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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing a consumer heard a discounter was launching a fresh beauty line that seemed akin to products from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She rushed to her local outlet to pick up the Lacura face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 price tag of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue container and gold cap of both products look strikingly comparable. Although Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's satisfied by the dupe so far.

She has been buying beauty alternatives from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK shoppers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This increases to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recent study.

Alternatives are skincare products that mimic bigger name brands and present affordable substitutes to high-end items. These products typically have comparable labels and design, but sometimes the components can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare professionals say many substitutes to luxury labels are reasonable standard and aid make skincare more affordable.

"In my opinion costlier is invariably more effective," says skin specialist a doctor. "Not every affordable product line is inferior - and not every premium beauty item is the finest."

"Certain [dupes] are absolutely amazing," says a skincare commentator, who hosts a program featuring public figures.

Numerous of the products modeled on luxury brands "disappear so quickly, it's just unbelievable," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist Ross Perry argues alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like hydrators and face washes.

"These products will do the job," he comments. "They will handle the essentials to a reasonable level."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when you're looking for simple-formula items like hyaluronic acid, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or something which is fairly inexpensive because there's minimal that can go wrong," she explains.

'Don't Be Sold by the Packaging'

However the experts also suggest buyers do their research and note that higher-priced products are at times worthy of the premium price.

With luxury skincare, you're not just funding the brand and promotion - often the increased price also comes from the components and their quality, the strength of the key component, the research utilized to produce the item, and tests into the products' effectiveness, she notes.

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

Occasionally, she states they may include bulking agents that lack as significant positive effects for the complexion, or the ingredients might not be as well sourced.

"The 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 resemblance to the luxury product".

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

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Regarding potent products or ones with ingredients that can aggravate the skin if they're not formulated correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she recommends using more specialised companies.

The expert says these probably have been through expensive studies to assess how effective they are.

Beauty products need to be tested before they can be available in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company states about the performance of the product, it requires research to support it, "but the manufacturer doesn't necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead reference studies done by different brands, she adds.

Examine the Label of the Pack

Is there any ingredients that could signal a product is poor?

Ingredients on the label of the bottle are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you need to look out for… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up