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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper heard a supermarket was launching a fresh beauty line that seemed similar to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She dashed to her nearest store to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its smooth blue container and gold cap of each items look remarkably similar. And though she has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's pleased by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing lookalike products from popular shops and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK buyers say they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a February poll.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic bigger name labels and offer affordable substitutes to high-end items. These products typically have alike labels and design, but occasionally the components can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts say some substitutes to premium brands are good quality and assist make skincare cheaper.

"I don't think costlier is necessarily more effective," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not every affordable product line is bad - and not all high-end beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," notes a podcast host, who runs a program with public figures.

Many of the products inspired by luxury brands "sell out so fast, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry believes alternatives are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will do the job," he says. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree."

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

"When you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or a product which is fairly affordable because there's minimal that can cause issues," she explains.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

But the specialists also suggest buyers check details and state that costlier products are sometimes worthy of the additional cost.

With high-end beauty products, you're not just funding the label and advertising - often the higher cost also stems from the formula and their standard, the potency of the effective element, the technology employed to develop the item, and tests into the products' efficacy, the expert says.

Facialist Rhian Truman suggests it's valuable considering how certain alternatives can be priced so cheaply.

Sometimes, she says they could have less effective components that lack as significant benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

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

Podcast host Scott says in some cases he's purchased skincare items that appear comparable to a big-name label but the actual formula has "no connection to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding more complicated products or those with components that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, Dr Bhate advises sticking to medical-grade labels.

She says these will likely have been subjected to comprehensive trials to determine how successful they are.

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

If the label states about the performance of the product, it requires research to back it up, "but the seller does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can alternatively reference evidence conducted by different companies, she adds.

Check the Label of the Container

Are there any ingredients that could indicate a item is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the container are arranged by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to be wary of… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up