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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was selling a new beauty line that seemed similar to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her local outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of each products look strikingly comparable. Although Rachael has not used the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been purchasing beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a fourth of UK consumers state they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This increases to 44% among younger adults, according to a recent study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate well-known companies and present cost-effective alternatives to luxury products. These products frequently have alike labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare experts say some substitutes to high-end labels are reasonable quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily superior," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all low-budget beauty label is inferior - and not every high-end skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are truly impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who runs a program featuring famous people.

A lot of of the products modeled on luxury labels "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry thinks dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he explains. "These items will do the fundamentals to a reasonable level."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is fairly affordable because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

But the specialists also recommend shoppers do their research and say that higher-priced products are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not only paying for the label and advertising - often the elevated cost also is due to the components and their quality, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science utilized to develop the product, and trials into the item's efficacy, the expert says.

Beauty expert another professional says it's worth thinking about how certain dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she says they could include bulking agents that lack as numerous advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The big doubt is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Expert Scott admits in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known label but the actual formula has "no connection to the premium version".

"Do not be sold by the packaging," he added.

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Regarding potent products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she recommends selecting more specialised companies.

She says these probably have been through expensive studies to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare products need to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label advertises about the performance of the product, it must have data to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively reference studies conducted by different firms, she clarifies.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any components that could indicate a product is inferior?

Components on the label of the tube are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up