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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper found out a discounter was launching a fresh skincare range that seemed comparable to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael hurried to her nearest store to buy the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the high-end 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue container and gold cap of each creams look noticeably comparable. Although Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the dupe so far.

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

Over a 25% of UK buyers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recently published survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy bigger name labels and present budget-friendly substitutes to premium products. They typically have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the components can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty professionals contend many substitutes to high-end brands are reasonable standard and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think more expensive is always more effective," states skin specialist one expert. "Not all affordable skincare brand is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really impressive," says a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast about famous people.

Numerous of the products inspired by luxury brands "run out so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will do the job," he comments. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a acceptable degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can save money when you're looking for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Box'

But the specialists also suggest buyers investigate and state that costlier products are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only funding the label and promotion - at times the higher price tag also comes from the components and their quality, the strength of the key component, the technology employed to develop the item, and studies into the item's performance, Dr Belmo explains.

Beauty expert she suggests it's important considering how certain dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she states they could have filler ingredients that do not provide as many benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The major uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Expert Scott admits in some cases he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a established label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

"Don't be sold by the container," he cautioned.

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Regarding more complicated products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist advises sticking to research-backed brands.

The expert says these probably have been subjected to costly studies to determine how successful they are.

Skincare items need to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes expert another professional.

When the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the product, it must have evidence to back it up, "but the manufacturer does not always have to perform the testing" and can instead use evidence conducted by other brands, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Pack

Are there any components that could signal a product is poor?

Components on the label of the tube are ordered by concentration. "Potential irritants that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up