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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned a supermarket was launching a fresh beauty line that seemed comparable to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest store to buy the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item.

The streamlined blue container and gold lid of both products look noticeably similar. While Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK shoppers say they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44% among younger adults, according to a recent survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate bigger name companies and present affordable alternatives to premium products. These products often have similar labels and design, but sometimes the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals argue some alternatives to premium brands are decent standard and help make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think more expensive is invariably better," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every budget product line is inferior - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," notes a podcast host, who runs a show about famous people.

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

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry thinks alternatives are fine to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a satisfactory level."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be alright in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly affordable because there's not much that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Container'

But the specialists also recommend shoppers do their research and state that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not just funding the brand and advertising - sometimes the elevated cost also stems from the formula and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the technology employed to create the item, and tests into the item's performance, she says.

Facialist Rhian Truman suggests it's valuable considering how some dupes can be priced so cheaply.

Occasionally, she believes they could contain filler ingredients that do not provide as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The key doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a big-name brand but the item has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be convinced by the packaging," he added.

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Regarding potent items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she advises using research-backed labels.

The expert states these typically have been through expensive trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare items must be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand states about the performance of the item, it requires data to verify it, "but the brand doesn't necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead use testing completed by different brands, she adds.

Check the Back of the Pack

Are there any components that could indicate a item is inferior?

Components on the list of the bottle are listed by amount. "Potential irritants that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up