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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper heard a discounter was offering a fresh skincare range that looked akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her nearest outlet to purchase the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold top of the two creams look noticeably similar. While Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she claims she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK consumers state they've bought a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This increases to nearly half among younger adults, based on a recent survey.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate established brands and offer cost-effective alternatives to high-end items. These products typically have similar labels and design, but sometimes the components can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts argue certain dupes to luxury labels are reasonable standard and assist make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think costlier is always superior," states skin specialist one expert. "Not all low-budget product line is poor - and not all high-end beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," adds a podcast host, who hosts a program with famous people.

A lot of of the products modeled on high-end labels "run out so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."

Another skin doctor, advises you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a lookalike or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

But the professionals also recommend buyers investigate and state that higher-priced products are at times worth the premium price.

With premium skincare, you're not only funding the label and advertising - sometimes the elevated price tag also stems from the ingredients and their quality, the potency of the key component, the research used to create the product, and tests into the item's effectiveness, Dr Belmo says.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman argues it's valuable thinking about how some dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she states they could contain filler ingredients that don't have as significant advantages for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One major question mark is 'Why is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert Scott notes sometimes he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a big-name brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the packaging," he warned.

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For more complicated items or ones with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not made properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends selecting medical-grade companies.

The expert states these probably have been through expensive trials to evaluate how successful they are.

Skincare items are required to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, says consultant dermatologist another professional.

If the brand makes claims about the efficacy of the item, it must have data to support it, "however the manufacturer does not necessarily have to perform the testing" and can alternatively use testing conducted by other firms, she says.

Read the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could suggest a item is inferior?

Components on the label of the bottle are listed by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up