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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper learned a discounter was selling a recent skincare range that looked comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her closest shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The streamlined blue container and gold cap of the two products look noticeably similar. And though she has never tried the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been using beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK buyers report they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, as per a February poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic established brands and provide affordable options to high-end items. They often have similar branding and containers, but sometimes the formulas can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty professionals contend many substitutes to luxury brands are decent standard and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think costlier is always superior," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all low-budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every high-end beauty item is the best."

"Some [dupes] are really amazing," says a podcast host, who presents a show featuring famous people.

Many of the products modeled on luxury brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he explains. "These items will do the basics to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when seeking simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is very inexpensive because there's not much that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

Yet the experts also recommend buyers investigate and state that higher-priced items are sometimes worth the extra money.

With premium skincare, you're not only covering the brand and promotion - often the elevated price also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the strength of the effective element, the science employed to produce the item, and trials into the products' effectiveness, she explains.

Beauty expert she says it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be priced so cheaply.

Occasionally, she states they may include filler ingredients that lack as numerous advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"The big doubt is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Podcast host Scott says sometimes he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a established label but the item has "no connection to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or ones with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist recommends using medical-grade companies.

She says these will likely have been through comprehensive trials to assess how successful they are.

Skincare products are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label makes claims about the performance of the product, it requires research to support it, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to perform the testing" and can alternatively use evidence conducted by other companies, she says.

Check the Label of the Pack

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

Components on the list of the tube are listed by concentration. "Potential irritants that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up