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Rachael Parnell

After discovering one shopper found out Aldi was launching a new skincare range that appeared akin to offerings from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

She dashed to her local store to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its sleek blue tube and gold top of the two creams look remarkably alike. Although Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she states she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for years, and she's part of a trend.

Over a 25% of UK buyers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to nearly half among younger adults, according to a recently published study.

Alternatives are beauty items that imitate established labels and provide cost-effective alternatives to high-end items. They typically have similar branding and containers, but occasionally the formulas can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty experts contend some alternatives to high-end labels are reasonable quality and aid make beauty routines cheaper.

"I don't think costlier is always superior," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable skincare brand is poor - and not all luxury beauty item is the top."

"Some [dupes] are truly impressive," says a skincare commentator, who presents a podcast with celebrities.

A lot of of the items inspired by luxury brands "disappear so quickly, it's just crazy," he says.

Scott McGlynn

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

"These products will be effective," he explains. "These items will do the essentials to a acceptable standard."

A consultant dermatologist, thinks you can cut costs when you're looking for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in using a budget alternative or a product which is fairly affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she explains.

'Do Not Be Influenced by the Container'

However the experts also recommend shoppers check details and say that more expensive products are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

With high-end beauty products, you're not just covering the label and promotion - often the elevated cost also stems from the formula and their quality, the strength of the effective element, the technology utilized to develop the product, and studies into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo notes.

Skin therapist another professional suggests it's important considering how some alternatives can be offered so cheaply.

Sometimes, she says they could include less effective components that don't have as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

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

Expert McGlynn admits on occasion he's bought beauty products that look similar to a big-name brand but the actual formula has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

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For advanced products or ones with components that can irritate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests using more specialised labels.

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

Skincare items need to be assessed before they can be sold in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

If the brand makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it must have data to back it up, "however the manufacturer does not always have to conduct the testing" and can instead cite testing completed by other brands, she adds.

Examine the Back of the Bottle

Is there any components that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Components on the label of the tube are listed by amount. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up