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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer found out a supermarket was launching a recent beauty line that seemed comparable to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She hurried to her local shop to buy the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the high-end 50ml product.

Its sleek blue tube and gold lid of each items look noticeably comparable. Although Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

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

More than a fourth of UK shoppers state they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate well-known brands and present budget-friendly options to high-end items. These products often have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty professionals say many alternatives to luxury labels are good quality and assist make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily more effective," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget product line is inferior - and not every high-end beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are truly impressive," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a podcast with famous people.

Many of the products modeled on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Dupes will serve a purpose," he says. "They will handle the basics to a satisfactory standard."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can spend less when seeking simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

Yet the experts also suggest consumers check details and state that costlier products are at times worthy of the additional cost.

With luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the name and advertising - sometimes the higher price tag also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology employed to produce the item, and tests into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo explains.

Facialist she suggests it's valuable considering how some dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

In some cases, she states they could have filler ingredients that do not provide as many advantages for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"One key uncertainty is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott notes sometimes he's bought skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding advanced products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not made accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests sticking to more specialised brands.

She says these typically have been subjected to expensive trials to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare products are required to be tested before they can be available in the UK, explains expert another professional.

When the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it needs data to back it up, "however the seller does not always have to perform the trials" and can instead use evidence done by different firms, she adds.

Read the Back of the Container

Is there any components that could suggest a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up