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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned a supermarket was selling a fresh skincare range that seemed similar to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her local store to purchase the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its smooth blue container and gold lid of both products look remarkably similar. While Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she states she's pleased by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

Over a quarter of UK consumers say they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recent study.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic established companies and present affordable options to high-end products. They frequently have comparable labels and design, but occasionally the formulas can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty experts say many dupes to premium brands are good standard and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"I don't think costlier is always superior," states dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all affordable skincare brand is poor - and not every premium skincare product is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are truly impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast featuring famous people.

Numerous of the products modeled on luxury labels "disappear so rapidly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor believes alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he comments. "They will perform the basics to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be fine in using a dupe or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the specialists also recommend shoppers investigate and note that higher-priced items are at times worth the additional cost.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not only funding the label and promotion - at times the higher cost also comes from the formula and their grade, the strength of the key component, the technology utilized to produce the product, and tests into the products' performance, the expert says.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman says it's valuable considering how certain dupes can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they may include filler ingredients that do not provide as numerous benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

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

Podcast host Scott notes sometimes he's bought beauty products that look similar to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

"Do not be fooled by the container," he warned.

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Regarding advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends sticking to research-backed brands.

She states these will likely have been through comprehensive trials to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty items are required to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it must have data to verify it, "but the manufacturer does not always have to do the testing" and can alternatively reference studies conducted by other companies, she clarifies.

Read the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Components on the list of the bottle are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up