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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a supermarket was offering a fresh beauty line that seemed akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael dashed to her local outlet to pick up the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its sleek blue container and gold lid of each creams look strikingly comparable. And though she has not tested the premium cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK consumers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, based on a February poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate bigger name companies and provide cost-effective options to high-end products. They typically have comparable names and packaging, but occasionally the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists say some substitutes to high-end labels are decent quality and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think higher-priced is necessarily better," says dermatology expert one expert. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every luxury beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a program featuring celebrities.

A lot of of the products inspired by luxury labels "run out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor believes dupes are acceptable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

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

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be alright in using a dupe or a product which is quite low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

However the specialists also advise shoppers do their research and say that costlier products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only covering the name and promotion - at times the elevated price also stems from the components and their grade, the potency of the effective element, the research utilized to produce the product, and trials into the item's efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Facialist she argues it's valuable questioning how certain alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they might contain bulking agents that lack as many benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One big uncertainty is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Expert McGlynn notes on occasion he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the premium version".

"Don't be sold by the outer appearance," he cautioned.

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Regarding more complicated products or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests using research-backed brands.

She explains these will likely have been through comprehensive studies to evaluate how successful they are.

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

When the label advertises about the efficacy of the product, it must have research to verify it, "but the brand doesn't always have to conduct the trials" and can instead cite testing conducted by other firms, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Components on the back of the bottle are ordered by quantity. "The baddies that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up