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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell found out a supermarket was selling a recent product collection that seemed comparable to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael dashed to her nearest store to purchase the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

The sleek blue tube and gold top of each products look noticeably alike. Although Rachael has never tried the high-end cream, she says she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

Over a fourth of UK buyers state they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to 44 percent among younger adults, according to a recent survey.

Alternatives are skincare products that copy bigger name companies and present cost-effective options to premium items. They often have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty specialists argue certain substitutes to high-end brands are decent standard and assist make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that costlier is invariably more effective," states dermatology expert a doctor. "Not every affordable beauty label is poor - and not every high-end beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are truly impressive," notes Scott McGlynn, who hosts a podcast featuring celebrities.

Many of the items modeled on luxury brands "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor argues dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and cleansers.

"Alternatives will do the job," he explains. "These items will do the essentials to a acceptable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can save money when seeking single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in using a dupe or a product which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

However the professionals also suggest shoppers investigate and say that higher-priced products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only funding the name and promotion - at times the increased price also comes from the components and their standard, the concentration of the key component, the research used to develop the item, and trials into the item's effectiveness, she explains.

Facialist Rhian Truman says it's worth questioning how some alternatives can be offered so at a low cost.

Occasionally, she believes they may have filler ingredients that lack as many positive effects for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

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

Podcast host McGlynn notes sometimes he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a big-name label but the item has "little similarity to the luxury product".

"Do not be fooled by the packaging," he added.

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Regarding advanced products or those with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she recommends selecting medical-grade companies.

The expert explains these will likely have been through costly tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty items must be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

When the label advertises about the performance of the item, it needs research to back it up, "but the seller doesn't necessarily have to perform the testing" and can alternatively use studies completed by different brands, she says.

Read the Label of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a product is inferior?

Components on the back of the bottle are arranged by concentration. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up