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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard a supermarket was launching a new skincare range that looked akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest shop to buy the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold lid of the two items look noticeably comparable. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the alternative so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for years, and she's in good company.

Over a 25% of UK buyers report they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate well-known companies and provide cost-effective substitutes to luxury products. These products often have similar labels and design, but sometimes the formulas can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts say many substitutes to luxury brands are decent quality and help make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that more expensive is always superior," comments dermatology expert one expert. "Not every budget product line is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the top."

"A number of [dupes] are truly impressive," says a podcast host, who presents a program about public figures.

Many of the products modeled on luxury labels "run out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional argues alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will perform the essentials to a satisfactory degree."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"If you're purchasing a simple item then you're likely going to be fine in using a dupe or a product which is very affordable because there's very little that can cause issues," she adds.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the specialists also suggest shoppers do their research and state that higher-priced items are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not just paying for the label and advertising - at times the elevated price tag also is due to the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the technology utilized to develop the product, and studies into the products' effectiveness, she notes.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's valuable considering how certain dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they could have filler ingredients that lack as significant benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The big uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn admits sometimes he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a established brand but the item has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or those with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests selecting medical-grade labels.

She explains these will likely have been through costly trials to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty items need to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, notes expert another professional.

When the company advertises about the performance of the product, it requires evidence to support it, "but the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can instead use evidence conducted by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

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

Components on the back of the tube are arranged by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up