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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was launching a fresh beauty line that appeared akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael rushed to her nearest outlet to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the high-end 50ml product.

The smooth blue packaging and gold cap of each creams look strikingly comparable. While Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she states she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK shoppers report they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, as per a February survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy established companies and offer cost-effective options to high-end products. They often have similar names and packaging, but sometimes the formulas can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Always Better'

Beauty professionals say many dupes to high-end labels are reasonable quality and aid make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion more expensive is necessarily better," states dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget product line is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who presents a program featuring public figures.

Numerous of the items based on luxury labels "run out so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional thinks alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "These items will do the essentials to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when searching for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or a product which is quite low cost because there's not much that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the experts also advise consumers check details and state that more expensive items are at times worthy of the extra money.

With premium beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and advertising - at times the higher price tag also comes from the components and their grade, the potency of the active ingredient, the science utilized to develop the product, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo notes.

Beauty expert she says it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they may include filler ingredients that don't have as many positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The big doubt is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Commentator Scott admits on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a big-name label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the premium version".

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

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For advanced products or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends using more specialised companies.

The expert states these typically have been through comprehensive tests to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare items need to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

If the label makes claims about the performance of the item, it requires data to support it, "however the seller doesn't necessarily have to do the trials" and can instead reference testing completed by other companies, she clarifies.

Read the Back of the Pack

Is there any components that could signal a product is inferior?

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are ordered by amount. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up