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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard a discounter was launching a new product collection that looked akin to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

Rachael hurried to her nearest store to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold top of each items look remarkably similar. And though Rachael has not used the premium cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been using skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK consumers report they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recently published study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy bigger name labels and present affordable alternatives to premium items. They often have alike names and packaging, but in some cases the components can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Always Better'

Skincare experts contend some substitutes to luxury brands are decent quality and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is necessarily more effective," says dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all low-budget beauty label is poor - and not every premium skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are really impressive," says a podcast host, who runs a podcast featuring public figures.

Many of the items inspired by luxury labels "disappear so fast, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor a doctor argues dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will do the job," he says. "They will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, advises you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're likely going to be fine in using a lookalike or a product which is quite low cost because there's very little that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Box'

However the professionals also recommend consumers check details and say that costlier items are at times worthy of the extra money.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - often the elevated price also is due to the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the technology employed to create the item, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she notes.

Facialist another professional suggests it's important questioning how some alternatives can be sold so cheaply.

In some cases, she says they may include less effective components that do not provide as many positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

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

Expert Scott says sometimes he's bought skincare items that look similar to a established brand but the item has "little similarity to the original".

"Don't be sold by the packaging," he cautioned.

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Regarding potent items or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, the specialist suggests selecting more specialised companies.

She explains these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive tests to determine how efficacious they are.

Beauty items are required to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, says expert another professional.

When the company states about the effectiveness of the item, it needs data to back it up, "but the seller does not always have to do the trials" and can alternatively use evidence conducted by different companies, she says.

Examine the Label of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are arranged by quantity. "The baddies that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up