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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell heard a discounter was launching a recent product collection that looked comparable to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She hurried to her closest store to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold cap of each items look noticeably comparable. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, according to a February poll.

Dupes are skincare products that copy well-known companies and present affordable options to luxury items. These products often have similar labels and design, but sometimes the formulas can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts argue some dupes to high-end labels are decent quality and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think higher-priced is invariably more effective," comments skin specialist a doctor. "Not every affordable skincare brand is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are truly impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who hosts a show featuring public figures.

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

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor argues alternatives are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can spend less when searching for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is quite low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

But the specialists also suggest consumers investigate and note that higher-priced items are occasionally worth the additional cost.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not just paying for the name and marketing - often the increased price also stems from the components and their standard, the strength of the active ingredient, the science employed to create the item, and studies into the products' performance, she explains.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's important considering how certain dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they may have less effective components that lack as many benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The key uncertainty is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a well-known label but the actual formula has "no connection to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate advises selecting medical-grade labels.

She states these probably have been through expensive tests to assess how successful they are.

Skincare products need to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the company advertises about the effectiveness of the item, it needs data to support it, "but the brand does not always have to do the trials" and can alternatively cite testing completed by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are arranged by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up