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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer found out a supermarket was launching a recent beauty line that seemed similar to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael dashed to her local shop to purchase the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item.

The streamlined blue container and gold top of the two products look noticeably comparable. Although Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she states she's pleased by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a recently published poll.

Dupes are beauty items that imitate bigger name brands and present affordable substitutes to luxury products. They frequently have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the components can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty professionals contend certain dupes to high-end brands are reasonable standard and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"It is not true that higher-priced is always more effective," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not every budget beauty label is inferior - and not all luxury skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes Scott McGlynn, who runs a show featuring celebrities.

A lot of of the products inspired by luxury labels "sell out so quickly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional believes alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

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

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a dupe or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

Yet the specialists also recommend shoppers do their research and note that costlier products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not only funding the brand and promotion - at times the increased cost also comes from the components and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the research employed to produce the item, and studies into the products' performance, the expert notes.

Beauty expert she says it's important considering how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she believes they may contain less effective components that don't have as significant advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"The big uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn admits in some cases he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a established label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Don't be convinced by the packaging," he warned.

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Regarding potent items or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she recommends using more specialised labels.

She states these typically have been subjected to expensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

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

If the brand advertises about the performance of the item, it needs research to back it up, "however the seller doesn't always have to do the testing" and can instead reference evidence done by other companies, she adds.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Are there any components that could suggest a item is inferior?

Components on the list of the tube are ordered by quantity. "Potential irritants that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up