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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell found out Aldi was launching a recent skincare range that looked comparable to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She hurried to her nearest store to buy the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold top of each items look strikingly similar. Although she has not tested the high-end cream, she claims she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been buying skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK consumers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44% among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent poll.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established labels and provide affordable options to high-end items. These products typically have similar labels and design, but occasionally the components can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts contend some dupes to high-end brands are good quality and assist make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that costlier is invariably more effective," states skin specialist a doctor. "Not all budget skincare brand is inferior - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who presents a program about public figures.

Numerous of the items inspired by high-end brands "disappear so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor believes dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

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

Another skin doctor, suggests you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

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

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Packaging'

But the professionals also advise buyers do their research and state that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the brand and promotion - at times the higher price also stems from the components and their standard, the potency of the active ingredient, the science utilized to create the item, and trials into the products' performance, the expert says.

Beauty expert she argues it's important thinking about how some dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she believes they could have less effective components that don't have as numerous positive effects for the skin, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"One big question mark is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought beauty products that look similar to a big-name brand but the product itself has "no connection to the premium version".

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

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For more complicated products or ones with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she recommends using research-backed labels.

She explains these will likely have been through expensive studies to assess how successful they are.

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

If the brand states about the performance of the item, it needs evidence to support it, "however the seller does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively use studies completed by different firms, she adds.

Check the Label of the Bottle

Is there any components that could indicate a product is inferior?

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, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up