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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard a discounter was launching a recent beauty line that appeared similar to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael rushed to her local shop to purchase the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The sleek blue tube and gold lid of the two products look noticeably similar. While Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she states she's impressed by the product so far.

Rachael has been using lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a quarter of UK buyers report they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44% among younger adults, as per a recently published poll.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic well-known companies and present budget-friendly options to high-end items. These products typically have similar branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can change significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty experts say certain dupes to luxury brands are good quality and help make beauty routines more affordable.

"In my opinion more expensive is always better," says skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget product line is bad - and not every high-end skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are really impressive," says a skincare commentator, who presents a podcast featuring public figures.

Numerous of the products inspired by luxury labels "sell out so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor thinks dupes are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he comments. "These items will do the essentials to a reasonable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can spend less when seeking simple-formula products like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be alright in using a lookalike or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

But the specialists also suggest shoppers investigate and say that costlier items are occasionally worth the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not only paying for the brand and advertising - at times the increased price tag also stems from the formula and their quality, the strength of the key component, the technology employed to produce the item, and tests into the item's efficacy, she notes.

Facialist she argues it's valuable questioning how certain dupes can be priced so at a low cost.

In some cases, she believes they may contain filler ingredients that lack as significant positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"One major uncertainty is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she remarks.

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

"Do not be sold by the outer appearance," he warned.

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Regarding more complicated items or ones with components that can inflame the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist suggests sticking to research-backed companies.

She says these will likely have been through expensive tests to assess how effective they are.

Skincare products are required to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, explains expert another professional.

If the label advertises about the performance of the item, it needs data to support it, "but the manufacturer doesn't always have to perform the testing" and can instead reference evidence done by other firms, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the back of the tube are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up