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Rachael Parnell

After discovering a consumer found out a supermarket was launching a new skincare range that seemed similar to offerings from high-end label Augustinus Bader, she was "super excited".

The shopper hurried to her nearest outlet to pick up the supermarket face cream for £8.49 for 50ml - a fraction of the £240 of the high-end 50ml cream.

The sleek blue tube and gold cap of each items look strikingly similar. Although Rachael has not used the premium cream, she claims she's pleased by the product so far.

Rachael has been buying beauty alternatives from high street stores and grocery stores for some time, and she's part of a trend.

More than a quarter of UK buyers say they've purchased a skincare or makeup dupe. This jumps to 44 percent among 18-34 year olds, based on a recently published poll.

Dupes are beauty items that mimic bigger name labels and present affordable alternatives to luxury items. These products frequently have alike branding and containers, but in some cases the components can vary considerably.

Victoria Woollaston

'Expensive Isn't Necessarily Better'

Skincare experts say many alternatives to luxury labels are good standard and aid make beauty routines less expensive.

"In my opinion more expensive is invariably superior," says dermatology expert Sharon Belmo. "Not all budget beauty label is bad - and not every high-end skincare product is the best."

"A number of [dupes] are truly excellent," adds a podcast host, who presents a show about celebrities.

A lot of of the products inspired by luxury brands "run out so rapidly, it's just unbelievable," he remarks.

Scott McGlynn

Aesthetic and dermatology doctor another professional believes alternatives are fine to use for "fundamental products" like moisturisers and cleansers.

"These products will be effective," he says. "These items will do the fundamentals to a satisfactory degree."

Another skin doctor, thinks you can spend less when searching for single-ingredient items like HA, niacinamide and squalane.

"If you're buying a simple product then you're probably going to be okay in opting for a dupe or a product which is fairly low cost because there's not much that can go wrong," she adds.

'Do Not Be Sold by the Box'

However the professionals also advise shoppers do their research and state that higher-priced items are sometimes worth the premium price.

Regarding premium skincare, you're not only funding the label and promotion - sometimes the increased price also comes from the components and their standard, the concentration of the effective element, the science used to produce the product, and studies into the item's efficacy, she says.

Skin therapist Rhian Truman says it's important thinking about how some dupes can be offered so inexpensively.

In some cases, she says they may have filler ingredients that lack as many positive effects for the skin, or the components might not be as well sourced.

"One big uncertainty is 'How is it so cheap?'" she remarks.

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

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

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Regarding more complicated items or those with ingredients that can aggravate the complexion if they're not created properly, such as retinols or vitamin C serums, Dr Bhate suggests selecting more specialised brands.

The expert says these probably have been through comprehensive studies to determine how effective they are.

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

If the company makes claims about the efficacy of the product, it must have data to back it up, "however the brand does not necessarily have to conduct the testing" and can instead cite testing completed by different firms, she adds.

Examine the Ingredients List of the Container

Is there any components that could indicate a item is poor?

Components on the back of the container are ordered by concentration. "Ingredients to avoid that you want to look out for… is your petroleum-derived oil, your sodium lauryl sulfate, fragrance, benzoyl peroxide" being {high up