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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper heard a supermarket was offering a recent skincare range that seemed akin to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael hurried to her local shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml item.

The streamlined blue container and gold top of both creams look noticeably comparable. Although she has never tried the premium cream, she says she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, as per a February poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy established companies and present budget-friendly alternatives to premium items. These products typically have similar names and packaging, but occasionally the components can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Better'

Skincare professionals argue many dupes to luxury labels are decent standard and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily superior," states dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all affordable beauty label is poor - and not every luxury skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are truly excellent," says Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast featuring celebrities.

Many of the products modeled on high-end brands "run out so fast, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry thinks dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "These items will perform the basics to a reasonable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when seeking simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

But the specialists also recommend shoppers check details and note that more expensive products are occasionally worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not just covering the brand and marketing - at times the increased price also is due to the formula and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the technology employed to produce the product, and tests into the item's efficacy, she explains.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman argues it's worth considering how certain alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she states they may include less effective components that lack as many positive effects for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"The major question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott notes on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a big-name label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be fooled by the outer appearance," he added.

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For advanced products or ones with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she recommends using medical-grade brands.

The expert says these typically have been subjected to costly tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Beauty items must be tested before they can be available in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the brand advertises about the performance of the item, it requires data to support it, "but the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite studies completed by different companies, she says.

Check the Label of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a product is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are arranged by amount. "Potential irritants that you want to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up