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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard a supermarket was selling a fresh product collection that appeared comparable to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest store to purchase the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its smooth blue packaging and gold top of each creams look noticeably similar. And though she has never tried the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

More than a 25% of UK buyers state they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to nearly half among younger adults, as per a February study.

Dupes are beauty items that copy bigger name labels and provide affordable options to premium items. These products often have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty specialists contend many substitutes to luxury brands are decent quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that costlier is always better," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget skincare brand is bad - and not every high-end skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are really impressive," notes a skincare commentator, who runs a program with famous people.

A lot of of the products inspired by high-end brands "disappear so fast, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry believes dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he comments. "These items will do the basics to a acceptable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be alright in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

But the specialists also advise buyers do their research and note that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

With high-end skincare, you're not only covering the label and promotion - sometimes the higher price tag also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology employed to develop the product, and tests into the products' performance, she explains.

Beauty expert she says it's important questioning how certain dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she states they may contain bulking agents that lack as significant advantages for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"The key uncertainty is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a well-known brand but the item has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he added.

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For more complicated items or those with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests selecting more specialised labels.

The expert explains these will likely have been through costly studies to assess how successful they are.

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

When the label states about the efficacy of the item, it must have evidence to support it, "however the seller does not always have to do the testing" and can alternatively cite testing completed by other firms, she adds.

Read the Back of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could signal a item is poor?

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are arranged by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up