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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer found out a discounter was selling a fresh skincare range that seemed comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest shop to buy the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its streamlined blue packaging and gold lid of both creams look noticeably alike. Although she has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

Rachael has been purchasing beauty alternatives from high street stores and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK buyers say they've bought a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This rises to nearly half among 18-34 year olds, according to a recently published poll.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic bigger name companies and offer affordable options to luxury products. These products often have similar names and packaging, but in some cases the formulas can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Superior'

Skincare experts say some dupes to luxury brands are reasonable standard and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that costlier is always better," states dermatology expert a doctor. "Not every budget beauty label is bad - and not all high-end skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says a skincare commentator, who hosts a program with famous people.

A lot of of the items based on luxury labels "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert Ross Perry argues dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he says. "They will do the basics to a satisfactory level."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is quite affordable because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

However the specialists also advise consumers check details and say that more expensive items are occasionally worthy of the additional cost.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only funding the name and promotion - often the elevated cost also comes from the ingredients and their grade, the concentration of the key component, the science employed to create the product, and studies into the products' performance, Dr Belmo says.

Skin therapist she says it's important questioning how certain dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they might have less effective components that do not provide as numerous benefits for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

"The major uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she asks.

Expert Scott admits sometimes he's bought skincare items that appear similar to a established brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the premium version".

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

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Regarding potent items or those with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she advises using more specialised companies.

She says these will likely have been subjected to expensive tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty products must be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, notes skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the company makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it needs data to verify it, "but the seller does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead use testing completed by different companies, she adds.

Check the Back of the Pack

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

Components on the list of the bottle are listed by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to be wary of… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up