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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a supermarket was offering a recent skincare range that seemed akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael dashed to her local store to purchase the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml product.

The streamlined blue container and gold cap of each items look remarkably alike. Although Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she claims she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers state they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, according to a recently published survey.

Dupes are beauty items that imitate established brands and provide cost-effective options to premium products. These products typically have alike branding and containers, but sometimes the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals say certain dupes to luxury brands are decent quality and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that higher-priced is invariably superior," comments skin specialist a doctor. "Not all affordable beauty label is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who hosts a podcast with celebrities.

A lot of of the products modeled on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he comments. "These items will do the essentials to a reasonable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can spend less when you're looking for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is quite affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the professionals also suggest buyers investigate and say that higher-priced items are sometimes worthy of the premium price.

With high-end skincare, you're not just paying for the brand and advertising - sometimes the increased price also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the effective element, the research employed to develop the item, and tests into the item's performance, Dr Belmo explains.

Facialist she argues it's valuable thinking about how some alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

In some cases, she states they may include bulking agents that do not provide as numerous benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

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

Commentator Scott says sometimes he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the premium version".

"Do not be fooled by the packaging," he cautioned.

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For more complicated items or those with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends using more specialised labels.

She states these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty products are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it needs data to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to do the testing" and can alternatively reference testing completed by different companies, she clarifies.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

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

Components on the back of the container are ordered by quantity. "The baddies that you should look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up