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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell heard a supermarket was selling a fresh skincare range that seemed similar to products from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She hurried to her local outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml product.

Its sleek blue tube and gold lid of each products look strikingly similar. Although she has never tried the high-end cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been purchasing skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a fourth of UK consumers say they've tried a skincare or makeup alternative. This increases to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recently published study.

Alternatives are skincare products that imitate well-known companies and present budget-friendly options to premium products. They typically have alike branding and containers, but occasionally the components can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts argue many dupes to luxury brands are decent quality and aid make skincare more affordable.

"It is not true that costlier is necessarily better," states skin specialist a doctor. "Not all affordable product line is bad - and not all luxury beauty item is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are truly amazing," says a skincare commentator, who runs a program about famous people.

Numerous of the items modeled on luxury brands "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues alternatives are fine to use for "simple routines" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a budget alternative or something which is quite affordable because there's minimal that can go wrong," she adds.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Box'

However the professionals also recommend buyers investigate and note that costlier products are occasionally worthy of the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not just funding the label and promotion - often the elevated cost also comes from the components and their grade, the potency of the key component, the research utilized to create the item, and studies into the item's performance, the expert notes.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman says it's worth questioning how certain alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she says they could have less effective components that do not provide as significant positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One key uncertainty is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn notes in some cases he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a well-known label but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

"Do not be convinced by the container," he added.

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For more complicated products or ones with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not formulated properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she suggests sticking to more specialised companies.

She states these will likely have been through comprehensive tests to assess how efficacious they are.

Skincare items are required to be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, notes skin doctor another professional.

If the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it needs evidence to back it up, "but the brand does not necessarily have to perform the trials" and can instead use studies completed by other companies, she says.

Check the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Components on the list of the tube are arranged by amount. "The baddies that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up