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Rachael Parnell

Upon hearing one shopper found out a discounter was offering a recent beauty line that appeared similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "extremely excited".

Rachael rushed to her nearest outlet to pick up the store-brand face cream for under £9 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the luxury brand 50ml cream.

Its sleek blue container and gold cap of both products look noticeably comparable. And though Rachael has not tested the high-end cream, she states she's impressed by the product so far.

She has been purchasing skincare dupes from mainstream retailers and supermarkets for years, and she's not alone.

More than a quarter of UK consumers say they've tried a skincare or makeup lookalike. This rises to nearly half among millennials and Gen Z, as per a February poll.

Dupes are skincare products that mimic bigger name brands and provide affordable substitutes to premium products. These products typically have alike names and packaging, but in some cases the formulas can vary significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Is Not Always Superior'

Skincare experts contend certain alternatives to high-end brands are decent quality and help make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that higher-priced is invariably superior," comments dermatology expert a doctor. "Not all affordable beauty label is inferior - and not all luxury beauty item is the finest."

"A number of [dupes] are really amazing," notes a podcast host, who presents a show with celebrities.

Many of the products inspired by luxury labels "sell out so fast, it's just insane," he says.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist another professional thinks alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "These items will do the essentials to a acceptable standard."

Ketaki Bhate, suggests you can save money when searching for single-ingredient products like HA, Vitamin B3 and squalane.

"When you're purchasing a single-ingredient product then you're likely going to be alright in opting for a budget alternative or a product which is fairly low cost because there's minimal that can go wrong," she says.

'Don't Be Sold by the Container'

But the experts also recommend consumers investigate and note that more expensive products are at times worthy of the premium price.

With high-end skincare, you're not just funding the name and promotion - at times the elevated price tag also is due to the ingredients and their quality, the strength of the active ingredient, the science employed to develop the product, and trials into the item's performance, Dr Belmo explains.

Beauty expert she says it's important thinking about how certain alternatives can be priced so at a low cost.

In some cases, she believes they might include filler ingredients that do not provide as numerous positive effects for the complexion, or the components might not be as high-quality.

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

Expert McGlynn notes on occasion he's bought skincare items that look similar to a established brand but the item has "little similarity to the premium version".

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

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Regarding potent products or ones with ingredients that can inflame the skin if they're not created properly, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, she recommends using medical-grade labels.

She explains these probably have been subjected to costly tests to evaluate how efficacious they are.

Skincare items are required to be assessed before they can be available in the UK, notes consultant dermatologist Emma Wedgeworth.

If the label states about the performance of the item, it must have evidence to support it, "however the seller does not always have to do the testing" and can instead use evidence done by different firms, she clarifies.

Check the Label of the Bottle

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

Ingredients on the label of the tube are listed by concentration. "Potential irritants that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, parfum, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up