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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer found out a supermarket was selling a fresh beauty line that seemed comparable to items from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "incredibly excited".

The shopper hurried to her closest store to purchase the Lacura face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a tiny percentage of the £240 cost of the Augustinus Bader 50ml cream.

Its streamlined blue tube and gold lid of each items look remarkably similar. And though she has not used the high-end cream, she claims she's impressed by the alternative so far.

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

More than a 25% of UK shoppers state they've tried a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a recent study.

Lookalikes are beauty items that imitate established companies and offer budget-friendly options to luxury products. They frequently have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the components can differ significantly.

Victoria Woollaston

'Costly Is Not Always Better'

Beauty professionals say some substitutes to high-end labels are decent standard and aid make skincare cheaper.

"It is not true that costlier is invariably more effective," states consultant dermatologist a doctor. "Not all low-budget beauty label is inferior - and not all high-end skincare product is the best."

"Some [dupes] are absolutely amazing," notes a podcast host, who presents a show featuring celebrities.

Numerous of the products inspired by high-end labels "sell out so rapidly, it's just insane," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Skin specialist a doctor thinks alternatives are acceptable to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and face washes.

"Alternatives will be effective," he explains. "They will do the essentials to a satisfactory standard."

Ketaki Bhate, thinks you can cut costs when seeking simple-formula products like HA, Vitamin B3 and a moisturizing ingredient.

"When you're buying a single-ingredient item then you're likely going to be fine in using a budget alternative or something which is quite low cost because there's very little that can cause issues," she says.

'Don't Be Influenced by the Packaging'

However the specialists also suggest shoppers investigate and say that costlier products are occasionally worthy of the extra money.

Regarding high-end skincare, you're not only covering the brand and marketing - often the elevated price also stems from the ingredients and their standard, the concentration of the active ingredient, the technology utilized to create the item, and studies into the products' effectiveness, she notes.

Beauty expert another professional says it's important questioning how some alternatives can be sold so inexpensively.

In some cases, she believes they may have bulking agents that lack as numerous benefits for the skin, or the components might not be as carefully selected.

"One key uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she asks.

Expert Scott says in some cases he's purchased beauty products that appear similar to a big-name brand but the product itself has "little similarity to the original".

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

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For more complicated products or those with components that can irritate the complexion if they're not created accurately, such as retinoids or vitamin C serums, the specialist advises using more specialised labels.

The expert says these will likely have been subjected to expensive tests to assess how efficacious they are.

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

If the brand makes claims about the performance of the item, it needs research to support it, "however the seller does not always have to conduct the testing" and can instead use studies done by other companies, she clarifies.

Check the Ingredients List of the Pack

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

Ingredients on the list of the container are ordered by amount. "Potential irritants that you should avoid… is your mineral oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up