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Rachael Parnell

After discovering Rachael Parnell found out a discounter was selling a new product collection that appeared comparable to items from luxury brand Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper dashed to her local shop to purchase the store-brand face cream for a low price for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 of the high-end 50ml product.

The streamlined blue tube and gold top of the two items look noticeably comparable. And though Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she says she's satisfied by the alternative so far.

She has been buying lookalike products from popular shops and grocery stores for a long time, and she's not alone.

Over a fourth of UK buyers report they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This jumps to nearly half among younger adults, based on a recently published study.

Alternatives are beauty items that mimic bigger name brands and provide budget-friendly substitutes to luxury items. They frequently have alike labels and design, but in some cases the components can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Always Better'

Skincare professionals contend many dupes to luxury brands are good quality and help make beauty routines cheaper.

"In my opinion more expensive is invariably better," states skin specialist Sharon Belmo. "Not every budget skincare brand is inferior - and not every high-end beauty item is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are really excellent," adds Scott McGlynn, who hosts a program featuring celebrities.

A lot of of the products modeled on high-end labels "run out so fast, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks dupes are suitable to use for "basic skincare" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will serve a purpose," he says. "These items will handle the essentials to a satisfactory degree."

Ketaki Bhate, advises you can spend less when searching for simple-formula items like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"If you're buying a single-ingredient product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a lookalike or a product which is fairly inexpensive because there's not much that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Container'

Yet the professionals also recommend consumers do their research and note that higher-priced items are at times worth the additional cost.

With premium beauty products, you're not just covering the brand and marketing - at times the increased cost also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the strength of the key component, the science employed to create the product, and studies into the products' effectiveness, the expert explains.

Beauty expert she suggests it's worth questioning how certain alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she states they could include bulking agents that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the ingredients might not be as carefully selected.

"The big question mark is 'Why is it so low-priced?'" she says.

Expert McGlynn says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear comparable to a well-known brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the luxury product".

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

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For potent products or ones with components that can aggravate the skin if they're not made correctly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she advises using more specialised brands.

The expert explains these typically have been subjected to comprehensive studies to determine how effective they are.

Beauty items must be evaluated before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor Emma Wedgeworth.

When the label advertises about the effectiveness of the item, it must have evidence to support it, "but the manufacturer does not necessarily have to do the trials" and can alternatively cite testing completed by different firms, she says.

Examine the Back of the Container

Is there any components that could indicate a product is low-quality?

Components on the back of the bottle are ordered by quantity. "Ingredients to avoid that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzel peroxide" being {high up