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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell found out Aldi was selling a new product collection that appeared comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael dashed to her nearest shop to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The smooth blue packaging and gold top of both creams look strikingly comparable. Although Rachael has not used the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the product so far.

She has been using skincare dupes from high street stores and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK consumers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, according to a February study.

Dupes are skincare products that copy well-known companies and present budget-friendly options to luxury products. These products frequently have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Skincare professionals say certain substitutes to premium brands are reasonable standard and help make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that costlier is invariably better," comments skin specialist one expert. "Not all affordable beauty label is inferior - and not all premium skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," adds Scott McGlynn, who runs a show featuring famous people.

Many of the items inspired by high-end brands "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional argues alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "They will do the essentials to a satisfactory level."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can save money when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be fine in opting for a lookalike or something which is very low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Packaging'

But the professionals also suggest consumers investigate and state that higher-priced products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

With high-end beauty products, you're not only covering the name and marketing - sometimes the elevated price tag also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the technology employed to develop the item, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert another professional says it's valuable thinking about how some dupes can be offered so cheaply.

In some cases, she believes they may have less effective components that don't have as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One major question mark is 'Why is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott notes on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a established label but the actual formula has "no resemblance to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or those with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests sticking to research-backed brands.

The expert says these probably have been subjected to expensive tests to determine how successful they are.

Skincare products must be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, explains expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand states about the efficacy of the product, it must have evidence to back it up, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively reference studies done by different brands, she adds.

Read the Label of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the label of the tube are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up