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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer heard a supermarket was selling a fresh beauty line that appeared similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael hurried to her local shop to pick up the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of the two items look noticeably alike. Although Rachael has never tried the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK buyers say they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recent study.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate established companies and offer cost-effective alternatives to premium items. These products typically have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the formulas can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty specialists contend many dupes to high-end labels are good standard and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion higher-priced is necessarily superior," states skin specialist a doctor. "Not all budget beauty label is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," says Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast with famous people.

A lot of of the items inspired by high-end brands "sell out so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor thinks dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "They will do the essentials to a acceptable level."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can save money when you're looking for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or a product which is quite affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

However the experts also advise buyers do their research and say that costlier products are at times worth the extra money.

With luxury skincare, you're not only covering the label and promotion - at times the higher cost also comes from the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the research used to produce the item, and trials into the item's performance, the expert says.

Beauty expert another professional says it's valuable considering how some dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they might contain less effective components that lack as many positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The big doubt is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott admits in some cases he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a big-name brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends using more specialised brands.

She states these probably have been subjected to expensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare items are required to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the label makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it requires research to back it up, "however the seller does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively reference testing completed by different firms, she clarifies.

Check the Ingredients List of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a item is poor?

Ingredients on the label of the tube are listed by concentration. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up