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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper learned a discounter was launching a new product collection that seemed similar to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She dashed to her nearest outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The streamlined blue tube and gold lid of the two products look noticeably similar. And though she has never tried the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been buying lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a February study.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy well-known companies and present affordable options to premium products. These products typically have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the ingredients can vary substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty professionals contend many alternatives to high-end labels are good standard and assist make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think more expensive is necessarily superior," states dermatology expert one expert. "Not every budget skincare brand is poor - and not every luxury beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are really impressive," notes a podcast host, who runs a podcast featuring famous people.

A lot of of the products based on luxury labels "run out so fast, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will do the job," he says. "They will handle the basics to a acceptable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a budget alternative or something which is fairly affordable because there's not much that can go wrong," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

But the experts also advise shoppers do their research and say that costlier products are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not just covering the name and marketing - often the increased price tag also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the strength of the active ingredient, the technology employed to produce the product, and tests into the products' effectiveness, the expert notes.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman says it's important questioning how certain dupes can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she believes they might contain bulking agents that do not provide as significant positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

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

Podcast host Scott says in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a established brand but the product itself has "no connection to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he added.

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Regarding potent products or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she advises using medical-grade companies.

She says these typically have been through costly studies to evaluate how successful they are.

Beauty items must be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand states about the effectiveness of the product, it needs evidence to back it up, "but the seller does not always have to do the testing" and can instead reference testing conducted by different firms, she adds.

Check the Back of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a product is inferior?

Components on the label of the tube are arranged 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