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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell learned a supermarket was launching a new skincare range that appeared comparable to offerings from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her closest outlet to pick up the Lacura face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml item.

Its smooth blue container and gold cap of the two items look remarkably alike. Although Rachael has not used the luxury cream, she says she's pleased by the product so far.

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

Over a fourth of UK consumers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic lookalike. This increases to 44% among younger adults, based on a recently published survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate established labels and present cost-effective substitutes to premium products. These products frequently have comparable branding and containers, but occasionally the ingredients can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Superior'

Beauty experts say some alternatives to luxury labels are good standard and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion higher-priced is invariably more effective," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all affordable product line is poor - and not every high-end skincare product is the best."

"Certain [dupes] are truly excellent," notes a skincare commentator, who hosts a podcast with celebrities.

Numerous of the products inspired by luxury labels "run out so fast, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues dupes are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a acceptable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a dupe or a product which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can be problematic," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Box'

But the experts also advise consumers check details and state that costlier products are sometimes worth the extra money.

With high-end beauty products, you're not only funding the name and marketing - at times the higher cost also comes from the components and their grade, the concentration of the effective element, the research employed to develop the product, and trials into the products' effectiveness, the expert says.

Beauty expert she says it's worth thinking about how certain dupes can be priced so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they might contain less effective components that lack as many benefits for the complexion, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One big uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Commentator Scott admits on occasion he's purchased skincare items that look comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "no resemblance to the luxury product".

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

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For advanced products or those with components that can inflame the complexion if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, she suggests selecting research-backed brands.

The expert says these will likely have been subjected to costly tests to assess how successful they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, says consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label states about the effectiveness of the product, it needs evidence to back it up, "however the seller doesn't always have to do the testing" and can instead reference testing completed by different companies, she says.

Check the Label of the Container

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is low-quality?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are listed by quantity. "The baddies that you want to avoid… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up