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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was offering a fresh product collection that seemed similar to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael hurried to her local store to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the high-end 50ml item.

The streamlined blue container and gold lid of each items look remarkably similar. While Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for a long time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a recently published survey.

Dupes are skincare products that imitate well-known brands and provide budget-friendly options to high-end products. They frequently have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts contend some alternatives to luxury labels are decent standard and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion costlier is always superior," states dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every luxury skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are really amazing," notes Scott McGlynn, who presents a program featuring famous people.

A lot of of the products inspired by luxury labels "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

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

"Dupes will do the job," he comments. "They will handle the essentials to a reasonable standard."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can spend less when searching for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is very inexpensive because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the specialists also advise shoppers check details and state that costlier items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not only funding the brand and marketing - often the increased price also is due to the components and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the technology utilized to create the item, and studies into the item's performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman suggests it's important questioning how some alternatives can be priced so cheaply.

In some cases, she believes they could contain bulking agents that don't have as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One key uncertainty is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott says on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a well-known brand but the item has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be sold by the packaging," he added.

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For more complicated products or those with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate advises using more specialised companies.

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

Skincare products must be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, says expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label advertises about the performance of the item, it must have data to support it, "but the brand doesn't always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively cite studies done by different companies, she clarifies.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could signal a item is inferior?

Ingredients on the back of the container are ordered by concentration. "Potential irritants that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up