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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer learned a discounter was selling a new product collection that appeared similar to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her closest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The sleek blue packaging and gold lid of the two items look noticeably comparable. While Rachael has not tested the luxury cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing beauty alternatives from popular shops and grocery stores for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK buyers say they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to nearly half among younger adults, according to a recently published study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that mimic bigger name brands and offer affordable alternatives to luxury products. These products typically have alike names and packaging, but sometimes the components can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty professionals argue many dupes to luxury labels are good standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"In my opinion costlier is always superior," comments consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable skincare brand is inferior - and not all premium beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really amazing," adds a podcast host, who runs a program featuring public figures.

Many of the items inspired by high-end labels "run out so fast, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor thinks dupes are fine to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will do the job," he comments. "They will handle the fundamentals to a acceptable standard."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can save money when seeking simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's very little that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

Yet the experts also suggest consumers do their research and say that higher-priced products are at times worth the premium price.

With premium skincare, you're not just covering the brand and marketing - sometimes the higher price also is due to the components and their grade, the strength of the effective element, the technology used to create the product, and tests into the products' performance, the expert says.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's worth thinking about how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they could contain filler ingredients that lack as significant benefits for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"One big uncertainty is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she says.

Expert Scott notes in some cases he's purchased skincare items that look similar to a big-name brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

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

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For potent products or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist suggests using research-backed companies.

The expert says these typically have been through expensive studies to assess how effective they are.

Beauty products must be tested before they can be available in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the label states about the efficacy of the item, it needs research to verify it, "however the brand does not necessarily have to do the testing" and can instead cite evidence conducted by different brands, she clarifies.

Read the Label of the Container

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

Ingredients on the back of the container are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up