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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper learned a supermarket was selling a recent beauty line that appeared comparable to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her nearest outlet to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its sleek blue container and gold lid of the two products look noticeably similar. While she has never tried the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

More than a fourth of UK buyers state they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a February survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy bigger name labels and present cost-effective alternatives to premium items. These products often have similar names and packaging, but sometimes the ingredients can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts contend certain alternatives to high-end brands are good standard and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion more expensive is always better," states dermatology expert one expert. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is bad - and not all premium beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely excellent," says a podcast host, who presents a podcast featuring celebrities.

Numerous of the items modeled on high-end brands "run out so quickly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional believes alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

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

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when searching for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or something which is very affordable because there's very little that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

However the specialists also advise buyers investigate and state that higher-priced items are occasionally worth the premium price.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not just covering the name and advertising - sometimes the higher price also is due to the components and their quality, the strength of the effective element, the research employed to produce the item, and trials into the products' performance, she notes.

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

Occasionally, she states they might include bulking agents that don't have as numerous benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

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

Commentator McGlynn says in some cases he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a big-name brand but the item has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he added.

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Regarding more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends sticking to more specialised labels.

The expert states these will likely have been subjected to expensive studies to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty products are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the label makes claims about the performance of the item, it must have data to verify it, "however the seller doesn't always have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite studies completed by other firms, she clarifies.

Examine the Back of the Container

Is there any components that could suggest a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are listed by quantity. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up