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Rachael Parnell

When one shopper heard a supermarket was selling a recent skincare range that looked akin to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She rushed to her closest shop to buy the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of both products look noticeably similar. And though Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she states she's satisfied by the product so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from popular shops and grocery stores for some time, and she's not alone.

More than a 25% of UK shoppers state they've bought a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44% among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February survey.

Dupes are beauty items that imitate bigger name companies and offer cost-effective options to luxury items. These products frequently have similar labels and design, but occasionally the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Beauty experts contend some alternatives to premium labels are decent standard and aid make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think higher-priced is invariably better," comments skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget beauty label is bad - and not all luxury skincare product is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes a podcast host, who presents a show about celebrities.

Many of the items inspired by high-end brands "disappear so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

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

"These products will do the job," he explains. "These items will perform the basics to a acceptable level."

A consultant dermatologist, suggests you can cut costs when you're looking for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in using a dupe or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can cause issues," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Box'

However the experts also suggest shoppers investigate and note that costlier products are at times worthy of the premium price.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not only paying for the name and advertising - often the increased price tag also comes from the ingredients and their quality, the concentration of the key component, the science utilized to produce the product, and studies into the products' effectiveness, the expert says.

Facialist another professional suggests it's important considering how certain dupes can be sold so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they may have less effective components that do not provide as numerous advantages for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One major doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she says.

Expert Scott notes in some cases he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a big-name label but the item has "no connection to the premium version".

"Don't be fooled by the packaging," he warned.

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Regarding potent products or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, the specialist recommends using research-backed brands.

She states these will likely have been through expensive trials to determine how successful they are.

Skincare products are required to be evaluated before they can be available in the UK, says expert another professional.

If the label makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it must have evidence to verify it, "but the manufacturer doesn't always have to perform the testing" and can alternatively use testing completed by different companies, she says.

Read the Back of the Pack

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

Components on the back of the bottle are listed by amount. "Potential irritants that you should look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up