly substitutes to high-end products. They typically have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the formulas can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts contend some alternatives to high-end labels are reasonable quality and assist make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is always more effective," says dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are truly impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who presents a show featuring celebrities.

Numerous of the products modeled on high-end brands "sell out so fast, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor thinks dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will do the job," he explains. "They will do the basics to a acceptable level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is quite affordable because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

Yet the experts also advise consumers investigate and say that costlier items are sometimes worth the extra money.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not only covering the label and advertising - sometimes the increased cost also is due to the formula and their quality, the strength of the key component, the research utilized to develop the product, and tests into the products' effectiveness, the expert says.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's worth questioning how certain alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

Occasionally, she believes they could have less effective components that don't have as significant positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One key doubt is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott says on occasion he's bought beauty products that look similar to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the premium version".

"Don't be sold by the outer appearance," he warned.

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For advanced products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests selecting medical-grade brands.

The expert states these probably have been through costly tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty products need to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

When the brand states about the effectiveness of the product, it must have research to support it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can instead use testing completed by different firms, she says.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could signal a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the container are ordered by amount. "Potential irritants that you want to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up