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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned Aldi was offering a new beauty line that looked akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest store to pick up the store-brand face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml product.

The smooth blue container and gold lid of each products look remarkably alike. And though she has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK shoppers state they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a recent poll.

Dupes are beauty items that imitate established brands and provide cost-effective options to premium items. These products often have similar labels and design, but sometimes the ingredients can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals say certain alternatives to premium brands are reasonable quality and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is always superior," comments dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget beauty label is bad - and not every luxury beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are truly impressive," notes a podcast host, who presents a program featuring public figures.

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

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional argues dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will do the job," he explains. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can spend less when seeking simple-formula items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be alright in using a lookalike or something which is very low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Box'

But the experts also recommend buyers check details and say that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

Regarding luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the name and advertising - often the elevated cost also comes from the components and their quality, the strength of the effective element, the science utilized to produce the item, and trials into the item's efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert Rhian Truman suggests it's important thinking about how some alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she believes they could have bulking agents that don't have as significant advantages for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as high-quality.

"One key question mark is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott says on occasion he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no resemblance to the original".

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

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Regarding more complicated items or those with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she recommends sticking to research-backed brands.

She says these probably have been subjected to comprehensive tests to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty products are required to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the brand states about the performance of the item, it requires data to verify it, "but the brand does not always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively reference studies completed by other brands, she adds.

Check the Back of the Container

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

Ingredients on the label of the container are listed by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up