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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell found out a discounter was offering a new beauty line that seemed similar to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest shop to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The streamlined blue container and gold lid of both items look noticeably alike. And though Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she says she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK consumers state they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, according to a recently published survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that copy well-known labels and provide affordable substitutes to luxury products. They typically have alike labels and design, but sometimes the components can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts argue many dupes to high-end labels are reasonable quality and help make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that costlier is always more effective," says consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not every affordable beauty label is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are truly impressive," says a skincare commentator, who presents a podcast featuring famous people.

Many of the products inspired by high-end labels "disappear so quickly, it's just crazy," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional argues dupes are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "These items will do the basics to a satisfactory level."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is fairly affordable because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Packaging'

But the specialists also advise shoppers check details and note that costlier items are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding premium beauty products, you're not only paying for the label and promotion - at times the increased price also is due to the components and their standard, the potency of the key component, the technology utilized to create the product, and studies into the item's effectiveness, she says.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's valuable thinking about how certain dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she says they might have less effective components that do not provide as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The key uncertainty is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host McGlynn says on occasion he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a established label but the item has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding advanced items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends sticking to research-backed companies.

She explains these probably have been through expensive tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare products are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company states about the effectiveness of the item, it needs evidence to back it up, "but the brand does not always have to conduct the testing" and can instead cite studies conducted by different firms, she clarifies.

Check the Back of the Container

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

Components on the list of the bottle are listed by concentration. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up