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Rachael Parnell

When Rachael Parnell found out a supermarket was offering a new skincare range that seemed akin to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper rushed to her local outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a small portion of the £240 cost of the high-end 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue packaging and gold top of each items look strikingly alike. Although Rachael has not tested the premium cream, she states she's impressed by the product so far.

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

Over a fourth of UK buyers state they've tried a beauty or cosmetic dupe. This jumps to 44 percent among millennials and Gen Z, based on a recently published survey.

Lookalikes are skincare products that copy well-known labels and provide affordable alternatives to luxury items. These products typically have comparable branding and containers, but in some cases the formulas can differ substantially.

Victoria Woollaston

'High-Priced Is Not Necessarily Superior'

Skincare experts argue certain dupes to premium brands are good quality and help make beauty routines less expensive.

"I don't think more expensive is invariably more effective," comments consultant dermatologist Sharon Belmo. "Not all low-budget product line is bad - and not every premium beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are truly impressive," says a podcast host, who presents a program featuring public figures.

Many of the items based on luxury brands "run out so fast, it's just insane," he observes.

Scott McGlynn

Medical expert a doctor argues dupes are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Dupes will be effective," he says. "These items will perform the fundamentals to a reasonable level."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can cut costs when seeking single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a simple item then you're likely going to be alright in using a lookalike or something which is fairly affordable because there's very little that can be problematic," she says.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Box'

But the specialists also recommend shoppers investigate and state that more expensive items are occasionally worth the additional cost.

With premium beauty products, you're not just funding the name and promotion - sometimes the increased price tag also is due to the formula and their standard, the potency of the key component, the research used to create the product, and studies into the item's performance, the expert explains.

Skin therapist she says it's worth questioning how some alternatives can be priced so inexpensively.

Occasionally, she says they may have filler ingredients that lack as numerous benefits for the complexion, or the materials might not be as well sourced.

"The key doubt is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

Commentator Scott admits on occasion he's bought beauty products that appear similar to a well-known label but the actual formula has "little similarity to the original".

"Do not be sold by the container," he warned.

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For potent products or those with ingredients that can irritate the complexion if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C, Dr Bhate suggests selecting more specialised labels.

The expert states these probably have been through costly studies to determine how effective they are.

Beauty products need to be tested before they can be sold in the UK, explains skin doctor another professional.

If the company makes claims about the performance of the product, it needs research to back it up, "however the seller does not always have to perform the trials" and can alternatively cite testing completed by other brands, she says.

Read the Back of the Bottle

Are there any components that could suggest a product is low-quality?

Ingredients on the back of the tube 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