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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer found out a discounter was offering a new beauty line that looked similar to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael rushed to her nearest store to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of each products look strikingly comparable. While she has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been using beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for a long time, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK buyers say they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent survey.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic bigger name companies and present affordable alternatives to luxury products. These products frequently have alike labels and design, but occasionally the components can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Beauty specialists argue some dupes to high-end labels are good standard and assist make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think more expensive is invariably more effective," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," adds a podcast host, who runs a podcast about famous people.

A lot of of the items based on high-end brands "sell out so rapidly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional argues dupes are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he explains. "These items will do the basics to a acceptable level."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can save money when you're looking for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be okay in using a lookalike or something which is quite low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Container'

However the experts also advise buyers do their research and say that costlier items are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not only funding the label and marketing - sometimes the higher cost also stems from the ingredients and their grade, the potency of the active ingredient, the research employed to create the product, and trials into the products' efficacy, the expert explains.

Facialist Rhian Truman argues it's worth thinking about how some alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she says they may have filler ingredients that don't have as many positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as high-quality.

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

Podcast host Scott notes in some cases he's bought skincare items that look comparable to a well-known label but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

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

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For potent products or ones with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate recommends sticking to research-backed labels.

The expert states these typically have been subjected to comprehensive trials to assess how efficacious they are.

Beauty items must be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist another professional.

When the company states about the efficacy of the product, it must have evidence to support it, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the trials" and can instead reference studies conducted by different companies, she adds.

Check the Label of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a product is poor?

Components on the list of the container are arranged by concentration. "The baddies that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up