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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing Rachael Parnell found out a discounter was selling a fresh beauty line that appeared similar to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

She dashed to her local shop to buy the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 of the Augustinus Bader 50ml product.

Its sleek blue tube and gold cap of each products look remarkably comparable. Although Rachael has not used the high-end cream, she says she's impressed by the dupe so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

Over a quarter of UK buyers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup lookalike. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, according to a recently published study.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy bigger name companies and present budget-friendly substitutes to premium items. These products frequently have comparable names and packaging, but in some cases the ingredients can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Better'

Skincare professionals contend certain alternatives to luxury labels are decent standard and assist make skincare more affordable.

"I don't think higher-priced is necessarily superior," states consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all low-budget beauty label is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are truly amazing," says a skincare commentator, who runs a show about public figures.

Many of the products inspired by luxury labels "disappear so quickly, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert another professional argues dupes are fine to use for "simple routines" like hydrators and cleansers.

"These products will serve a purpose," he says. "They will perform the basics to a reasonable level."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient products like hyaluronic acid, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're probably going to be alright in opting for a dupe or something which is fairly low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she explains.

'Do Not Be Swayed by the Container'

Yet the professionals also suggest shoppers do their research and state that costlier items are sometimes worth the additional cost.

Regarding luxury beauty products, you're not only covering the name and promotion - often the higher price also is due to the components and their grade, the strength of the key component, the research employed to produce the item, and trials into the products' effectiveness, Dr Belmo says.

Facialist she suggests it's valuable considering how certain alternatives can be priced so cheaply.

In some cases, she believes they might contain less effective components that do not provide as many benefits for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

"The big uncertainty is 'How is it so low-priced?'" she asks.

Expert McGlynn says in some cases he's bought beauty products that look comparable to a established brand but the actual formula has "no connection to the original".

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

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For more complicated items or ones with components that can irritate the skin if they're not created correctly, such as retinols or vitamin C, she recommends sticking to research-backed labels.

The expert explains these will likely have been subjected to costly studies to determine how successful they are.

Skincare products need to be tested before they can be marketed in the UK, says skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the company states about the effectiveness of the item, it needs evidence to support it, "however the manufacturer doesn't always have to conduct the trials" and can alternatively use testing done by different brands, she says.

Check the Label of the Pack

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

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