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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper found out a discounter was launching a fresh skincare range that appeared comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael rushed to her local shop to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its smooth blue packaging and gold top of the two creams look strikingly comparable. While she has not tested the luxury cream, she says she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been using beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK shoppers state they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44% among younger adults, based on a February study.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy bigger name brands and provide budget-friendly options to luxury items. They typically have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals contend many alternatives to luxury labels are good standard and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion costlier is necessarily superior," states consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all budget skincare brand is bad - and not every high-end skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are truly amazing," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast featuring celebrities.

Many of the items based on luxury brands "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a acceptable level."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's not much that can cause issues," she says.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

But the experts also recommend consumers check details and note that higher-priced products are at times worth the extra money.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only funding the brand and marketing - at times the elevated cost also comes from the components and their quality, the strength of the active ingredient, the research used to create the item, and tests into the item's performance, the expert says.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman says it's worth considering how some dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they might have filler ingredients that lack as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as well sourced.

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

Podcast host McGlynn notes sometimes he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a established label but the actual formula has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be fooled by the outer appearance," he added.

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For potent items or those with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, she recommends selecting research-backed labels.

The expert explains these typically have been through comprehensive trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty products are required to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company makes claims about the performance of the item, it must have data to back it up, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to perform the testing" and can instead reference studies conducted by other brands, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any components that could signal a item is poor?

Ingredients on the label of the tube are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up