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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer learned a supermarket was selling a new product collection that looked similar to products from premium company Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper rushed to her closest outlet to buy the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml item.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold cap of both creams look remarkably alike. Although she has never tried the premium cream, she claims she's impressed by the dupe so far.

Rachael has been using lookalike products from popular shops and supermarkets for some time, and she's in good company.

More than a quarter of UK shoppers report they've bought a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent survey.

Dupes are skincare products that imitate established companies and provide affordable alternatives to luxury items. These products typically have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the ingredients can change substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Better'

Beauty specialists argue certain dupes to luxury labels are decent standard and assist make skincare less expensive.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily superior," comments skin specialist one expert. "Not every budget product line is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the top."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely excellent," notes a podcast host, who hosts a show about famous people.

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

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor Ross Perry argues dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will do the job," he explains. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a reasonable standard."

Another skin doctor, advises you can spend less when seeking single-ingredient items like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be fine in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is quite inexpensive because there's minimal that can be problematic," she adds.

'Don't Be Swayed by the Container'

But the professionals also recommend consumers do their research and note that more expensive products are sometimes worthy of the extra money.

With luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the name and promotion - at times the increased price tag also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the science employed to develop the item, and tests into the products' effectiveness, the expert says.

Facialist Rhian Truman argues it's important thinking about how certain alternatives can be offered so inexpensively.

Sometimes, she states they could include filler ingredients that lack as numerous advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"One big doubt is 'How is it so inexpensive?'" she says.

Commentator McGlynn notes on occasion he's bought beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known label but the product itself has "no connection to the luxury product".

"Don't be convinced by the packaging," he added.

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For more complicated products or ones with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, the specialist advises selecting medical-grade brands.

She states these will likely have been through expensive tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Beauty products are required to be assessed before they can be marketed in the UK, says expert another professional.

If the brand makes claims about the effectiveness of the item, it must have evidence to verify it, "but the seller doesn't always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite evidence done by different companies, she adds.

Check the Ingredients List of the Bottle

Is there any ingredients that could indicate a item is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the tube are ordered by concentration. "The baddies that you need to avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, fragrance, benzel peroxide" being {high up