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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out a supermarket was launching a fresh skincare range that appeared similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her local shop to purchase the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold lid of the two creams look noticeably alike. And though Rachael has not used the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK consumers report they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a recently published study.

Dupes are beauty items that copy well-known brands and offer budget-friendly alternatives to premium items. These products often have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists say many alternatives to high-end brands are decent quality and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think more expensive is always better," says skin specialist a doctor. "Not all budget beauty label is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast about famous people.

A lot of of the items based on high-end labels "run out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry believes dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will do the essentials to a satisfactory level."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is fairly affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

Yet the professionals also recommend buyers do their research and note that costlier products are occasionally worth the additional cost.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only funding the name and advertising - often the elevated cost also stems from the formula and their grade, the potency of the key component, the science employed to produce the product, and tests into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo notes.

Beauty expert another professional says it's worth questioning how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they could include filler ingredients that do not provide as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

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

Commentator McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a big-name brand but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be fooled by the container," he cautioned.

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For potent items or those with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends using more specialised labels.

She says these probably have been subjected to costly tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Beauty items need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the brand makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it requires research to back it up, "however the manufacturer does not always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively reference studies done by different companies, she adds.

Check the Back of the Bottle

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

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