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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell learned a discounter was launching a new product collection that looked similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her closest shop to purchase the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml product.

The streamlined blue container and gold top of both products look noticeably comparable. And though Rachael has never tried the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been purchasing beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers state they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, as per a recently published study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic established companies and present affordable options to luxury products. They often have similar labels and design, but in some cases the formulas can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Skincare experts argue some substitutes to premium brands are reasonable quality and help make skincare cheaper.

"In my opinion more expensive is necessarily superior," says dermatology expert one expert. "Not every affordable product line is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are truly amazing," says a podcast host, who hosts a show with famous people.

Many of the items modeled on high-end labels "sell out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor believes alternatives are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he comments. "These items will do the essentials to a acceptable degree."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple item then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a dupe or a product which is fairly affordable because there's minimal that can be problematic," she explains.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Box'

However the professionals also recommend shoppers check details and state that higher-priced items are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not just covering the label and promotion - often the higher price also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the strength of the effective element, the technology used to develop the product, and trials into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Facialist she argues it's worth thinking about how some alternatives can be sold so at a low cost.

In some cases, she believes they may include less effective components that do not provide as many benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The key doubt is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott notes sometimes he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a well-known brand but the item has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she advises using more specialised companies.

She says these probably have been through costly trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare items are required to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, notes expert another professional.

When the brand makes claims about the performance of the item, it requires evidence to back it up, "but the manufacturer does not always have to do the testing" and can instead reference evidence done by other firms, she says.

Examine the Back of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could signal a product is inferior?

Ingredients on the back of the bottle are listed by quantity. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up