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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a supermarket was offering a recent product collection that seemed similar to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael dashed to her closest store to buy the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of each creams look remarkably comparable. Although she has not used the premium cream, she claims she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK consumers state they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to nearly half among younger adults, as per a February study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that mimic bigger name companies and offer budget-friendly alternatives to high-end items. These products typically have comparable branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts say some alternatives to luxury labels are good quality and aid make skincare more affordable.

"In my opinion more expensive is always superior," says dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every affordable beauty label is poor - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely amazing," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a podcast about celebrities.

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

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional believes dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will serve a purpose," he comments. "They will perform the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a dupe or something which is very inexpensive because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the specialists also suggest buyers investigate and say that higher-priced items are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not just paying for the brand and advertising - sometimes the elevated price also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the potency of the key component, the technology utilized to develop the product, and trials into the item's efficacy, she notes.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman suggests it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be offered so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they could contain bulking agents that do not provide as many positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One major uncertainty is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a established brand but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

"Don't be sold by the outer appearance," he added.

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For potent items or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist suggests sticking to research-backed labels.

The expert says these typically have been subjected to expensive studies to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare products need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

If the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the item, it requires data to verify it, "but the manufacturer does not always have to do the testing" and can instead reference evidence conducted by different brands, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Components on the back of the tube are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up