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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper found out a discounter was selling a recent product collection that looked comparable to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She dashed to her nearest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold lid of each creams look noticeably comparable. Although she has not tested the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

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

Over a 25% of UK consumers state they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a February survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate bigger name companies and present budget-friendly substitutes to high-end items. These products frequently have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the components can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty professionals say some substitutes to premium brands are good standard and aid make skincare more affordable.

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

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," says a podcast host, who presents a podcast about public figures.

A lot of of the products modeled on high-end brands "disappear so quickly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he says. "They will handle the basics to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

But the professionals also recommend buyers do their research and say that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not only paying for the name and advertising - at times the elevated cost also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the technology utilized to create the item, and tests into the products' effectiveness, she says.

Skin therapist she says it's valuable questioning how some dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she believes they could include less effective components that lack as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn says on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look comparable to a established brand but the item has "little similarity to the premium version".

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

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For advanced products or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends using research-backed labels.

The expert explains these probably have been subjected to comprehensive tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty products need to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it requires evidence to verify it, "but the manufacturer doesn't always have to perform the testing" and can alternatively reference studies done by different firms, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Pack

Are there any components that could indicate a item is poor?

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are arranged by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up