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Rachael Parnell

When a consumer heard a discounter was selling a new beauty line that appeared comparable to items from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper dashed to her closest store to pick up the supermarket face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the luxury brand 50ml item.

The streamlined blue tube and gold cap of each products look strikingly alike. And though she has never tried the luxury cream, she says she's pleased by the dupe so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for some time, and she's not alone.

Over a quarter of UK consumers state they've purchased a beauty or cosmetic alternative. This increases to 44 percent among younger adults, as per a recent poll.

Dupes are skincare products that copy bigger name brands and present cost-effective substitutes to premium products. They often have comparable names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can differ considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Better'

Beauty experts contend some dupes to luxury brands are decent standard and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"I don't think costlier is always better," says dermatology expert one expert. "Not every affordable skincare brand is bad - and not all high-end beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says Scott McGlynn, who hosts a program featuring famous people.

Many of the items based on high-end labels "disappear so quickly, it's just crazy," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry believes alternatives are acceptable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will do the job," he comments. "These items will do the fundamentals to a reasonable degree."

A consultant dermatologist, advises you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

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

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the experts also advise shoppers do their research and note that more expensive products are occasionally worth the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not just funding the name and marketing - at times the elevated cost also is due to the components and their standard, the potency of the key component, the research utilized to produce the product, and tests into the products' effectiveness, she says.

Beauty expert she suggests it's important thinking about how some dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they could contain less effective components that lack as significant positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One big doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's purchased skincare items that appear similar to a well-known label but the product itself has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

"Do not be convinced by the outer appearance," he added.

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Regarding potent items or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist recommends sticking to more specialised brands.

She explains these typically have been subjected to expensive tests to assess how effective they are.

Beauty products must be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand advertises about the effectiveness of the product, it must have research to support it, "however the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can alternatively use evidence completed by different companies, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Bottle

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

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