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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was selling a new skincare range that looked comparable to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

Rachael dashed to her nearest outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml item.

Its sleek blue tube and gold cap of each products look remarkably comparable. While Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she states she's pleased by the alternative so far.

She has been purchasing lookalike products from high street stores and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a 25% of UK buyers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This rises to 44% among 18-34 year olds, as per a February survey.

Dupes are skincare products that copy bigger name companies and provide budget-friendly alternatives to high-end products. These products often have comparable names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare professionals argue certain substitutes to high-end labels are good quality and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"I don't think more expensive is invariably better," comments consultant dermatologist one expert. "Not all budget product line is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are really impressive," says a skincare commentator, who runs a podcast about famous people.

Many of the items inspired by luxury labels "sell out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional argues alternatives are suitable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he says. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a satisfactory level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is very low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

But the professionals also suggest consumers investigate and say that more expensive products are at times worth the additional cost.

With high-end skincare, you're not just funding the name and promotion - sometimes the increased price also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the potency of the key component, the research used to create the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo says.

Facialist another professional says it's worth thinking about how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they might have bulking agents that lack as significant positive effects for the complexion, or the materials might not be as carefully selected.

"The key doubt is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn admits sometimes he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a established label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Don't be sold by the outer appearance," he added.

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For potent items or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, she suggests selecting more specialised labels.

She explains these probably have been through costly tests to evaluate how effective they are.

Beauty items are required to be evaluated before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label advertises about the efficacy of the item, it must have evidence to back it up, "however the manufacturer does not always have to perform the trials" and can instead use studies completed by other companies, she clarifies.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Are there any components that could signal a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the bottle are ordered by amount. "Potential irritants that you need to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up