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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper heard a discounter was offering a recent skincare range that seemed comparable to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

She rushed to her closest outlet to purchase the supermarket face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the high-end 50ml cream.

The sleek blue packaging and gold cap of each creams look remarkably similar. And though Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the product so far.

Rachael has been buying skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for a long time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a fourth of UK consumers say they've bought a skincare or makeup alternative. This jumps to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, as per a recent study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that imitate well-known brands and present budget-friendly options to high-end items. These products typically have comparable branding and containers, but sometimes the components can change considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals say some dupes to luxury labels are good standard and assist make beauty routines more affordable.

"It is not true that more expensive is necessarily better," comments consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not every low-budget skincare brand is poor - and not all premium beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are absolutely impressive," says a skincare commentator, who runs a program featuring famous people.

Many of the items based on high-end labels "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional believes dupes are suitable to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and face washes.

"Dupes will be effective," he explains. "They will handle the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

Another skin doctor, suggests you can save money when you're looking for simple-formula products like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a lookalike or something which is quite affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

However the professionals also recommend shoppers check details and say that higher-priced products are sometimes worth the extra money.

Regarding high-end beauty products, you're not only paying for the name and marketing - often the increased cost also comes from the formula and their grade, the concentration of the active ingredient, the science used to create the product, and tests into the products' efficacy, Dr Belmo says.

Beauty expert another professional argues it's important thinking about how some dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they might contain filler ingredients that lack as numerous advantages for the skin, or the materials might not be as high-quality.

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

Commentator Scott admits on occasion he's purchased beauty products that look similar to a big-name brand but the item has "little similarity to the premium version".

"Don't be sold by the container," he added.

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For advanced products or those with components that can aggravate the complexion if they're not formulated accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate advises sticking to research-backed brands.

She says these probably have been through comprehensive studies to evaluate how effective they are.

Skincare items must be assessed before they can be available in the UK, explains consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label advertises about the effectiveness of the item, it requires research to verify it, "however the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively use studies completed by other companies, she clarifies.

Read the Label of the Bottle

Are there any ingredients that could suggest a product is poor?

Ingredients on the list of the container are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your SLS, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up