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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was selling a fresh skincare range that looked akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael dashed to her local store to pick up the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml product.

The smooth blue packaging and gold top of both items look noticeably alike. And though Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she says she's pleased by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK buyers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a recently published poll.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic bigger name labels and present budget-friendly alternatives to luxury products. They frequently have comparable labels and design, but occasionally the components can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Beauty experts contend certain substitutes to high-end labels are decent quality and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is necessarily better," says dermatology expert one expert. "Not all affordable product line is bad - and not every high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely impressive," adds a podcast host, who presents a show about celebrities.

Numerous of the products modeled on luxury brands "disappear so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "They will do the basics to a acceptable level."

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

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is quite low cost because there's not much that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

But the professionals also recommend shoppers check details and say that costlier items are sometimes worth the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - at times the elevated price also comes from the components and their standard, the strength of the key component, the research employed to develop the item, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman says it's worth questioning how certain alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they may contain bulking agents that don't have as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The key uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott admits sometimes he's bought skincare items that look similar to a established label but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Do not be sold by the container," he cautioned.

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For more complicated products or those with components that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist suggests using research-backed companies.

She explains these typically have been through expensive studies to determine how efficacious they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the company makes claims about the performance of the product, it requires data to verify it, "however the brand does not always have to conduct the trials" and can instead reference studies completed by other companies, she says.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a item is inferior?

Components on the list of the container are listed by amount. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up