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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned a discounter was offering a recent skincare range that appeared comparable to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest shop to pick up the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

The smooth blue container and gold lid of each items look noticeably alike. While she has not tested the premium cream, she states she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK buyers report they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a February study.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate bigger name companies and offer budget-friendly substitutes to luxury items. These products typically have alike labels and design, but sometimes the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty specialists contend certain alternatives to luxury labels are good quality and aid make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is invariably more effective," says dermatology expert a doctor. "Not every low-budget beauty label is bad - and not every high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are truly excellent," says a podcast host, who hosts a podcast about famous people.

A lot of of the products modeled on luxury labels "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor believes dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Dupes will do the job," he explains. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory degree."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when searching for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a budget alternative or something which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

But the professionals also advise buyers investigate and say that costlier products are sometimes worthy of the premium price.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not just paying for the label and marketing - often the increased cost also comes from the components and their quality, the strength of the key component, the science utilized to develop the item, and studies into the item's effectiveness, she says.

Skin therapist she argues it's worth thinking about how some dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they may include less effective components that lack as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One big doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Commentator McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a established brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".

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

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For potent products or ones with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she recommends selecting research-backed brands.

The expert says these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive studies to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare products are required to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, explains expert Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company states about the performance of the product, it needs data to verify it, "however the brand doesn't necessarily have to perform the testing" and can instead reference studies done by different firms, she adds.

Read the Label of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are listed by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up