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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell found out a supermarket was launching a fresh skincare range that seemed akin to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml item.

The streamlined blue tube and gold top of both products look strikingly alike. Although Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK consumers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44% among younger adults, according to a recently published poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate established labels and provide affordable substitutes to premium items. They typically have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Superior'

Beauty specialists contend many dupes to luxury labels are reasonable quality and assist make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think more expensive is always superior," comments skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable beauty label is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really impressive," notes a podcast host, who hosts a podcast with famous people.

Many of the products modeled on high-end brands "disappear so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor believes dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he explains. "These items will do the basics to a reasonable standard."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is very low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

Yet the specialists also recommend buyers check details and note that higher-priced products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not just paying for the name and promotion - sometimes the increased cost also is due to the formula and their grade, the strength of the active ingredient, the research employed to develop the item, and tests into the products' performance, she says.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman argues it's important thinking about how some dupes can be offered so cheaply.

Sometimes, she says they could include less effective components that do not provide as numerous benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"The key question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Podcast host Scott admits on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist advises using more specialised companies.

She says these will likely have been subjected to expensive tests to determine how effective they are.

Skincare items need to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the company makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it requires data to verify it, "however the brand does not always have to do the trials" and can instead cite testing conducted by different firms, she says.

Examine the Back of the Pack

Are there any components that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the container are listed by amount. "Potential irritants that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up