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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell found out a supermarket was offering a fresh product collection that appeared similar to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her local store to purchase the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

The sleek blue container and gold top of each products look noticeably alike. While Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers state they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to nearly half among younger adults, as per a recent poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate well-known brands and offer affordable options to premium products. They typically have alike labels and design, but in some cases the components can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Always Better'

Beauty professionals contend certain alternatives to high-end brands are decent standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"I don't think higher-priced is always more effective," comments skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable skincare brand is inferior - and not all high-end beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are really amazing," notes a podcast host, who hosts a program about public figures.

Many of the items inspired by luxury labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he explains. "These items will do the essentials to a acceptable level."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can spend less when searching for simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is very affordable because there's very little that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

But the experts also suggest buyers check details and state that costlier products are sometimes worth the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only funding the label and marketing - often the elevated cost also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the potency of the effective element, the technology utilized to produce the product, and tests into the products' effectiveness, she explains.

Skin therapist another professional argues it's important questioning how certain dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

Sometimes, she believes they might contain filler ingredients that don't have as significant benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One major doubt is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Podcast host Scott says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a big-name brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the premium version".

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

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Regarding potent items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the skin if they're not made properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests sticking to research-backed brands.

She explains these typically have been through comprehensive studies to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare products must be tested before they can be available in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company states about the performance of the item, it requires evidence to support it, "however the brand does not always have to do the testing" and can alternatively reference evidence conducted by other companies, she adds.

Read the Back of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could signal a product is low-quality?

Components on the list of the bottle are listed by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you should be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up