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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper heard Aldi was selling a fresh beauty line that seemed akin to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael hurried to her local store to pick up the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

The sleek blue tube and gold top of the two creams look noticeably alike. While she has not tested the premium cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK consumers say they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44% among younger adults, based on a recently published poll.

Dupes are skincare products that copy established labels and provide budget-friendly substitutes to luxury products. These products frequently have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty professionals say certain substitutes to premium brands are decent standard and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion more expensive is always more effective," states dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget beauty label is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly impressive," adds a skincare commentator, who presents a show about celebrities.

Many of the products inspired by luxury labels "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"These products will serve a purpose," he comments. "These items will perform the essentials to a satisfactory degree."

Another skin doctor, advises you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple item then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or a product which is quite affordable because there's not much that can cause issues," she says.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Box'

However the professionals also advise shoppers investigate and note that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the premium price.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not only funding the brand and marketing - at times the higher price tag also comes from the formula and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science utilized to produce the product, and trials into the products' efficacy, the expert explains.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's important considering how certain alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

Occasionally, she states they may include bulking agents that lack as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"One major doubt is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she says.

Podcast host McGlynn notes sometimes he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be fooled by the outer appearance," he added.

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For more complicated items or ones with components that can inflame the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests sticking to medical-grade labels.

She states these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive studies to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare items need to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, notes expert Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand states about the efficacy of the product, it needs evidence to back it up, "but the manufacturer does not always have to do the trials" and can instead use testing done by different brands, she says.

Examine the Label of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a item is inferior?

Ingredients on the label of the container are arranged by quantity. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up